BILL ANALYSIS
By: Gattis
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Under current law, candidates in the primary for chief justice or justice for one of the fourteen courts of appeals are required to pay a filing fee of $2,500, if the county in which the court of appeals district is partly or wholly located has a population of more than 850,000. Candidates for Appeals Districts containing counties with smaller populations pay a lower filing fee. In another section of the Election Code, appellate judicial candidates for districts with the higher population bracket are also required to obtain petition signatures before their names can be placed on the primary ballot. As written, the population brackets provide that the higher fee and petition requirement do not include some important metropolitan districts, such as the district containing Travis county. House Bill 964 lowers the population threshold of districts for appellate justices who are required to pay the higher fee and obtain petition signatures.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
ANALYSIS
House Bill 964 amends the Election Code by providing that the filing fee for a candidate for nomination in the general primary election for chief justice or justice of a court of appeals that serves a court of appeals district in which a county with a population of more than 750,000, rather than 850,000, is wholly or partially situated, is $2,500.
EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2005.