BILL ANALYSIS

S.B. 664

By: Huffman

Criminal Jurisprudence

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The bill sponsor has informed the committee that a magistrate in Texas is a judicial officer who presides over criminal cases and some civil cases, with a primary focus on setting bail for defendants in many counties, and that many counties have unique qualification standards for magistrates under current law. S.B. 664 seeks to set out uniform statewide qualifications for magistrates.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

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

S.B. 664 removes certain qualifications to be eligible for appointment as a magistrate, juvenile court master, and criminal law hearing officer in certain counties and instead sets out qualifications to be eligible for general appointment as a master, magistrate, referee, associate judge, or hearing officer.

Accordingly, S.B. 664 repeals Government Code provisions governing the qualifications to be eligible for the following appointments:

· criminal law magistrates in Dallas County;

· criminal law magistrates in Tarrant County;

· juvenile court masters in Harris County;

· criminal law hearing officers appointed by a board of judges and justices of Harris County;

· magistrates in Lubbock County;

· criminal law magistrates in Bexar County;

· criminal law magistrates in Travis County;

· criminal law magistrates in Webb County;

· magistrates for drug court programs;

· criminal law magistrates in Tom Green County; and

· criminal law magistrates in Grayson County.

S.B. 664 amends the Government Code to also remove the following qualifications to be eligible for certain appointments:

· for a magistrate in a county with a population of 2.1 million or more, to be a Texas citizen and have been licensed to practice law in Texas for at least four years preceding the date of appointment;

· for a criminal law hearing officer in Cameron County, to be a resident of the county and a licensed attorney with at least four years' experience;

· for a criminal law magistrate in Burnet County or Brazoria County, to have served as a justice of the peace or municipal court judge or be an attorney licensed in Texas;

· for a magistrate in a county that has a population of more than 820,000 and is contiguous to a county with a population of at least four million, to be a citizen of Texas and have served as a justice of the peace for at least four years before the date of appointment or been licensed to practice law in Texas for at least four years before that date;

· for a magistrate in Collin County or Fort Bend County, to have been licensed to practice law in Texas for at least four years;

· for a criminal law magistrate in Denton County, to be a licensed attorney in good standing with the State Bar of Texas; and

· for a criminal law magistrate court associate judge, jail magistrate, or another magistrate of the criminal law magistrate court in Denton County, to have been licensed to practice law in Texas for at least four years.

Instead, S.B. 664 requires a person, in addition to any other qualification required by law, to satisfy the following qualifications to be eligible for appointment as a master, magistrate, referee, associate judge, or hearing officer under provisions governing masters, magistrates, referees, and associate judges:

· be a resident of Texas and of the county in which they are appointed;

· except as otherwise provided by the bill, have been licensed to practice law in Texas and in good standing with the State Bar of Texas for at least five years;

· not have been defeated for reelection to a judicial office in the election immediately preceding the person's appointment;

· not have been removed from office by impeachment, the Texas Supreme Court, the governor on address to the legislature, a tribunal reviewing a recommendation of the State Commission on Judicial Conduct (SCJC), or the legislature's abolition of the judge's court; and

· not have resigned from office after having received notice the SCJC had instituted formal proceedings and before the final disposition of the proceedings.

However, the bill requires a person to have been licensed to practice law in Texas and in good standing with the State Bar of Texas for at least two years to be eligible for appointment as a master, magistrate, referee, associate judge, or hearing officer in the following counties:

· Webb County;

· Comal County;

· Burnet County;

· Brazoria County;

· Guadalupe County;

· Kerr County; or

· Denton County.

S.B. 664 requires a master, magistrate, referee, associate judge, or hearing officer appointed under provisions governing masters, magistrates, referees, and associate judges whose duties include setting, adjusting, or revoking bail bonds to comply with the applicable training requirements under the Code of Criminal Procedure, in addition to any other required training under applicable state law. The bill establishes that such a master, magistrate, referee, associate judge, or hearing officer may be removed under the Texas Constitution, in addition to other removal provisions provided under those provisions or other law.

S.B. 664 requires the local administrative judge to ensure a master, magistrate, referee, associate judge, or hearing officer appointed to serve a county within the jurisdiction of the court served by the local administrative judge complies with provisions governing masters, magistrates, referees, and associate judges and Code of Criminal Procedure provisions relating to the duties of arresting officers and magistrates. The bill requires a local administrative judge to report a violation of this requirement to the following:

· the commissioners court of the county in which the master, magistrate, referee, associate judge, or hearing officer is appointed;

· the presiding judge of the administrative judicial region for the court served by judge;

· the Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial System; and

· if the local administrative judge determines the referring court is culpable in the violation, the SCJC.

S.B. 664 requires a local administrative judge, for the courts for which the judge serves as local administrative judge, to supervise the performance of each master, magistrate, referee, associate judge, or hearing officer who was appointed under provisions governing masters, magistrates, referees, and associate judges to serve a court for which the judge serves as a local administrative judge and whose duties include duties of arresting officers and magistrates under the Code of Criminal Procedure.

S.B. 664 applies only to a master, magistrate, referee, associate judge, or hearing officer appointed under provisions governing masters, magistrates, referees, associate judges, and criminal associate judges on or after the bill's effective date. A master, magistrate, referee, associate judge, or hearing officer appointed before that date is governed by the law in effect on the date the master, magistrate, referee, associate judge, or hearing officer was appointed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

S.B. 664 repeals the following provisions of the Government Code:

· Section 54.302;

· Section 54.652;

· Section 54.802;

· Section 54.853;

· Section 54.872;

· Section 54.902;

· Section 54.972;

· Section 54.992;

· Section 54.1804;

· Section 54.2602; and

· Section 54.2702(a).

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2025.