1-1 By: Hilderbran (Senate Sponsor - Wentworth) H.B. No. 2136 1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House April 26, 1999; 1-3 April 27, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on 1-4 Intergovernmental Relations; May 7, 1999, reported adversely, with 1-5 favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 1-6 0; May 7, 1999, sent to printer.) 1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 2136 By: Lindsay 1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-9 AN ACT 1-10 relating to the creation of the County Court at Law of Kendall 1-11 County. 1-12 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-13 SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 25, Government Code, is 1-14 amended by adding Sections 25.1321 and 25.1322 to read as follows: 1-15 Sec. 25.1321. KENDALL COUNTY. Kendall County has one 1-16 statutory county court, the County Court at Law of Kendall County. 1-17 Sec. 25.1322. KENDALL COUNTY COURT AT LAW PROVISIONS. 1-18 (a) In addition to the jurisdiction provided by Section 25.0003 1-19 and other law, and except as limited by Subsection (b), a county 1-20 court at law of Kendall County has concurrent jurisdiction with the 1-21 district court. 1-22 (b) A county court at law does not have jurisdiction of: 1-23 (1) felony cases, except as otherwise provided by law; 1-24 (2) misdemeanors involving official misconduct; or 1-25 (3) contested elections. 1-26 (c) A county court at law may not issue a writ of habeas 1-27 corpus in a felony case over which the court has jurisdiction. 1-28 (d) The commissioners court by order entered of record shall 1-29 set at least two terms of court each year for each county court at 1-30 law. 1-31 (e) A judge of a county court at law may not engage in the 1-32 private practice of law. 1-33 (f) A special judge of a county court at law may be 1-34 appointed or elected in the manner provided by law for the 1-35 appointment or election of a special county judge. 1-36 (g) The district clerk serves as the clerk of a county court 1-37 at law in matters in which the county court at law has concurrent 1-38 jurisdiction with the district court. The county clerk serves as 1-39 the clerk of a county court at law in all other matters. The 1-40 district clerk shall establish a separate docket for each county 1-41 court at law. 1-42 (h) A judge of a county court at law shall be paid an annual 1-43 salary that is at least equal to the amount that is $4,000 less 1-44 than the total annual salary, including supplements, received by a 1-45 district judge in the county. 1-46 (i) The county sheriff shall, in person or by deputy, attend 1-47 a county court at law as required by the judge. 1-48 (j) On request of a county court at law judge, jurors 1-49 regularly impaneled for a week by the district courts may be made 1-50 available and shall serve for the week in the county court at law. 1-51 (k) If any cause or proceeding is lodged with the district 1-52 clerk and the district clerk files, dockets, or assigns the cause 1-53 or proceeding in or to a county court at law and the county court 1-54 at law does not have subject matter jurisdiction over the cause or 1-55 proceeding, then the filing, docketing, or assignment of the cause 1-56 or proceeding in or to a county court at law is considered a 1-57 clerical error and that clerical error shall be corrected by a 1-58 judgment or order nunc pro tunc. The cause or proceeding is 1-59 considered filed, docketed, or assigned to the district court of 1-60 the local administrative judge in the first instance rather than to 1-61 a county court at law of Kendall County. The judge of a county 1-62 court at law of Kendall County who acts in the cause or proceeding 1-63 is considered assigned to the district court of the local 1-64 administrative judge for that purpose and has all the powers of the 2-1 judge of that district court under the assignment. 2-2 SECTION 2. Notwithstanding Section 25.1321, Government Code, 2-3 as added by this Act, the County Court at Law of Kendall County is 2-4 created January 1, 2001, or on an earlier date determined by the 2-5 commissioners court by an order entered in its minutes. 2-6 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the 2-7 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an 2-8 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the 2-9 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several 2-10 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended. 2-11 * * * * *