By Garcia                                              H.B. No. 589
         77R2820 JMC-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the disqualification or recusal of a judge or justice
 1-3     in a criminal case.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Article 30.01, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
 1-6     amended to read as follows:
 1-7           Art. 30.01.  CAUSES WHICH DISQUALIFY AND GROUND FOR RECUSAL.
 1-8     (a)  No judge or justice of the peace shall sit in any case where:
 1-9                 (1)  the judge or justice [he] may be the party
1-10     injured;
1-11                 (2)  the judge or justice [, or where he] has been of
1-12     counsel for the State or the accused; or
1-13                 (3)  [, or where] the accused or the party injured may
1-14     be connected with the judge or justice [him] by consanguinity or
1-15     affinity within the third degree, as determined under Chapter 573,
1-16     Government Code.
1-17           (b)  A judge or justice of the peace shall recuse himself or
1-18     herself in any case in which the total amount of political
1-19     contributions, as defined by Section 251.001, Election Code,
1-20     accepted by the judge or justice from a party or an attorney of
1-21     record in the case or the attorney's law firm during the preceding
1-22     two years is more than $500.
1-23           (c)  The parties in a case may waive a ground for recusal
1-24     described by Subsection (b) if the ground is fully disclosed on the
 2-1     record.
 2-2           (d)  If a party files a motion to disqualify or recuse under
 2-3     this article and the judge or justice of the peace does not grant
 2-4     the motion, the judge or justice shall follow the same procedure in
 2-5     disposing of the motion as a motion for recusal or disqualification
 2-6     in a civil case under Rule 18a, Texas Rules of Civil Procedure.
 2-7           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001, and
 2-8     applies to all proceedings occurring on or after that date without
 2-9     regard to whether the trial of the offense began before, on, or
2-10     after the effective date of this Act.