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.