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BILL ANALYSIS |
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
San Antonio's current law contains statutes specific to the municipal courts in San Antonio that,
among other things, provide for a San Antonio municipal court system where the chief clerk also
is the assistant city manager and, thus, answerable to the city manager. The statute specific to San Antonio requires a court reporter be present at any proceeding, while general municipal court law provides that the court reporter can be replaced by electronic recording. An evaluation of the court system by an external consultant, however, recommended that San Antonio run its
municipal courts the same way as other municipal courts around the state to ensure the proper
independence of the courts and remove a layer of bureaucracy, providing a more efficient
system. This recommendation was adopted by the San Antonio city council.
C.S.H.B. 4657 repeals Subchapter F, Chapter 30, Government Code, relating to municipal courts of record in San Antonio.
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
C.S.H.B. 4657 repeals Subchapter F, Chapter 30, Government Code, relating to municipal courts of record in San Antonio.
EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2009.
COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE
The substitute is a Texas Legislative Council document and the original was not.