HB4797 - Relating to the reorganization of the court of appeals districts.

  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   p [Text truncated for display. 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