HBA-JLV H.B. 3175 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 3175
By: Solis, Jim
Judicial Affairs
3/26/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Under current law, employees of prosecuting attorney or city attorney
offices are able to run for elected judicial office while being employed by
those offices. This has placed a number of prosecuting attorneys in
judicial positions, resulting in many of the courts appearing to be biased
toward the prosecutors.  House Bill 3175 prohibits an employee of a
prosecuting attorney or a city attorney from running for an elected
judicial office while maintaining employment with that office. 

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. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 3175 amends the Government and Local Government codes to
prohibit an assistant prosecuting attorney, an investigator, or a secretary
or other person employed as office personnel by a prosecuting attorney's or
a city attorney's offices from being a candidate in an election for a
judicial office while maintaining employment with the prosecuting
attorney's or the city attorney's office.  The bill authorizes a
prosecuting attorney's or city attorney's office to grant a leave of
absence to a such a person for the purpose of being a candidate for a
judicial office.  The bill provides that a person is a candidate in an
election for a judicial office if the person has publicly announced the
person's candidacy in the election, filed an application for a place on the
ballot in the election, or filed a campaign treasurer appointment in
connection with the judicial office. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.