78R285 KLA-D

By:  Talton                                                       H.B. No. 680



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to a motion for recusal or disqualification of a statutory 
probate court judge.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 25.00255, Government Code, is amended by 
amending Subsections (i), (j), and (k), and adding Subsections (l), 
(m), and (n) to read as follows:
	(i)  After receiving a request under Subsection (g) or (h), 
the presiding judge of the statutory probate courts shall:
		(1)  immediately set a hearing before the presiding 
judge [himself] or a judge designated by the presiding judge on a 
date not later than the 14th day after the date the motion for 
recusal or disqualification was filed;  or
		(2)  request that the presiding judge of the 
administrative judicial region in which the statutory probate court 
is located designate the judge of a county court or statutory court 
with probate jurisdiction to hear the motion in the period 
prescribed by Subdivision (1), if no statutory probate judge is 
available to hear the motion in that period.
	(j)  The presiding judge of the statutory probate courts or 
of the administrative judicial region, as appropriate, shall:
		(1) [(2)]  cause notice of the hearing to be given to 
all parties or their counsel to the case not later than the third 
day before the date on which the hearing is set; and
		(2) [(3)]  make other orders, including orders for 
interim or ancillary relief, in the pending case.
	(k)  The judge assigned to hear a motion for recusal or 
disqualification under this section shall conduct the hearing and 
render an order on the motion.  The judge may not dismiss the motion 
sua sponte.
	(l)  The judge, other than the presiding judge of the 
statutory probate courts, who hears the motion for recusal or 
disqualification shall immediately forward a copy of the signed 
order on the motion to the presiding judge of the statutory probate 
courts.  The judge of a county court or statutory court who hears 
the motion shall also immediately forward a copy of the signed order 
to the presiding judge of the administrative judicial region.
	(m) [(j)]  After a statutory probate court has rendered the 
final judgment in a case, a party may appeal an order that denies a 
motion for recusal or disqualification as an abuse of the court's 
discretion.  A party may not appeal an order that grants a motion 
for recusal or disqualification.
	(n) [(k)]  A party may file a motion for sanctions alleging 
that another party in the case filed a motion for the recusal or 
disqualification of a judge solely to delay the case and without 
sufficient cause.  The presiding judge of the statutory probate 
courts or of the administrative judicial region or the judge 
assigned by either [the] presiding judge to hear the motion for 
recusal may approve a motion for sanctions authorized by Rule 
215.2(b), Texas Rules of Civil Procedure.
	SECTION 2.  Section 25.00255, Government Code, as amended by 
this Act, applies to a motion for recusal or disqualification of a 
statutory probate court judge filed on or after September 1, 2003.  
A motion for recusal or disqualification of a judge filed before 
September 1, 2003, is governed by the law in effect on the date the 
motion was filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that 
purpose.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.