HBA-KMH H.B. 1313 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1313 By: Zbranek Judicial Affairs 2/23/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE In fiscal year 1998, the Texas Supreme Court ordered the transfer of 88 cases to other courts of appeals. During that time the Ninth Court of Appeals District (Ninth) had 613 cases filed for an average of 204.3 cases per justice, which is higher than the state average of 156.3 cases per justice. By moving Montgomery County out of the Ninth into the First Court of Appeals District (First) and Fourteenth Court of Appeals District (Fourteenth), the average number of cases per judge in the Ninth is decreased by 86 cases. H.B. 1313 restructures three court of appeals districts by placing Montgomery County in the First and Fourteenth and Chambers and Trinity counties in the Ninth. 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 22.201(b), (j) and (o), Government Code, to place Montgomery County in the First Court of Appeals District (First) and Fourteenth Court of Appeals District (Fourteenth), rather than the Ninth Court of Appeals District (Ninth), and to place Chambers and Trinity counties in the Ninth, rather than the First and Fourteenth. SECTION 2. Sets forth that this Act does not affect the jurisdiction on appeal of any case from a county that is transferred by this Act to a different court of appeals district if the transcripts for the case were filed before the effective date of this Act in the appropriate court of appeals districts. SECTION 3. Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 4. Emergency clause.