HBA-ATS H.B. 869 76(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 869 By: Goodman Juvenile Justice & Family Issues 6/28/1999 Enrolled BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The Family Code authorizes the appointment of an associate judge to preside over any aspect of a suit over which the court has jurisdiction under specific provisions of the Family Code. An associate judge may conduct hearings, hear evidence, make findings of fact on evidence, formulate conclusions of law, recommend an order to be rendered in a case, and perform other enumerated functions. When an associate judge is unable to sit because of illness, vacation, or attendance at a judicial conference, family law proceedings are hampered. H.B. 869 allows counties to fill these vacancies by authorizing the appointment of a visiting associate judge to perform an associate judge's duties during a temporary absence. This bill authorizes the appointment of a visiting associate judge only if the commissioners court of the county in which the court sits authorizes such employment. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Subchapter A, Chapter 201, Family Code, by adding Section 201.018, as follows: Sec. 201.018. VISITING ASSOCIATE JUDGE. (a) Authorizes the appointment of a visiting associate judge, if the county commissioners court authorizes the employment of a visiting associate judge, to perform an associate judge's duties during the temporary absence or disability of the associate judge. (b) Requires a person to have served as an associate judge for at least six years to be eligible for appointment as a visiting associate judge. (c) Specifies that Sections 201.001 through 201.017 are applicable to a visiting associate judge. (d) Establishes that Section 201.018 is inapplicable to a master appointed under Subchapter B (Child Support Master). SECTION 2. Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage.