89R15614 BCH-D

By: Martinez Fischer H.B. No. 4278

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the assignment as a visiting judge of certain retired and former constitutional county court judges and justices of the peace.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 74.054(a), Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) Except as provided by Subsections (b) and (c), the following judges may be assigned as provided by this chapter by the presiding judge of the administrative region in which the assigned judge resides:

(1) an active district, constitutional county, or statutory county court judge in this state;

(2) a senior judge who has consented to be subject to assignment and who is on the list maintained by the presiding judge under this chapter;

(3) a former district or appellate judge, retired or former statutory probate court judge, [or] retired or former statutory county court judge, or, as applicable, a retired or former constitutional county court judge or justice of the peace who certifies to the presiding judge a willingness to serve and who is on the list maintained by the presiding judge as required by this chapter;

(4) a retiree or a former judge whose last judicial office before retirement was justice or judge of the supreme court, the court of criminal appeals, or a court of appeals and who has been assigned by the chief justice to the administrative judicial region in which the retiree or former judge resides for reassignment by the presiding judge of that region to a district or statutory county court in the region; and

(5) an active judge or justice of the supreme court, the court of criminal appeals, or a court of appeals who has had trial court experience.

SECTION 2. Section 74.055, Government Code, is amended by amending Subsections (c) and (e) and adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:

(c) To be eligible to be named on the list, a retired or former judge must:

(1) except as provided by Subsection (d), have served as an active judge for at least 96 months in a district, statutory probate, statutory county, or appellate court;

(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) If a presiding judge of an administrative region is unable to name to the list a sufficient number of eligible retired or former judges to dispose of the accumulated business in the region, the presiding judge may consider service as a constitutional county court judge or a justice of the peace toward the 96-month active service requirement described by Subsection (c)(1) when naming an eligible retired or former judge to the list.

(e) For purposes of Subsections [Subsection] (c)(1) and (d), 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.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.