By: Sparks S.B. No. 2491
 
 
 
   
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to qualifications for a retired judge's appointment as a
  visiting judge to a constitutional county court.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 26, Government Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 26.023.  APPOINTMENT FOR ABSENCE OF JUDGE.  (a)  The
  county judge may appoint a retired judge or a constitutional county
  judge from another county as a visiting judge when the county judge
  is absent from the county or absent because of physical incapacity.
         (b)  The visiting judge shall sit in all matters that are
  docketed on any of the county court's dockets and has the powers of
  the county judge in relation to the matter involved.
         (c)  Without the consent of the commissioners court,
  visiting judges appointed under this section may not sit for more
  than 15 working days during a calendar year.
         (d)  The order appointing the visiting judge shall be noted
  in the docket of the court.
         (e)  For the purposes of this Chapter, a "retired judge" is
  defined as a person who meets the requirements of Government Code
  Subsection 74.041(6). 
         SECTION 2.  SUBCHAPTER C, Chapter 74, ADMINISTRATIVE
  JUDICIAL REGIONS is amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 74.041.  DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
         (1)  "Administrative region" means an administrative
  judicial region created by Section 74.042.
         (2)  "Presiding judge" means the presiding judge of an
  administrative region.
         (3)  "Retiree" means a person who has retired under the
  Judicial Retirement System of Texas, the Judicial Retirement System
  of Texas Plan One, or the Judicial Retirement System of Texas Plan
  Two.
         (4)  "Active judge" means a person who is a current judicial
  officeholder.
         (5)  "Former judge" means a person who has served as an
  active judge in a district, statutory probate, statutory county, or
  appellate court, but who is not a retired judge.
         (6)  "Retired judge" means:
         (A)  a retiree; or
         (B)  a person who served as an active judge for at least 96
  months in a statutory probate and has retired under the Texas County
  and District Retirement System; or
         (C)  A person who served as an active judge for at least 96
  months in a constitutional county court or who served at least 48
  months in a constitutional county court and who is a licensed
  attorney in the state. 
         (7)  "Senior judge" means a retiree who has elected to be a
  judicial officer under Section 75.001.
         SECTION 3.  SUBCHAPTER C, Chapter 74, ADMINISTRATIVE
  JUDICIAL REGIONS is amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 74.055.  LIST OF RETIRED AND FORMER JUDGES SUBJECT TO
  ASSIGNMENT.  (a)  Each presiding judge shall maintain a list of
  retired and former judges who meet the requirements of this
  section.
         (b)  The presiding judge shall divide the list into area
  specialties of criminal, civil, or domestic relations cases. A
  retired or former judge may only be assigned to a case in the
  judge's area of specialty. A judge may qualify for assignment in
  more than one area of specialty.
         (c)  To be eligible to be named on the list, a retired or
  former judge must:
         (1A)  have served as an active judge for at least 96 months in
  a district, statutory probate, statutory county, or appellate
  court; or
         (1B)  have served as an active judge for at least 96 months in
  a constitutional county court, or have served as an active judge for
  at least 48 months in a constitutional county court and who is a
  licensed attorney in the state. 
         (2)  have developed substantial experience in the judge's
  area of specialty;
         (3)  not have been removed from office;
         (4)  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 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;
         (5)  annually demonstrate that the judge has completed in the
  past state fiscal year the educational requirements for active
  district, statutory probate, and statutory county court judges; and
         (6)  certify to the presiding judge a willingness not to
  appear and plead as an attorney in any court in this state for a
  period of two years.
         (d)  Repealed by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 315, Sec. 15.
         (e)  For purposes of Subsection (c)(1), a month of service is
  calculated as a calendar month or a portion of a calendar month in
  which a judge was authorized by election or appointment to preside.
         (f)  A former or retired judge is ineligible to be named on
  the list if the former or retired judge is identified in a public
  statement issued by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct as
  having resigned or retired from office in lieu of discipline.
         (g)  A former or retired judge named on the list shall
  immediately notify the presiding judge of a full investigation by
  the State Commission on Judicial Conduct into an allegation or
  appearance of misconduct or disability by the judge. A judge who
  does not notify the presiding judge of an investigation as required
  by this subsection is ineligible to remain on the list.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.