1-1     By:  Armbrister                                        S.B. No. 323

 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed January 28, 1997; February 3, 1997,

 1-3     read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;

 1-4     April 4, 1997, reported adversely, with favorable Committee

 1-5     Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 11, Nays 0; April 4, 1997,

 1-6     sent to printer.)

 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 323               By:  Armbrister

 1-8                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-9                                   AN ACT

1-10     relating to judicial training and continuing education for

1-11     administrative law judges of the State Office of Administrative

1-12     Hearings.

1-13           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

1-14           SECTION 1.  Subchapter C, Chapter 2003, Government Code, is

1-15     amended by adding Section 2003.0451 to read as follows:

1-16           Sec. 2003.0451.  TRAINING.  (a)  The office shall provide at

1-17     least 30 hours of continuing legal education and judicial training

1-18     to each new administrative law judge employed by the office who has

1-19     less than three years of presiding experience.  The office shall

1-20     provide the training required by this subsection during the

1-21     administrative law judge's first year of employment with the

1-22     office.  The office may provide the training through office

1-23     personnel or through external sources, including state and local

1-24     bar associations and the National Judicial College.  The training

1-25     may include the following areas:

1-26                 (1)  conducting fair and impartial hearings;

1-27                 (2)  ethics;

1-28                 (3)  evidence;

1-29                 (4)  civil trial litigation;

1-30                 (5)  administrative law;

1-31                 (6)  managing complex litigation;

1-32                 (7)  conducting high-volume proceedings;

1-33                 (8)  judicial writing;

1-34                 (9)  effective case-flow management;

1-35                 (10)  alternative dispute resolution methods; and

1-36                 (11)  other areas that the office considers to be

1-37     relevant to the work of an administrative law judge.

1-38           (b)  The office shall provide continuing legal education and

1-39     advanced judicial training for other administrative law judges

1-40     employed by the office to the extent that money is available for

1-41     this purpose.

1-42           (c)  Subsection (a) does not apply to a temporary

1-43     administrative law judge.

1-44           SECTION 2.  Subsection (a), Section 2003.0451, Government

1-45     Code, as added by this Act, does not apply to an administrative law

1-46     judge employed by the State Office of Administrative Hearings on

1-47     the effective date of this Act.

1-48           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

1-49           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the

1-50     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

1-51     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

1-52     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

1-53     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.

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