78R5987 YDB-D

By:  Swinford                                                     H.B. No. 1755



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the assignment of visiting judges.                                
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 74.053(b), Government Code, is amended 
to read as follows:
	(b)  If a party to a civil or criminal case files a timely 
objection to the assignment, the judge shall not hear the case. 
Except as provided by Subsection (d), each party to the case is only 
entitled to one objection under this section for that case.
	SECTION 2.  Section 74.055(c), Government Code, is amended 
to read as follows:
	(c)  To be eligible to be named on the list, a retired or 
former judge must: 
		(1)  have served as a judge for at least 48 months in a 
district, statutory probate, statutory county, or appellate court;
		(2)  have developed substantial experience in the 
judge's area of specialty;
		(3)  not have been removed from office;                                       
		(4)  certify under oath to the presiding judge, on a 
form prescribed by the state board of regional judges, that the 
judge did not resign from office after having received notice that 
formal proceedings by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct had 
been instituted as provided in Section 33.022 and before the final 
disposition of the proceedings;
		(5)  annually demonstrate that the judge has completed 
in the past calendar year the educational requirements for active 
district, statutory probate, and statutory county court judges; 
[and]
		(6)  certify to the presiding judge a willingness not 
to appear and plead as an attorney in any court in this state for a 
period of two years; and
		(7)  not have been defeated in an election in which the 
judge was a candidate for a district, statutory, or county court.
	SECTION 3.  (a)  This Act applies only to  the eligibility of 
a judge for an assignment made under Chapter 74, Government Code, or 
the right to object to the assignment of a judge assigned under that 
chapter on or after the effective date of this Act.
	(b)  The eligibility for an assignment made under Chapter 74, 
Government Code, before the effective date of this Act, and the 
objection to the assignment of a judge under that chapter are 
governed by the law in effect on the date the assignment was made, 
and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.