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.