By: Wentworth S.B. No. 729
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a weighted caseload study of the district courts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. STUDY. (a) The Office of Court Administration
of the Texas Judicial System shall contract with an independent
nonprofit organization that specializes in providing technical
assistance and consulting services to courts to conduct a study of
the caseloads of the district courts in this state for the purpose
of making recommendations regarding the implementation of a
systematic approach for analyzing the need for new district courts.
The study must concentrate on the weighted caseload of each
district court, considering the nature and complexity of the cases
heard by each court.
(b) Not later than September 1, 2006, the organization that
conducts the study required by Subsection (a) of this section shall
report the results of the study to the Office of Court
Administration of the Texas Judicial System. Not later than
October 1, 2006, the office shall file a report on those results
with the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the
house of representatives, and the chairs of the standing committees
of the senate and house of representatives with jurisdiction over
the judicial system.
SECTION 2. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act takes effect September
1, 2005.