By Driver H.J.R. No. 91
77R8981 JSA-D
A JOINT RESOLUTION
1-1 proposing a constitutional amendment to eliminate obsolete,
1-2 duplicative, or unnecessary provisions and to correct outdated
1-3 provisions of the Texas Constitution.
1-4 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Sections 1-a(1) and (2), Article V, Texas
1-6 Constitution, are amended to read as follows:
1-7 (1) Subject to the further provisions of this Section, the
1-8 Legislature shall provide for the retirement and compensation of
1-9 Justices and Judges of the Appellate Courts and District and
1-10 Criminal District Courts on account of length of service, age and
1-11 disability, and for their reassignment to active duty where and
1-12 when needed. The office of every such Justice and Judge shall
1-13 become vacant when the incumbent reaches the age of seventy-five
1-14 (75) years or such earlier age, not less than seventy (70) years,
1-15 as the Legislature may prescribe[; but, in the case of an
1-16 incumbent whose term of office includes the effective date of this
1-17 Amendment, this provision shall not prevent him from serving the
1-18 remainder of said term nor be applicable to him before his period
1-19 or periods of judicial service shall have reached a total of ten
1-20 (10) years].
1-21 (2) The [name of the State Judicial Qualifications
1-22 Commission is changed to the] State Commission on Judicial
1-23 Conduct[. The Commission] consists of eleven (11) members, to wit:
1-24 (i) one (1) Justice of a Court of Appeals; (ii) one (1) District
2-1 Judge; (iii) two (2) members of the State Bar, who have
2-2 respectively practiced as such for over ten (10) consecutive years
2-3 next preceding their selection; (iiii) four (4) citizens, at least
2-4 thirty (30) years of age, not licensed to practice law nor holding
2-5 any salaried public office or employment; (v) one (1) Justice of
2-6 the Peace; (vi) one (1) Judge of a Municipal Court; and, (vii) one
2-7 (1) Judge of a County Court at Law; provided that no person shall
2-8 be or remain a member of the Commission, who does not maintain
2-9 physical residence within this State, or who resides in, or holds a
2-10 judgeship within or for, the same Supreme Judicial District as
2-11 another member of the Commission, or who shall have ceased to
2-12 retain the qualifications above specified for his respective class
2-13 of membership, except that the Justice of the Peace and the Judges
2-14 of a Municipal Court and or a County Court at Law shall be selected
2-15 at large without regard to whether they reside or hold a judgeship
2-16 in the same Supreme Judicial District as another member of the
2-17 Commission. Commissioners of classes (i), (ii), and (vii) above
2-18 shall be chosen by the Supreme Court with advice and consent of the
2-19 Senate, those of class (iii) by the Board of Directors of the State
2-20 Bar under regulations to be prescribed by the Supreme Court with
2-21 advice and consent of the Senate, those of class (iiii) by
2-22 appointment of the Governor with advice and consent of the Senate,
2-23 and the commissioners of classes (v) and (vi) by appointment of the
2-24 Supreme Court as provided by law, with the advice and consent of
2-25 the Senate.
2-26 SECTION 2. Section 28, Article V, Texas Constitution, is
2-27 amended to read as follows:
3-1 Sec. 28. Vacancies in the office of judges of the Supreme
3-2 Court, the Court of Criminal Appeals, the Court of [Civil] Appeals
3-3 and the District Courts shall be filled by the Governor until the
3-4 next succeeding General Election; and vacancies in the office of
3-5 County Judge and Justices of the Peace shall be filled by the
3-6 Commissioners Court until the next succeeding General Election.
3-7 SECTION 3. Section 1-a, Article VIII, Texas Constitution, is
3-8 amended to read as follows:
3-9 Sec. 1-a. [No State ad valorem tax shall be levied upon any
3-10 property within this State.] The several counties of the State are
3-11 authorized to levy ad valorem taxes upon all property within their
3-12 respective boundaries for county purposes, except the first Three
3-13 Thousand Dollars ($3,000) value of residential homesteads of
3-14 married or unmarried adults, male or female, including those living
3-15 alone, not to exceed thirty cents (30 ) on each One Hundred Dollars
3-16 ($100) valuation, in addition to all other ad valorem taxes
3-17 authorized by the Constitution of this State, provided the revenue
3-18 derived therefrom shall be used for construction and maintenance of
3-19 Farm to Market Roads or for Flood Control, except as herein
3-20 otherwise provided.
3-21 SECTION 4. Section 1-e, Article VIII, Texas Constitution, is
3-22 amended to read as follows:
3-23 Sec. 1-e. [1.] No State ad valorem taxes shall be levied
3-24 upon any property within this State.
3-25 [2. All receipts from previously authorized State ad valorem
3-26 taxes that are collected on or after the effective date of the 1982
3-27 amendment to this section shall be deposited to the credit of the
4-1 general fund of the county collecting the taxes and may be expended
4-2 for county purposes. Receipts from taxes collected before that
4-3 date shall be distributed by the legislature among institutions
4-4 eligible to receive distributions under prior law. Those receipts
4-5 and receipts distributed under prior law may be expended for the
4-6 purposes provided under prior law or for repair and renovation of
4-7 existing permanent improvements.]
4-8 SECTION 5. This proposed constitutional amendment shall be
4-9 submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 6, 2001.
4-10 The ballot shall be printed to permit voting for or against the
4-11 proposition: "The constitutional amendment to eliminate obsolete,
4-12 duplicative, or unnecessary provisions and to correct outdated
4-13 provisions of the Texas Constitution."