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.