retired appellate justices can visit probate courts

The text as introduced · 1,603 words

89R10985 BCH-F

By: Hughes
S.B. No. 1222

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the appointment of a former or retired justice of an

appellate court as a visiting judge of a statutory probate court.

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

SECTION 1. Sections 25.0022(d), (h), (k), (o), (t), (u),

and (w), Government Code, are amended to read as follows:

(d) The presiding judge shall:

(1) ensure the promulgation of local rules of

administration in accordance with policies and guidelines set by

the supreme court;

(2) advise local statutory probate court judges on

case flow management practices and auxiliary court services;

(3) perform a duty of a local administrative statutory

probate court judge if the local administrative judge does not

perform that duty;

(4) appoint an assistant presiding judge of the

statutory probate courts;

(5) call and preside over annual meetings of the

judges of the statutory probate courts at a time and place in the

state as designated by the presiding judge;

(6) call and convene other meetings of the judges of

the statutory probate courts as considered necessary by the

presiding judge to promote the orderly and efficient administration

of justice in the statutory probate courts;

(7) study available statistics reflecting the

condition of the dockets of the probate courts in the state to

determine the need for the assignment of judges under this section;

(8) compare local rules of court to achieve uniformity

of rules to the extent practical and consistent with local

conditions;

(9) assign or order the clerk who serves the statutory

probate courts to randomly assign a judge or former or retired judge

of a statutory probate court or a former or retired justice of an

appellate court to hear a case under Section 25.002201(a) or

25.00255, as applicable; and

(10) require the local administrative judge for

statutory probate courts in a county to ensure that all statutory

probate courts in the county comply with Chapter 37.

(h) Subject to Section 25.002201, a judge or a former or

retired judge of a statutory probate court or a former or retired

justice of an appellate court may be assigned by the presiding judge

of the statutory probate courts to hold court in a statutory probate

court, a county court, or any statutory court exercising probate

jurisdiction when:

(1) a statutory probate judge requests assignment of

another judge to the judge's court;

(2) a statutory probate judge is absent, disabled, or

disqualified for any reason;

(3) a statutory probate judge is present or is trying

cases as authorized by the constitution and laws of this state and

the condition of the court's docket makes it necessary to appoint an

additional judge;

(4) the office of a statutory probate judge is vacant;

(5) the presiding judge of an administrative judicial

district requests the assignment of a statutory probate judge to

hear a probate matter in a county court or statutory county court;

(6) the statutory probate judge is recused or

disqualified as described by Section 25.002201(a);

(7) a county court judge requests the assignment of a

statutory probate judge to hear a probate matter in the county

court; or

(8) a local administrative statutory probate court

judge requests the assignment of a statutory probate judge to hear a

matter in a statutory probate court.

(k) The daily compensation of a former or retired judge or

justice for purposes of this section is set at an amount equal to

the daily compensation of a judge of a statutory probate court in

the county in which the former or retired judge or justice is

assigned. A former or retired judge or justice assigned to a county

that does not have a statutory probate court shall be paid an amount

equal to the daily compensation of a judge of a statutory probate

court in the county where the assigned judge or justice was last

elected.

(o) The county in which the assigned judge served shall pay

out of the general fund of the county:

(1) expenses certified under Subsection (m) to the

assigned judge; and

(2) the salary certified under Subsection (m) to the

county in which the assigned judge serves, or, if the assigned judge

is a former or retired judge or justice , to the assigned judge.

(t) To be eligible for assignment under this section, a

former or retired judge of a statutory probate court or a former or

retired justice of an appellate court must:

(1) not have been removed from office;

(2) certify under oath to the presiding judge, on a

form prescribed by the state board of regional judges, that:

(A) the judge or justice has not been publicly

reprimanded or censured by the State Commission on Judicial

Conduct; and

(B) the judge or justice :

(i) did not resign or retire from office

after the State Commission on Judicial Conduct notified the judge

or justice of the commencement of a full investigation into an

allegation or appearance of misconduct or disability of the judge

or justice as provided in Section 33.022 and before the final

disposition of that investigation; or

(ii) if the judge or justice did resign from

office under circumstances described by Subparagraph (i), was not

publicly reprimanded or censured as a result of the investigation;

(3) annually demonstrate that the judge or justice has

completed in the past state fiscal year the educational

requirements for an active statutory probate court judge;

(4) have served as an active judge or justice for at

least 72 months in a district, statutory probate, statutory county,

or appellate court; and

(5) have developed substantial experience in the

judge's or justice's area of specialty.

(u) In addition to the eligibility requirements under

Subsection (t), to be eligible for assignment under this section in

the judge's or justice's county of residence, a former or retired

judge of a statutory probate court or a former or retired justice of

an appellate court must certify to the presiding judge a

willingness not to:

(1) appear and plead as an attorney in any court in the

judge's county of residence for a period of two years; and

(2) accept appointment as a guardian ad litem,

guardian of the estate of an incapacitated person, or guardian of

the person of an incapacitated person in any court in the judge's or

justice's county of residence for a period of two years.

(w) A former or retired judge or justice who is assigned

under this section is not an employee of the county in which the

assigned court is located.

SECTION 2. Section 25.002201, Government Code, is amended

to read as follows:

Sec. 25.002201. ASSIGNMENT OF JUDGE ON RECUSAL OR

DISQUALIFICATION. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), not

later than the 15th day after the date an order of recusal or

disqualification of a statutory probate court judge is issued in a

case, the presiding judge shall assign a statutory probate court

judge or a former or retired judge of a statutory probate court or a

former or retired justice of an appellate court to hear the case if:

(1) the judge of the statutory probate court recused

himself or herself under Section 25.00255(g)(1)(A);

(2) the judge of the statutory probate court

disqualified himself or herself under Section 25.00255(g-1);

(3) the order was issued under Section

25.00255(i-3)(1); or

(4) the presiding judge receives notice and a request

for assignment from the clerk of the statutory probate court under

Section 25.00255(l).

(b) If the judge who is the subject of an order of recusal or

disqualification is the presiding judge of the statutory probate

courts, the chief justice of the supreme court shall assign a

statutory probate judge , [ or ] a former or retired judge of a

statutory probate court , or a former or retired justice of an

appellate court to hear the case.

SECTION 3. Section 25.00255(a), Government Code, is amended

to read as follows:

(a) Notwithstanding any conflicting provision in the Texas

Rules of Civil Procedure, Rules 18a and 18b, Texas Rules of Civil

Procedure, apply to the recusal and disqualification of a statutory

probate court judge except as otherwise provided by this section or

another provision of this subchapter. The presiding judge:

(1) has the authority and shall perform the functions

and duties of the presiding judge of the administrative judicial

region under the rules, including the duty to hear or rule on a

referred motion of recusal or disqualification or, subject to

Subdivisions (2) and (3), assign a judge to hear and rule on a

referred motion of recusal or disqualification;

(2) may assign a presiding judge of the administrative

judicial region to hear and rule on a referred motion of recusal or

disqualification only with the consent of the presiding judge of

the administrative judicial region;

(3) may not assign a judge of a statutory probate court

located in the same county as the statutory probate court served by

the judge who is the subject of the motion of recusal or

disqualification; and

(4) if the presiding judge is the subject of the motion

of recusal or disqualification, shall sign and file with the clerk

an order referring the motion to the chief justice of the supreme

court for assignment of a presiding judge of an administrative

judicial region, a statutory probate court judge, [ or ] a former or

retired judge of a statutory probate court , or a former or retired

justice of an appellate court to hear and rule on the motion,

subject to Subdivisions (2) and (3).

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.