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78R12414 YDB-D
By: King H.B. No. 3600
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to jurisdiction, practice, and procedures of county courts
at law in Parker County and to the creation of the County Court at
Law No. 2 of Parker County.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 25.1861(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) Parker County has the following [one] statutory county
courts:
(1) [court,] the County Court at Law of Parker County;
and
(2) the County Court at Law No. 2 of Parker County.
SECTION 2. Section 25.1862, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a), (b), (d), (e), (f), (i), (k), and (m) and
adding Subsections (c) and (n)-(x) to read as follows:
(a) In addition to the jurisdiction provided by Section
25.0003 and other law, and except as limited by Subsection (b), a
county court at law in Parker County has the [concurrent]
jurisdiction provided by the constitution and by general law for
[with the] district courts [court in:
[(1) civil cases in which the matter in controversy
exceeds $500 but does not exceed $500,000, excluding interest,
statutory or punitive damages and penalties, and attorney's fees
and costs, as alleged on the face of the petition; and
[(2) family law cases and proceedings].
(b) A [This section does not affect the right to appeal to a]
county court at law does not have jurisdiction of felony cases,
except as otherwise provided [from the justice courts in cases in
which the right of appeal to the county court exists] by law.
(c) A county court at law does not have general supervisory
control over the commissioners court.
(d) A [The judge of a] county court at law may not issue
writs of habeas corpus in felony cases [engage in the private
practice of law].
(e) The district clerk serves as clerk of a county court at
law in cases in the concurrent jurisdiction of the county courts at
law and the district courts, and the county clerk serves as the
clerk in all other cases. The district clerk shall establish a
separate docket for each [judge of a] county court at law [shall be
paid an annual salary of at least $40,000].
(f) A special judge of a county court at law [If the regular
judge of a county court at law is absent, disabled, or disqualified
from presiding, a special judge with the same qualifications as the
regular judge] may be appointed or elected in the manner provided by
law for the appointment or election of a special county judge.
(i) The district attorney or county attorney and the county
sheriff, in person or by deputy, shall attend a county court at law
as required by the judge.
(k) If a jury trial is requested in a case that is in a
county court at law's jurisdiction as provided by Subsection (a),
the jury shall be composed of six members unless the constitution
requires a 12-member jury. Failure to object before a six-member
jury is seated and sworn constitutes a waiver of a 12-member jury.
[With the approval of the commissioners court, the judge of a county
court at law may appoint personnel necessary to administer court
activities. The appointed personnel shall perform the duties
prescribed by the judge and shall cooperate with state agencies for
the uniform and efficient operation of the courts and the
administration of justice. The personnel are entitled to be paid
from county funds the compensation, fees, and allowances that are
set by the commissioners court or as otherwise provided by law.]
(m) On request of a county court at law judge, jurors
regularly impaneled for a week by the district courts may be made
available and shall serve for the week in the county court at law
[Sections 25.0005(b), 25.0006, and 25.0008 do not apply to a county
court at law in Parker County].
(n) A county court at law of Parker County may summon jurors
for service in the court in the manner provided by law for county
courts. Juries summoned for the County Court of Parker County or a
county court at law of Parker County may, by order of the judge of
the court in which they are summoned, be transferred to the other
court for service.
(o) The judge of a county court at law shall be paid an
annual salary that is at least equal to the amount that is $1,000
less than the total annual salary, including supplements, received
by a district judge in the county.
(p) A vacancy in the office of judge of a county court at law
is filled by appointment by the commissioners court.
(q) The judges of the county courts at law may divide each
term of court into as many sessions as they consider necessary for
the disposition of business and may extend a particular term of
court if practicable for the efficient and justiciable disposition
of individual proceedings and matters.
(r) The official court reporter of a county court at law
must be well skilled in the court reporter's profession. The
official court reporter of a county court at law is a sworn officer
of the court who holds office at the pleasure of the court. The
official court reporter of a county court at law is entitled to
receive at least the same amount as compensation as the official
court reporters in the district courts in the county. The
compensation shall be paid in the same manner that the district
court reporters are paid.
(s) If any cause or proceeding is lodged with the district
clerk and the district clerk files, dockets, or assigns the cause or
proceeding in or to a county court at law and the county court at law
does not have subject matter jurisdiction over the cause or
proceeding, then the filing, docketing, or assignment of the cause
or proceeding in or to a county court at law is considered a
clerical error and that clerical error shall be corrected by a
judgment or order nunc pro tunc. The cause or proceeding is
considered filed, docketed, or assigned to the district court of
the local administrative judge in the first instance rather than to
a county court at law. The judge of a county court at law who acts
in the cause or proceeding is considered assigned to the district
court of the local administrative judge for that purpose and has all
the powers of the judge of that district court under the assignment.
(t) A county court at law judge has jurisdiction to grant an
order permitting a marriage ceremony to take place during a 72-hour
period immediately following the issuance of a marriage license in
Parker County.
(u) The judges of the county courts at law have the same
judicial immunity as a district judge.
(v) In matters of concurrent jurisdiction, a judge of a
county court at law and a judge of a district court or another
county court at law may transfer cases between the courts in the
same manner judges of district courts transfer cases under Section
24.303.
(w) A judge of a county court at law and a judge of a
district court may exchange benches and may sit and act for each
other in any matter pending before the court.
(x) The judges of the county courts at law may from time to
time transfer criminal misdemeanor cases to other county courts at
law to equalize the criminal misdemeanor dockets of the county
courts at law for the efficient operation of the court system and
the effective administration of justice.
SECTION 3. Section 25.1863(b), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) A county court at law has concurrent jurisdiction with
the district court over contested probate matters. Notwithstanding
the requirement in Subsection (b), Section 5, Texas Probate Code,
that the judge of the constitutional county court transfer a
contested probate proceeding to the district court, the judge of
the constitutional county court shall transfer the proceeding under
that section to either the County Court at Law of Parker County [a
county court at law] or the district court. The county court at law
has the jurisdiction, powers, and duties that a district court has
under Subsection (b), Section 5, Texas Probate Code, for the
transferred proceeding, and the county clerk acts as clerk for the
proceeding. The contested proceeding may be transferred between
the county court at law and the district court as provided by local
rules of administration.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.