House Bill 257
Authored by Rep. Marsha Farney, R-Georgetown, the act prohibits a justice or judge from owning any voting stock in a business entity that owns, manages or operates a private correctional or rehabilitation facility. The act decreases the amount of voting stock permitted from 10 percent or $15,000 of fair market value to none. As stated in the bill analysis presented to the Texas Legislature, "The parties contend that it is a conflict for a justice or judge to have any direct investment at all in these facilities and assert that the threshold value for what constitutes such a direct investment should be removed."
House Bill 2229
The act, authored by Rep. Debbie Riddle, R-Spring, does not substantially change any portion of Texas criminal law. However, HB 229 codifies—or organizes—Article 42.12 of the Code of Criminal Procedure from an article to a chapter of the law. This piece of the code deals with community supervision, specifically judge and jury recommended community supervision and the circumstances that qualify a defendant for community supervision. Under community supervision—another name for probation— criminal proceedings may be deferred or the defendant may be incarcerated and fined.
According to the bill analysis presented to the Texas Legislature, the author's intention in filing the bill was "to organize and arrange, in a logical fashion, the laws relating to community supervision and to rewrite those laws without altering their meaning or legal effect."
Senate Bill 1139
Co-authored by Sens. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, and Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, the act relates to the operation and administration of courts in the judicial branch of state government, the composition of certain juvenile boards and the increase of certain filing fees. In the bill analysis presented to the Texas Legislature, the authors of the bill said the intention for the bill lies in adjusting the court system to match the shifting demographics in the state.
"As the state's population grows in some areas while declining in others, the judicial needs of the various regions change," the authors said. "These shifting demographics can significantly impact the caseload of the existing courts."
On Jan. 1, the law will make these changes to the court system:
- Kendall County, located northwest of San Antonio, will be removed from the 216th Judicial District and will be added to the 451st Judicial District, which will be created Jan. 1. A criminal district attorney will also be added to Kendall County. In turn, the law abolishes the office of county attorney and the county court at law in Kendall County.
- The 440th Judicial District will be created to include Coryell County, located southwest of Waco.
- The county attorney of Guadalupe County, located northeast of San Antonio, will be required to perform the duties of a district attorney. Hence, the law also abolishes the office of district attorney for the 25th Judicial District, which includes Guadalupe County.
The majority of the bill's changes took effect Sept. 1, 2015. However, portions of the law take effect up through Jan. 1, 2019.
Additional laws passed by the 84th Texas Legislature will take effect April 1 and Sept. 1.
