Richardson Bill Folds Courts Of Appeals Into Five Lettered Districts

The text as introduced · 2,352 words

89R11857 BCH-D

By: Richardson
H.B. No. 4797

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the reorganization of the court of appeals districts.

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

SECTION 1. Sections 22.201(a), (b), (c), (d), (e), and (f),

Government Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) The state is organized into six [ 15 ] courts of appeals

districts with a court of appeals in each district.

(b) The [ First ] Court of Appeals District A is composed of

the counties of Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Colorado, Fort Bend,

Galveston, Grimes, Hardin, Harris, Jasper, Jefferson, Liberty,

Montgomery, Newton, Orange, Polk, San Jacinto, Tyler, Waller, [ and ]

Washington , and Wharton .

(c) The [ Second ] Court of Appeals District B is composed of

the counties of Archer, Bosque, Brazos, Burleson, Clay, Coryell,

Ellis, Falls, Hamilton, Hill, [ Cooke, Denton, ] Hood, Jack, Johnson,

Limestone, McLennan, [ Montague, ] Parker, Robertson, Somervell,

Tarrant, Wichita, Wise, and Young.

(d) The [ Third ] Court of Appeals District C is composed of

the counties of Armstrong, Bailey, Bastrop, Baylor, Bell, Blanco,

Borden, Briscoe, Brown, Burnet, Caldwell, Callahan, Carson,

Castro, Childress, Cochran, Coke, Coleman, Collingsworth, Comal,

Comanche, Concho, Cottle, Crosby, Dallam, Dawson, Deaf Smith,

Dickens, Donley, Eastland, Ector, Erath, Fayette, Fisher, Floyd,

Foard, Gaines, Garza, Glasscock, Gray, Hale, Hall, Hansford,

Hardeman, Hartley, Haskell, Hays, Hemphill, Hockley, Howard,

Hutchinson, Irion, Jones, Kent, King, Knox, Lamb, Lampasas, Lee,

Llano, Lubbock, Lynn, Martin, McCulloch, Midland, Milam, Mills,

Mitchell, Moore, Motley, Nolan, Ochiltree, Oldham, Palo Pinto,

Parmer, Potter, Randall, Roberts, Runnels, San Saba, Schleicher,

Scurry, Shackleford, Sherman, Stephens, Sterling, Stonewall,

Swisher, Taylor, Terry, Throckmorton, Tom Green, Travis,

Wilbarger, [ and ] Williamson , Wheeler, and Yoakum .

(e) The [ Fourth ] Court of Appeals District D is composed of

the counties of Andrews, Aransas, Atascosa, Bandera, Bee, Bexar,

Brewster, Brooks, Calhoun, Cameron, Crane, Crockett, Culberson,

DeWitt, Dimmit, Duval, Edwards, El Paso, Frio, Gillespie, Goliad,

Gonzales, Guadalupe, Hidalgo, Hudspeth, Jackson, Jeff Davis, Jim

Hogg, Jim Wells, Karnes, Kendall, Kenedy, Kerr, Kimble, Kinney,

Kleberg, LaSalle, Lavaca, Live Oak, Loving, [ McMullen, ] Mason,

Matagorda, Maverick, McMullen, Medina, Menard, Nueces, Pecos,

Presidio, Reagan, Real, Reeves, Refugio, San Patricio, Starr,

Sutton, Terrell, Upton, Uvalde, Val Verde, Victoria, Ward, Webb,

Willacy, Wilson, Winkler, Zapata, and Zavala.

(f) The [ Fifth ] Court of Appeals District E is composed of

the counties of Anderson, Angelina, Bowie, Camp, Cass, Cherokee,

Collin, Cooke, Dallas, Delta, Denton, Fannin, Franklin, Freestone,

Grayson, Gregg, Harrison, Henderson, Hopkins, Houston, Hunt,

Kaufman, Lamar, Leon, Madison, Marion, Montague, Morris,

Nacogdoches, Navarro, Panola, Raines, Red River, [ and ] Rockwall ,

Rusk, Sabine, San Augustine, Shelby, Smith, Titus, Trinity, Upshur,

Van Zandt, Walker, and Wood .

SECTION 2. The heading to Section 22.202, Government Code,

is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 22.202. [ FIRST ] COURT OF APPEALS : APPELLATE DISTRICT

A .

SECTION 3. Sections 22.202(a) and (g), Government Code, are

amended to read as follows:

(a) The Court of Appeals for Appellate [ the First Court of

Appeals ] District A shall be held in the cities [ City ] of Houston

and Beaumont .

(g) The court [ First Court of Appeals ] may transact its

business in any county in the district [ First Court of Appeals

District ] as the court determines necessary and convenient.

SECTION 4. The heading to Section 22.203, Government Code,

is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 22.203. [ SECOND ] COURT OF APPEALS : APPELLATE DISTRICT

B .

SECTION 5. Section 22.203(a), Government Code, is amended

to read as follows:

(a) The Court of Appeals for Appellate [ the Second Court of

Appeals ] District B shall be held in the cities [ City ] of Fort Worth

and Waco .

SECTION 6. The heading to Section 22.204, Government Code,

is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 22.204. [ THIRD ] COURT OF APPEALS : APPELLATE DISTRICT

C .

SECTION 7. Sections 22.204(a) and (b), Government Code, are

amended to read as follows:

(a) The Court of Appeals for Appellate [ the Third Court of

Appeals ] District C shall be held in the cities [ City ] of Austin ,

Amarillo, and Eastland .

(b) The court may transact its business in any [ at the ]

county in the [ seat of any of the counties within its ] district as

the court determines is necessary and convenient[ , except that all

cases originating in Travis County shall be heard and transacted in

that county ].

SECTION 8. Section 22.205, Government Code, is amended to

read as follows:

Sec. 22.205. [ FOURTH ] COURT OF APPEALS : APPELLATE DISTRICT

D . (a) The Court of Appeals for Appellate [ the Fourth Court of

Appeals ] District D shall be held in the cities [ City ] of San

Antonio , Corpus Christi, and El Paso .

(b) The court may transact its business in any [ at the ]

county in the [ seat of any of the counties within its ] district[ , ]

as the court determines is necessary and convenient, except that

all cases originating in Bexar County that the court hears shall be

heard and transacted in that county.

SECTION 9. The heading to Section 22.206, Government Code,

is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 22.206. [ FIFTH ] COURT OF APPEALS : APPELLATE DISTRICT

E .

SECTION 10. Section 22.206(a), Government Code, is amended

to read as follows:

(a) The Court of Appeals for Appellate [ the Fifth Court of

Appeals ] District E shall be primarily held in the cities [ City ] of

Dallas , Texarkana, and Tyler .

SECTION 11. Sections 22.216(a), (b), (c), (d), and (e),

Government Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) The Court of Appeals for [ the First ] Court of Appeals

District A consists of a chief justice and of 21 [ eight ] justices

holding places numbered consecutively beginning with Place 2.

(b) The Court of Appeals for [ the Second ] Court of Appeals

District B consists of a chief justice and of nine [ six ] justices

holding places numbered consecutively beginning with Place 2.

(c) The Court of Appeals for [ the Third ] Court of Appeals

District C consists of a chief justice and of 12 [ five ] justices

holding places numbered consecutively beginning with Place 2.

(d) The Court of Appeals for [ the Fourth ] Court of Appeals

District D consists of a chief justice and of 15 [ six ] justices

holding places numbered consecutively beginning with Place 2.

(e) The Court of Appeals for [ the Fifth ] Court of Appeals

District E consists of a chief justice and of 18 [ 12 ] justices

holding places numbered consecutively beginning with Place 2.

SECTION 12. Section 75.014(d), Government Code, is amended

to read as follows:

(d) The offices, courtrooms, physical facilities,

equipment, furniture, and books provided by the El Paso

Commissioners Court for the court system and its auxiliary

services, judges, and court personnel, except for the Court of

Appeals for Appellate [ the Eighth Court of Appeals ] District D ,

shall be allocated and utilized as provided by a majority vote of

the council of judges.

SECTION 13. The following provisions of the Government Code

are repealed:

(1) Sections 22.201(g), (h), (i), (j), (k), (l), (m),

(n), and (o);

(2) Sections 22.202(b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (h), and

(i);

(3) Section 22.203(g);

(4) Sections 22.204(c), (d), (e), and (f);

(5) Section 22.206(c);

(6) Sections 22.207, 22.208, 22.209, 22.210, 22.211,

22.212, 22.213, 22.214, and 22.215; and

(7) Sections 22.216(f), (g), (h), (i), (j), (k), (l),

(m), and (n).

SECTION 14. (a) On the effective date of this Act:

(1) the person serving as chief justice of the

Fourteenth Court of Appeals becomes the chief justice of the court

of appeals for Appellate District A, and the persons serving as

chief justices of the First and Ninth Courts of Appeals become

deputy chief justices of the court of appeals for Appellate

District A but retain the justices' classification and compensation

as chief justices;

(2) the person serving as chief justice of the Tenth

Court of Appeals becomes the chief justice of the court of appeals

for Appellate District B, and the person serving as chief justice of

the Second Court of Appeals becomes deputy chief justice of the

court of appeals for Appellate District B but retains the justice's

classification and compensation as a chief justice;

(3) the person serving as chief justice of the Seventh

Court of Appeals becomes the chief justice of the court of appeals

for Appellate District C, and the persons serving as chief justices

of the Third and Eleventh Courts of Appeals become deputy chief

justices of the court of appeals for Appellate District C but retain

the justices' classification and compensation as chief justices;

(4) the person serving as chief justice of the

Thirteenth Court of Appeals becomes the chief justice of the court

of appeals for Appellate District D, and the persons serving as

chief justices of the Fourth and Eighth Courts of Appeals become

deputy chief justices of the court of appeals for Appellate

District D but retain the justices' classification and compensation

as chief justices; and

(5) the person serving as chief justice of the Twelfth

Court of Appeals becomes the chief justice of the court of appeals

for Appellate District E, and the persons serving as chief justices

of the Fifth and Sixth Courts of Appeals become deputy chief

justices of the court of appeals for Appellate District E but retain

the justices' classification and compensation as chief justices.

(b) When a person who became a deputy chief justice of a

court of appeals for an appellate district as provided by

Subsection (a) of this section leaves office, a person appointed or

elected to fill the justice's place becomes a justice of the

appellate district and not a deputy chief justice.

(c) A person who is justice of a court of appeals serving on

the effective date of this Act and who resides in a county

transferred by this Act from a court of appeals district to another

court of appeals district becomes a member of the court of appeals

of the appellate district to which the county is transferred for the

period the person was elected or appointed as justice to a court of

appeals.

(d) If more than two persons serving as justices of a court

of appeals on the effective date of this Act reside in a county

transferred by this Act from a court of appeals district to another

court of appeals district and the number of justices for that

appellate district would exceed the number of justices provided

under Section 22.216, Government Code, as amended by this Act,

those justices shall draw lots as prescribed by the Texas Supreme

Court to determine which justices shall become members of the court

of appeals. A justice who resides in a county transferred to

another court of appeals district who does not become a justice of

the court of appeals of the appellate district to which the county

is transferred must establish residency in a county in another

court of appeals district with open justice positions not later

than January 1, 2026. A justice who does not comply with this

subsection vacates the justice's position as of January 1, 2026.

(e) On the effective date of this Act:

(1) the person serving as clerk of the Fourteenth

Court of Appeals becomes the clerk of the court of appeals for

Appellate District A, and the person serving as clerk of the Ninth

Court of Appeals becomes senior deputy clerk of the court of appeals

for Appellate District A but retains the person's classification

and compensation as clerk of the court;

(2) the person serving as clerk of the Second Court of

Appeals becomes the clerk of the court of appeals for Appellate

District B, and the person serving as clerk of the Tenth Court of

Appeals becomes senior deputy clerk of the court of appeals for

Appellate District B but retains the person's classification and

compensation as clerk of the court;

(3) the person serving as clerk of the Third Court of

Appeals becomes the clerk of the court of appeals for Appellate

District C, and the persons serving as clerks of the Seventh and

Eleventh Courts of Appeals become senior deputy clerks of the court

of appeals for Appellate District C but retain the persons'

classification and compensation as clerks of the court;

(4) the person serving as clerk of the Thirteenth

Court of Appeals becomes the clerk of the court of appeals for

Appellate District D, and the persons serving as clerks of the

Fourth and Eighth Courts of Appeals become senior deputy clerks of

the court of appeals for Appellate District D but retain the

persons' classification and compensation as clerks of the court;

and

(5) the person serving as clerk of the Fifth Court of

Appeals becomes the clerk of the court of appeals for Appellate

District E, and the persons serving as clerks of the Sixth and

Twelfth Courts of Appeals become senior deputy clerks of the court

of appeals for Appellate District E but retain the persons'

classification and compensation as clerks of the court.

(f) When a person serving as senior deputy clerk of a court

of appeals for an appellate district as provided by Subsection (e)

of this section leaves office, a person may be appointed to fill

that position as a clerk and not a senior deputy clerk.

(g) The Texas Supreme Court may adopt rules and establish

the procedures necessary to implement this Act.

SECTION 15. This Act does not affect the jurisdiction on

appeal of any case from a county that is transferred by this Act to a

different court of appeals district if the transcripts for the case

were filed before the effective date of this Act in the appropriate

court of appeals district.

SECTION 16. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.