AN ACT 1-1 relating to judicial training and continuing education for 1-2 administrative law judges of the State Office of Administrative 1-3 Hearings. 1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 2003, Government Code, is 1-6 amended by adding Section 2003.0451 to read as follows: 1-7 Sec. 2003.0451. TRAINING. (a) The office shall provide at 1-8 least 30 hours of continuing legal education and judicial training 1-9 to each new administrative law judge employed by the office who has 1-10 less than three years of presiding experience. The office shall 1-11 provide the training required by this subsection during the 1-12 administrative law judge's first year of employment with the 1-13 office. The office may provide the training through office 1-14 personnel or through external sources, including state and local 1-15 bar associations and the National Judicial College. The training 1-16 may include the following areas: 1-17 (1) conducting fair and impartial hearings; 1-18 (2) ethics; 1-19 (3) evidence; 1-20 (4) civil trial litigation; 1-21 (5) administrative law; 1-22 (6) managing complex litigation; 1-23 (7) conducting high-volume proceedings; 2-1 (8) judicial writing; 2-2 (9) effective case-flow management; 2-3 (10) alternative dispute resolution methods; and 2-4 (11) other areas that the office considers to be 2-5 relevant to the work of an administrative law judge. 2-6 (b) The office shall provide continuing legal education and 2-7 advanced judicial training for other administrative law judges 2-8 employed by the office to the extent that money is available for 2-9 this purpose. 2-10 (c) Subsection (a) does not apply to a temporary 2-11 administrative law judge. 2-12 SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 2003.0451, Government 2-13 Code, as added by this Act, does not apply to an administrative law 2-14 judge employed by the State Office of Administrative Hearings on 2-15 the effective date of this Act. 2-16 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997. 2-17 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the 2-18 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an 2-19 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the 2-20 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several 2-21 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended. _______________________________ _______________________________ President of the Senate Speaker of the House I hereby certify that S.B. No. 323 passed the Senate on April 17, 1997, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0. _______________________________ Secretary of the Senate I hereby certify that S.B. No. 323 passed the House on May 13, 1997, by a non-record vote. _______________________________ Chief Clerk of the House Approved: _______________________________ Date _______________________________ Governor