HBA-LCA H.B. 2876 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2876 By: Puente Judicial Affairs 4/5/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Current law requires that an order referring a case to a magistrate be in writing. To save time, H.B. 2876 gives a judge the option of reading the order of referral into the record when referring a case to a magistrate. 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 Section 54.907(a), Government Code, to authorize a judge to issue a written order of referral, or to read the order into the minutes of the court, when referring one or more cases to a magistrate. SECTION 2. Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage.