TITLE: Relating to the creation of a county court at law in Chambers County.

SUMMARY: Relating to the creation of a county court at law in Chambers County.

FULL TEXT:
AN ACT relating to the creation of a county court at law in Chambers County. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 25, Government Code, is amended by adding Sections 25.0381 and 25.0382 to read as follows: Sec. 25.0381. CHAMBERS COUNTY. Chambers County has one statutory county court, the County Court at Law of Chambers County. Sec. 25.0382. CHAMBERS COUNTY COURT AT LAW PROVISIONS. (a) In addition to the jurisdiction provided by Section 25.0003 and other law, a county court at law in Chambers County has the jurisdiction provided by the constitution and by general law for district courts, including concurrent jurisdiction in: (1) arraignments, pleas, and pretrial motions for felony cases; (2) trials for felony cases transferred from a district court in Chambers County to the county court at law; and (3) family law cases and proceedings. (b) In matters of concurrent jurisdiction, a judge of a county court at law and a judge of a district court in Chambers County may transfer cases between the courts in the same manner that judges of district courts may transfer cases under Section 24.003. (c) The judge of a county court at law shall be paid an annual salary that is at least equal to the amount that is $1,000 less than the total annual salary, including supplements, received by a district judge in the county. The salary shall be paid out of the county treasury on order of the commissioners court. (d) The judge of a county court at law is entitled to travel expenses and necessary office expenses, including administrative and clerical help, in the same manner as a district judge in the county. (e) The district clerk serves as clerk of a county court at law for family cases and proceedings, and the county clerk serves as clerk for all other cases. The commissioners court may employ as many deputy sheriffs and bailiffs as are necessary to serve the court. (f) If a case or proceeding in which a county court at law has concurrent jurisdiction with a district court is tried before a jury, the jury shall be composed of 12 members. In all other cases, the jury shall be composed of six members. (g) The judge of a county court at law may, instead of appointing an official court reporter, contract for the services of a court reporter under guidelines established by the commissioners court. (h) The laws governing the drawing, selection, service, and pay of jurors for county courts apply to a county court at law. Jurors regularly impaneled for a week by the district court may, on a request of a judge of the county court at law, be made available and shall serve for the week in a county court at law. (i) A county court at law has the same terms of court as a district court in Chambers County. SECTION 2. Notwithstanding Section 25.0381, Government Code, as added by this Act, the County Court at Law of Chambers County is created on January 1, 2021, or an earlier date determined by the Commissioners Court of Chambers County by an order entered in its minutes. SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.