By: Watson, West  S.B. No. 416
         (In the Senate - Filed January 6, 2017; February 1, 2017,
  read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
  March 28, 2017, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 8,
  Nays 0; March 28, 2017, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to the composition of the board of directors of the State
  Bar of Texas.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 81.020, Government Code, is amended by
  amending Subsections (b) and (d) and adding Subsection (e) to read
  as follows:
         (b)  The board is composed of:
               (1)  the officers of the state bar;
               (2)  the president, president-elect, and immediate
  past president of the Texas Young Lawyers Association;
               (3)  not more than 30 members of the state bar elected
  by the membership from their district as determined by the board;
               (4)  six persons appointed by the supreme court and
  confirmed by the senate who are not attorneys and who do not have,
  other than as consumers, a financial interest in the practice of
  law; and
               (5)  four outreach [minority member] directors
  appointed by the president as provided by Subsections [Subsection]
  (d) and (e).
         (d)  The president of the state bar appoints the outreach
  [minority member] directors, subject to confirmation by the board
  of directors. In making appointments under this subsection, the
  president shall [attempt to] appoint directors who demonstrate the
  sensitivity and knowledge gained from experiences in the legal
  profession and community necessary to ensure the board represents
  the interests of attorneys from the varied backgrounds that compose
  the membership of the state bar, including members of historically
  underrepresented [members of the different minority] groups
  [listed in Section 81.002(7)].
         (e)  Outreach [Minority member] directors serve three-year
  terms. To be eligible for appointment as an outreach [a minority
  member] director, at the time of appointment a person may [must:
               [(1)  be a minority member of the bar;
               [(2)]  not be serving as:
               (1)  an elected director [at the time of appointment];
  or
               (2)  an outreach [and
               [(3)  not be serving as a minority member] director [at
  the time of appointment].
         SECTION 2.  Section 81.002(7), Government Code, is repealed.
         SECTION 3.  Notwithstanding Section 81.020, Government
  Code, as amended by this Act, a minority member serving on the board
  of directors of the State Bar of Texas on the effective date of this
  Act continues to serve the term to which the director was appointed.  
  On expiration of the director's term, the president of the State Bar
  of Texas shall appoint an outreach director as required by Section
  81.020, Government Code, as amended by this Act.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
 
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