HBA-PDH H.B. 919 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 919 By: Naishtat Judicial Affairs 3/24/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Currently, a court-appointed attorney in any guardianship proceeding must complete a four-hour course of study in guardianship law and procedure to be eligible for court appointment, and newly certified attorneys are required to be recertified every two years. H.B. 919 reduces the number of required hours for certification by one hour and requires recertification every four years for a person who has been certified for the previous four years. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 646, Texas Probate Code, as follows: Sec. 646. APPOINTMENT OF ATTORNEY AD LITEM AND INTERPRETER. (a) Deletes the exclusion of missing persons from the persons for which a court is required to appoint an attorney ad litem to represent the interests of the proposed ward in appointment of a guardian. (b) Provides that a person must have the certification required by Section 647A (Certification Requirement for Certain Court-Appointed Attorneys), Texas Probate Code, to be eligible for appointment as an attorney ad litem. Deletes previous language relating to certification requirements. (c) Creates subsection from existing text in previous Subsection (d). Deletes language relating to previous certification requirements. (d) Redesignates existing Subsection (f) to Subsection (d). SECTION 2. Amends Subpart E, Part 2, Chapter XIII, Texas Probate Code, by adding Section 647A, as follows: Sec. 647A. CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT FOR CERTAIN COURT-APPOINTED ATTORNEYS. (a) Provides that a court-appointed attorney in any guardianship proceeding must be certified by the State Bar of Texas (state bar) or a designee of the state bar. (b) Requires the state bar to require three hours credit as a certification requirement. (c) Provides that a certificate expires two years from the date of issuance, except as provided in Subsection (e). (d) Provides that an attorney whose certificate has expired must obtain a new certificate to be eligible for court appointment at a guardianship proceeding. (e) Provides that a person's new certification expires four years from the date of issuance if a person has been certified for the previous four years. SECTION 3. Makes application of this Act prospective to proceedings beginning on or after the effective date and proceedings pending on the effective date. SECTION 4.Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 5.Emergency clause.