By Nixon                                         H.B. No. 632

      75R4174 MLS-D                           

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to the assignment of certain retired or former judges as

 1-3     visiting judges.

 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-5           SECTION 1.  Sections 74.055(c), (d), and (e), Government

 1-6     Code, are amended to read as follows:

 1-7           (c)  To be eligible to be named on the list, a retired or

 1-8     former judge must:

 1-9                 (1)  have served as a judge for at least 10 years [48

1-10     months] in a district, statutory probate, statutory county, or

1-11     appellate court;

1-12                 (2)  have developed substantial experience in the

1-13     judge's area of specialty;

1-14                 (3)  not have been removed from office;

1-15                 (4)  certify under oath to the presiding judge, on a

1-16     form prescribed by the state board of regional judges, that the

1-17     judge did not resign from office after having received notice that

1-18     formal proceedings by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct had

1-19     been instituted as provided in Section 33.022 and before the final

1-20     disposition of the proceedings;

1-21                 (5)  annually demonstrate that the judge has completed

1-22     in the past calendar year the educational requirements for active

1-23     district, statutory probate, and statutory county court judges; and

1-24                 (6)  certify to the presiding judge a willingness not

 2-1     to appear and plead as an attorney in any court in this state for a

 2-2     period of two years.

 2-3           (d)  A former district judge who has served as judge of more

 2-4     than one district court is not required to meet the 10 years [48

 2-5     months] of service requirement in Subsection (c)(1) to be eligible

 2-6     to be named on the list.

 2-7           (e)  For purposes of Subsection (c)(1), a year [month] of

 2-8     service is calculated as a calendar year [month] or a portion of a

 2-9     calendar  year [month] in which a judge was authorized by election

2-10     or appointment by the governor to preside.

2-11           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and

2-12     applies only to assignments of retired or former judges made under

2-13     Section 74.055, Government Code, as amended by this Act, on or

2-14     after that date.  An assignment of a retired or former judge made

2-15     under Section 74.055, Government Code, before the effective date of

2-16     this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the

2-17     assignment was made, and that law is continued in effect for that

2-18     purpose.

2-19           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

2-20     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

2-21     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

2-22     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

2-23     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.