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. 1-54 * * * * *