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