HBA-AMW H.B. 589 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 589
By: Garcia
Criminal Jurisprudence
4/12/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Current law does not recognize as a ground for recusal of a judge or
justice of the peace in a criminal case the receipt of a political
contribution from one or more of the attorneys working on a case before
that judge or justice.  This situation may cause a conflict of interest and
some judges may not voluntarily recuse themselves from the case.  House
Bill 589 requires a judge or justice of the peace to recuse himself or
herself in any case in which the total amount of political contributions
accepted by the judge or justice from a party or an attorney of record in
the case or the attorney's law firm during the preceding two years is more
than $500 and authorizes the parties in the case to waive a ground for
recusal if the ground is fully disclosed on the record. 

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 589 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to require a judge or
justice of the peace to recuse himself or herself in any case in which the
total amount of political contributions accepted by the judge or justice
from a party or an attorney of record in the case or the attorney's law
firm during the preceding two years is more than $500.  The bill authorizes
the parties in a case to waive such a ground for recusal if the ground is
fully disclosed on the record.  If a party files a motion to disqualify or
recuse under provisions relating to causes which disqualify and ground for
recusal and the judge or justice does not grant the motion, the bill
requires the judge or justice to follow the same procedure in disposing of
the motion as a motion for recusal or disqualification in a civil case
under the rules for recusal or disqualification of judges. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001, and applies to all proceedings occurring on or after
that date.