1-1     By:  Harris                                            S.B. No. 250
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed January 16, 2001; January 17, 2001,
 1-3     read first time and referred to Committee on Jurisprudence;
 1-4     February 21, 2001, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
 1-5     Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 6, Nays 0;
 1-6     February 21, 2001, sent to printer.)
 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 250                     By:  West
 1-8                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-9                                   AN ACT
1-10     relating to the persons who are eligible for appointment as a
1-11     temporary justice of the peace.
1-12           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13           SECTION 1.  Subsections (c) and (e), Section 27.055,
1-14     Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
1-15           (c)  In Subsection (b), "qualified person" means a person
1-16     who:
1-17                 (1)  has served [as a justice of the peace] for not
1-18     less than 4 1/2 years as a:
1-19                       (A)  justice of the peace;
1-20                       (B)  master or magistrate for a district court;
1-21                       (C)  judge of a:
1-22                             (i)  municipal court;
1-23                             (ii)  constitutional county court;
1-24                             (iii)  statutory county court; or
1-25                             (iv)  district court; or
1-26                       (D)  justice of an appellate court; or
1-27                 (2)  has served as an attorney for 10 years; and
1-28                 (3)  [who] has not been convicted of a criminal offense
1-29     that involves moral turpitude.
1-30           (e)  The county judge may appoint any qualified voter under
1-31     Section 11.002, Election Code, to serve as a temporary justice of
1-32     the peace if the judge cannot find a qualified person [who agrees]
1-33     to serve under Subsection (b).
1-34           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001, and
1-35     applies only to the appointment of a person under Section 27.055,
1-36     Government Code, made on or after that date.  An appointment made
1-37     before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
1-38     effect at the time the appointment is made, and that law is
1-39     continued in effect for that purpose.
1-40                                  * * * * *