By: Wentworth S.B. No. 477
 
 
 
   
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to eligibility for assignment as a visiting judge.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subsection (t), Section 25.0022, Government
  Code, is amended to read as follows:
         (t)  To be eligible for assignment under this section, a
  former or retired judge of a statutory probate court must:
               (1)  not have been removed from office; [and]
               (2)  certify under oath to the presiding judge, on a
  form prescribed by the state board of regional judges, that:
                     (A)  the judge has never been publicly reprimanded
  or censured by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct; and
                     (B)  the judge:
                           (i)  did not resign or retire from office
  after the State Commission on Judicial Conduct notified the judge
  of the commencement of a full investigation into an allegation or
  appearance of misconduct or disability of the judge [having
  received notice that formal proceedings by the State Commission on
  Judicial Conduct had been instituted] as provided in Section 33.022
  and before the final disposition of that investigation; or
                           (ii)  if the judge did resign from office
  under circumstances described by Subparagraph (i), was not publicly
  reprimanded or censured as a result of the investigation;
               (3)  annually demonstrate that the judge has completed
  in the past state fiscal year the educational requirements for an
  active statutory probate court judge;
               (4)  have served as an active judge for at least 96
  months in a district, statutory probate, statutory county, or
  appellate court; and
               (5)  have developed substantial experience in the
  judge's area of specialty [the proceedings].
         SECTION 2.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act by
  amending Subdivision (2), Subsection (t), Section 25.0022,
  Government Code, and by adding Subdivisions (4) and (5), Subsection
  (t), Section 25.0022, Government Code, applies only to an
  assignment of a visiting judge appointed under Chapter 25,
  Government Code, made on or after September 1, 2009. An assignment
  made before September 1, 2009, is governed by Subsection (t),
  Section 25.0022, Government Code, as it exists on the date of the
  assignment, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         (b)  The change in law made by this Act by amending
  Subdivision (2), Subsection (t), Section 25.0022, Government Code,
  and by adding Subdivisions (4) and (5), Subsection (t), Section
  25.0022, Government Code, does not apply to a person who
  immediately before the effective date of this Act meets the
  eligibility requirements to be assigned by the presiding judge
  under Subsection (h), Section 25.0022, Government Code, and the
  former law is continued in effect for determining that person's
  eligibility for that purpose.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.