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.