By Shapleigh                                     S.B. No. 726

      75R6752 ESH-D                           

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to court administration in El Paso County, to the creation

 1-3     of the County Courts at Law No. 6 and No. 7 of El Paso County,

 1-4     Texas, and to the assignment of certain judges in El Paso County.

 1-5           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-6           SECTION 1.  Section 25.0731(a), Government Code, is amended

 1-7     to read as follows:

 1-8           (a)  El Paso County has the following statutory county

 1-9     courts:

1-10                 (1)  County Court at Law No. 1 of El Paso County,

1-11     Texas;

1-12                 (2)  County Court at Law No. 2 of El Paso County,

1-13     Texas;

1-14                 (3)  County Court at Law No. 3 of El Paso County,

1-15     Texas;

1-16                 (4)  County Court at Law No. 4 of El Paso County,

1-17     Texas;  [and]

1-18                 (5)  County Court at Law No. 5 of El Paso County,

1-19     Texas;

1-20                 (6)  County Court at Law No. 6 of El Paso County,

1-21     Texas; and

1-22                 (7)  County Court at Law No. 7 of El Paso County,

1-23     Texas.

1-24           SECTION 2.  Section 75.014, Government Code, is amended to

 2-1     read as follows:

 2-2           Sec. 75.014.  EL PASO COUNCIL OF JUDGES.  (a)  The El Paso

 2-3     Council of Judges is composed of the judges of the district courts

 2-4     of El Paso County, [and] the judges of the county courts at law of

 2-5     El Paso County, and the judge of the probate court of El Paso

 2-6     County.

 2-7           (b)  The council of judges may require the district clerk to

 2-8     maintain, arrange, and preserve copies of or record all or any part

 2-9     of the acts, proceedings, and minutes of the council of judges.

2-10     The district clerk shall maintain, arrange, and preserve those

2-11     acts, proceedings, and minutes in the same manner that acts,

2-12     proceedings, and minutes of the district court are maintained,

2-13     arranged, and preserved.

2-14           (c)  Unless the council of judges by majority vote provides

2-15     otherwise, the judges on the council of judges may sit and act for

2-16     any magistrate in the county on any unindicted felony case or on

2-17     any misdemeanor case for which an indictment has not been issued or

2-18     an information has not been filed.

2-19           (d)  The offices, courtrooms, physical facilities, equipment,

2-20     furniture, and books provided by the El Paso Commissioners Court

2-21     for the court system and its auxiliary services, judges, and court

2-22     personnel, except for the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Court of

2-23     Appeals District, shall be allocated and utilized as provided by a

2-24     majority vote of the council of judges.

2-25           (e)  The County Courts at Law No. 6 and No. 7 of El Paso

2-26     County, Texas, are designated as criminal misdemeanor courts.

2-27     Courts designated as criminal misdemeanor courts shall give

 3-1     preference to and have primary responsibility for:

 3-2                 (1)  criminal misdemeanor cases;

 3-3                 (2)  appeals or petitions under Section 501.052,

 3-4     521.242, 521.302, or 524.041, Transportation Code;

 3-5                 (3)  misdemeanor bail bond and personal bond forfeiture

 3-6     cases; and

 3-7                 (4)  appeals de novo from the municipal and justice

 3-8     courts.

 3-9           (f)  The council of judges may by majority vote periodically

3-10     change the criminal misdemeanor designations provided by Subsection

3-11     (e) so that different county courts at law are designated as

3-12     criminal misdemeanor courts.   At least four county courts at law

3-13     must be designated as criminal misdemeanor courts, except that, for

3-14     any period for which the commissioners court has provided funding

3-15     for more than one criminal law magistrate judge:

3-16                 (1)  the council of judges may by majority vote

3-17     designate a county court at law as a family court; and

3-18                 (2)  there may be fewer than four designated criminal

3-19     misdemeanor courts, if the criminal misdemeanor docket permits, as

3-20     determined by a majority vote of the council of judges.

3-21           (f-1)  Notwithstanding Subsection (f), before the date on

3-22     which the County Court at Law No. 7 of El Paso County, Texas, is

3-23     created, the council of judges shall designate two county courts at

3-24     law, in addition to the County Court at Law No. 6 of El Paso

3-25     County, Texas, as criminal misdemeanor courts.  This subsection

3-26     expires October 2, 1998.

3-27           (g)  For the effective operation of the El Paso County court

 4-1     system and the effective administration of justice, the council of

 4-2     judges shall order the assignment, docketing, and transfer of a

 4-3     specified number or percentage and type of family law cases and

 4-4     proceedings, as defined by Section 25.0002, to the county court at

 4-5     law designated as a family court under Subsection (f).  If, after a

 4-6     county court at law is designated a family court, funding for more

 4-7     than one criminal law magistrate judge is not continued, the

 4-8     council of judges may order that:

 4-9                 (1)  the designation of the county court at law as a

4-10     family law court be retracted; and

4-11                 (2)  a specified number or percentage and type of

4-12     family law cases and proceedings in that court be transferred to

4-13     other courts for the effective operation of the court system and

4-14     the effective administration of justice [This subsection takes

4-15     effect on the date the County Court at Law No. 6 of El Paso County,

4-16     Texas, is created.  The El Paso Council of Judges shall ensure that

4-17     the judge of a county court at law with the least seniority or time

4-18     on the bench as an El Paso County court at law judge serves as the

4-19     "magistrate judge" and gives preference to magistrate duties, as

4-20     those duties apply to the county jail inmate population.  If two or

4-21     more new judges of the county courts at law of El Paso County take

4-22     office on the same day, the judge who has been a member of the

4-23     Texas Bar Association for the shortest time serves as the

4-24     magistrate judge.  The council of judges shall ensure that the

4-25     magistrate judge's civil, probate, and criminal docket is kept to a

4-26     minimum or that causes or proceedings are not filed or docketed on

4-27     one or more of those dockets so that the judge may perform the

 5-1     magistrate duties required by this section and the El Paso Council

 5-2     of Judges.  The council of judges shall cause any excessive

 5-3     caseload on the civil, probate, or criminal dockets of the

 5-4     magistrate judge to be transferred or assigned to other courts.

 5-5     The council of judges shall cause the magistrate judge to maintain

 5-6     the judge's courtroom at the courtroom located in the El Paso

 5-7     County Jail, also known as the El Paso County Detention Facility.

 5-8     When a magistrate judge is no longer the county court at law judge

 5-9     with the least seniority or time on the bench as a county court at

5-10     law judge, the judge is entitled to a courtroom in the courthouse,

5-11     and the new magistrate judge is subject to this section.  The

5-12     council of judges shall cause the civil, probate, and criminal

5-13     docket of a new magistrate judge to be transferred or assigned to

5-14     the former magistrate judge who has moved to the courthouse and

5-15     take all other actions to implement the objective and intent of

5-16     this subsection considering the circumstances in the county court

5-17     system.  Unless the council of judges provides otherwise, criminal

5-18     cases may be assigned under Section 75.015 to the magistrate judge

5-19     without the consent of the magistrate judge, notwithstanding the

5-20     requirements for written consent to assignment and filing the

5-21     written consent to assignment with the local administrative judge

5-22     under Section 75.015].

5-23            SECTION 3.  Section 25.0732(r), Government Code, is amended

5-24     to read as follows:

5-25           (r)  Sections 25.0006(b) and 25.0007 do not apply to County

5-26     Court at Law No. 2, 3, 4, [or] 5, 6, or 7 of El Paso County, Texas.

5-27           SECTION 4.  Notwithstanding Section 25.0731, Government Code,

 6-1     as amended by this Act:

 6-2                 (1)  the County Court at Law No. 6 of El Paso County,

 6-3     Texas, is created on October 1, 1998, or on an earlier date

 6-4     determined by the commissioners court in an order entered in its

 6-5     minutes; and

 6-6                 (2)  the County Court at Law No. 7 of El Paso County,

 6-7     Texas, is created on October 1, 1998, or on an earlier date

 6-8     determined by the commissioners court in an order entered in its

 6-9     minutes.

6-10           SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

6-11           SECTION 6.  The importance of this legislation and the

6-12     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

6-13     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

6-14     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

6-15     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.