PMWJ S.B. 324 75(R)BILL ANALYSIS JUDICIAL AFFAIRS S.B. 324 By: Armbrister (Hawley) 5-21-97 Committee Report (Unamended) BACKGROUND In Texas, District Attorneys may maintain an independent law practice to supplement their pay unless they are listed in the Professional Prosecutors Act which provides additional state funding to supplement existing salaries in exchange for prohibiting the prosecutor from the private practice of law. Only about 20 elected prosecutors in Texas are not subject to the Professional Prosectutors Act. Currently, the district attorneys of the 24th Judicial District are subject to the provisions of the Professional Prosecutors Act. The 24th Judicial District is a small district that at any given time has approximately 20 lawyers or less who actually reside in the district. If the district attorney must give up his or her private practice in order to serve, as required by the professional prosecutors law, the office will only appeal to those attorneys who have no significant private practice and who have not established themselves in the district. PURPOSE S.B. 324 deletes the district attorneys of the 24th Judicial District from the list of district attorneys to which the professional prosecutors law applies. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1 amends Section 46.002, Government Code, to delete a provision that this chapter applies to the district attorney for the 24th Judicial District. SECTION 2. Emergency clause. Effective date.