By:  Duncan                                            S.B. No. 412

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

                                       AN ACT

 1-1     relating to the abolition of the Judicial Districts Board.

 1-2           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-3           SECTION 1.  Subdivison (1), Section 24.942, Government Code,

 1-4     is amended to read as follows:

 1-5                 (1)  "Board" means the Legislative Redistricting

 1-6     [Judicial Districts] Board established by Section 28, Article III,

 1-7     [Article V, Section 7a, of the] Texas Constitution.

 1-8           SECTION 2.  Sections 24.943 and 24.944, Government Code, are

 1-9     amended to read as follows:

1-10           Sec. 24.943.  OFFICIAL DUTY.  Service on the board is an

1-11     official duty of each of the officers who serves on the board under

1-12     Section 28, Article III, [named in Article V, Section 7a, of the]

1-13     Texas Constitution.

1-14           Sec. 24.944.  DUTIES.  The board shall reapportion the

1-15     judicial districts authorized by Article V, Section 7, of the Texas

1-16     Constitution by statewide reapportionment of the districts [and, as

1-17     the necessity for additional reapportionment appears, by

1-18     redesignating, in one or more reapportionment orders, the county or

1-19     counties that comprise the specific judicial districts affected by

1-20     those reapportionment orders].  [The board shall investigate from

1-21     time to time the necessity of and appropriate locations for new

1-22     judicial districts and shall advise the legislature of its

1-23     findings.  The board shall inform itself on all matters bearing on

1-24     its duties.]

 2-1           SECTION 3.  Subsection (e), Section 24.945, Government Code,

 2-2     is amended to read as follows:

 2-3           (e)  The legislature[, the Judicial Districts Board,] or the

 2-4     board [Legislative Redistricting Board] may not redistrict the

 2-5     judicial districts to provide for any judicial district smaller in

 2-6     size than an entire county except as provided by this subsection.

 2-7     Judicial districts smaller in size than the entire county may be

 2-8     created subsequent to a general election in which a majority of the

 2-9     persons voting on the proposition adopt the proposition "to allow

2-10     the division of ____________________ County into judicial districts

2-11     composed of parts of ____________________ County."   A

2-12     redistricting plan may not be proposed or adopted by the

2-13     legislature[, the Judicial Districts Board,] or the board

2-14     [Legislative Redistricting Board] in anticipation of a future

2-15     action by the voters of any county.

2-16           SECTION 4.  Section 24.946, Government Code, is amended to

2-17     read as follows:

2-18           Sec. 24.946.  PROCEDURE.  (a)  The board shall meet as

2-19     required by Section 7a, Article V, Texas Constitution [in

2-20     accordance with its own rules].  [The board shall meet at least

2-21     once in each interim between regular sessions of the legislature

2-22     and shall exercise its reapportionment powers only in the interims

2-23     between regular legislative sessions.]  Meetings of the board are

2-24     [shall be] subject to the provisions of Chapter 551, except as

2-25     otherwise provided by this subchapter.  [A reapportionment may not

2-26     be ordered in the interim immediately following a regular session

 3-1     of the legislature in which a valid and subsisting statewide

 3-2     reapportionment of judicial districts is enacted by the

 3-3     legislature.  Unless the legislature enacts a statewide

 3-4     reapportionment of the judicial districts following each federal

 3-5     decennial census, the board shall convene not later than the first

 3-6     Monday of June of the third year following the year in which the

 3-7     federal decennial census is taken to make a statewide

 3-8     reapportionment of the districts.  The board shall complete its

 3-9     work on the reapportionment and file its order with the secretary

3-10     of state not later than August 31 of the same year.  If the

3-11     Judicial Districts Board fails to make a statewide apportionment by

3-12     that date, the Legislative Redistricting Board established by

3-13     Article III, Section 28, of the Texas Constitution shall make a

3-14     statewide reapportionment of the judicial districts not later than

3-15     the 150th day after the final day for the Judicial Districts Board

3-16     to make the reapportionment, and that apportionment takes effect as

3-17     provided by Sections 24.948 and 24.949.]

3-18           (b)  The board shall adopt its own rules of procedure and has

3-19     the power to make investigations, hold hearings, compel by subpoena

3-20     the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of

3-21     records, administer oaths, and do all things necessary in its

3-22     judgment to carry out its duties.

3-23           (c)  On the request of the presiding officer of the board

3-24     [chairman], a peace officer shall serve a subpoena issued by the

3-25     board.  The officer shall serve the subpoena in the same manner as

3-26     a subpoena issued by a district court is served.  If the person to

 4-1     whom a subpoena is directed fails to comply, the board may bring

 4-2     suit in the district court to enforce the subpoena.  If the court

 4-3     determines that good cause exists for the issuance of the subpoena,

 4-4     the court shall order compliance.  The court may modify the

 4-5     requirements of a subpoena that the court determines are

 4-6     unreasonable.  Failure to comply with the order of the district

 4-7     court is punishable as contempt.

 4-8           (d)  The board may provide for the compensation of subpoenaed

 4-9     witnesses.  The amount of compensation may not exceed the amount

4-10     paid to a witness subpoenaed by a district court in a civil

4-11     proceeding.

4-12           SECTION 5.  Section 24.947, Government Code, is repealed.

4-13           SECTION 6.  This Act takes effect January 1, 2000, but only

4-14     if the constitutional amendment proposed by the 76th Legislature,

4-15     Regular Session, 1999, to abolish the Judicial Districts Board, is

4-16     approved by the voters.  If that proposed constitutional amendment

4-17     is not approved by the voters, this Act has no effect.

4-18           SECTION 7.  The importance of this legislation and the

4-19     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

4-20     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

4-21     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

4-22     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.

1998-1999 Texas Judicial Council Annual Report