Text: HSB00593 Text: HSB00595 Text: HSB00500 - HSB00599 Text: HSB Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
PAG LIN 1 1 Section 1. NEW SECTION. 602.6204 APPOINTMENT OF DISTRICT 1 2 JUDGE IN LIEU OF DISTRICT ASSOCIATE JUDGE. 1 3 1. Notwithstanding section 602.6201, if a vacancy occurs 1 4 in the office of district associate judge and replacement of 1 5 the district associate judge is authorized pursuant to section 1 6 602.6301 or 602.6302, a district judge shall be nominated and 1 7 appointed in lieu of the district associate judge subject to 1 8 the requirements of this section. 1 9 2. A district judge appointed pursuant to this section 1 10 shall be deemed a district associate judge for purposes of 1 11 apportionment of the judge pursuant to section 602.6301. 1 12 3. If a vacancy occurs in the office of a district judge 1 13 appointed pursuant to this section, a district judge shall be 1 14 appointed if a district associate judge would be authorized to 1 15 be appointed pursuant to section 602.6301, notwithstanding the 1 16 requirements of section 602.6201. 1 17 4. A district judge appointed pursuant to this section 1 18 shall stand for retention in office as a district judge as 1 19 provided in chapter 46. 1 20 Sec. 2. Section 602.6301, Code Supplement 1995, is amended 1 21 to read as follows: 1 22 602.6301 NUMBER AND APPORTIONMENT OF DISTRICT ASSOCIATE 1 23 JUDGES. 1 24 There shall be one district associate judge in counties 1 25 having a population, according to the most recent federal1 26decennial census,of more than thirty-five thousand and less 1 27 than eighty thousand; two in counties having a population of 1 28 eighty thousand or more and less than one hundred twenty-five 1 29 thousand; three in counties having a population of one hundred 1 30 twenty-five thousand or more and less than two hundred 1 31 thousand; four in counties having a population of two hundred 1 32 thousand or more and less than two hundred thirty-five 1 33 thousand; five in counties having a population of two hundred 1 34 thirty-five thousand or more and less than two hundred seventy 1 35 thousand; six in counties having a population of two hundred 2 1 seventy thousand or more and less than three hundred five 2 2 thousand; and seven in counties having a population of three 2 3 hundred five thousand or more. If the formula provided in 2 4 this section results in the allocation of an additional 2 5 district associate judgeship to a county, implementation of 2 6 the allocation shall be subject to prior approval of the 2 7 supreme court and availability of funds to the judicial 2 8 department. A district associate judge appointed pursuant to 2 9 section 602.6302 or 602.6303 shall not be counted for purposes 2 10 of this section. 2 11 Sec. 3. Section 602.6304, subsection 1, Code 1995, is 2 12 amended to read as follows: 2 13 1. The district associate judges authorized by sections 2 14602.6301,602.6302,and 602.6303 shall be appointed by the 2 15 district judges of the judicial election district from persons 2 16 nominated by the county magistrate appointing commission. In 2 17 the case of a district associate judge to be appointed to more 2 18 than one county, the appointment shall be from persons 2 19 nominated by the county magistrate appointing commissions 2 20 acting jointly and in the case of a district associate judge 2 21 to be appointed to more than one judicial election district of 2 22 the same judicial district, the appointment shall be by a 2 23 majority of the district judges in each judicial election 2 24 district. 2 25 EXPLANATION 2 26 This bill provides that district associate judge vacancies 2 27 shall be filled with a district judge if replacement of the 2 28 district associate judge is otherwise authorized pursuant to 2 29 the population-based formula of section 602.6301 or section 2 30 602.6302. Replacement of a district judge appointed pursuant 2 31 to this new section will be based on the formula concerning 2 32 district associate judges and not based on the formula and 2 33 limitations on district judges as provided in section 2 34 602.6201. 2 35 The bill also eliminates the requirement that the 3 1 population-based formula contained in section 602.6301 for 3 2 district associate judges will be based on the most recent 3 3 federal decennial census, thus allowing population count 3 4 updates to be used more often than every 10 years. 3 5 BACKGROUND STATEMENT 3 6 SUBMITTED BY THE AGENCY 3 7 The bill converts district associate judgeships into 3 8 district judgeships by attrition. The new district court 3 9 judgeship does not affect the district judge formula nor does 3 10 the conversion affect the district associate judge 3 11 apportionment formula. The purpose of this amendment is to 3 12 gradually add more district judges and phase out district 3 13 associate judges. District judges have jurisdiction over all 3 14 trial court matters, while the jurisdiction of district 3 15 associate judges is limited. Therefore, district judges can 3 16 handle more kinds of cases. 3 17 The bill also amends the formula for district associate 3 18 judgeships based upon population. The literal interpretation 3 19 of section 602.6301 without the deletion allocates a district 3 20 associate judge to a county surpassing 35,000 in population 3 21 only after a decennial year. For instance if Dallas county 3 22 population exceeds 35,000 in 1996, under the present statute, 3 23 Dallas county would not be allocated the district associate 3 24 judge until after the decennial year of 2000. A more extreme 3 25 example would be a county that exceeded 35,000 population in 3 26 2001 and under the present statute would not be allocated the 3 27 district associate judge until 2011, a delay of 10 years. 3 28 The amendment to section 602.6301 provides that population 3 29 of a county for district associate judge allocation purposes 3 30 would be determined and utilized the same as in the district 3 31 judge statutory formula set forth in section 602.6201(3). 3 32 LSB 3370DP 76 3 33 ec/cf/24
Text: HSB00593 Text: HSB00595 Text: HSB00500 - HSB00599 Text: HSB Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
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