BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 1314

By: Raymond

Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Recently, the board of judges in Webb County unanimously passed a resolution to equally distribute the criminal, family, tax, and civil cases among the four district courts, with the goal of ensuring that dockets are not overloaded and that the judges have a balanced case load. In a justice system with limited resources, most will agree that judicial economy is beneficial to the maintenance of our courts. H.B. 1314 seeks to support this effort to enhance the efficient operation of the courts by making appropriate changes to statute governing the operation of the 111th District Court.

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

H.B. 1314 amends the Government Code to change the days on which the terms of the 111th District Court begin to the first Mondays in January, April, July, and October, instead of the first Mondays in January, March, May, July, September, and November, and to specify that each term continues until the court disposes of its business. The bill establishes that the 111th District Court has concurrent jurisdiction with the other district courts in Webb County and removes a provision of law prohibiting the judge of that court from impaneling a grand jury. The bill authorizes a criminal complaint to be presented to the grand jury of any district court in Webb County and authorizes a resulting indictment to be returned to any other district court in Webb County with the appropriate criminal jurisdiction.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2011.