HB 1664 Texas House · 89th Legislature (2025)

Relating to the eligibility of certain retired or former district court judges for assignment as a visiting judge.

HB 1664 modifies Texas law to clarify eligibility for retired or former district court judges to serve as visiting judges. It requires these judges to certify under oath that they were not publicly disciplined (reprimanded or censured) in the past 15 years and did not resign to avoid a misconduct investigation. The bill specifically bars judges who resigned "in lieu of discipline" from being named as visiting judges. These provisions expire on September 1, 2033. The law directly affects retired or former district court judges seeking temporary judicial assignments.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2025

Committee Review

May 2025

House Passage

May 2025

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Mar 12, 2025 Last action May 12, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced → Engrossed · 4 edits · May 10, 2025

MODERATE

This bill updates eligibility rules for retired or former district court judges to serve as visiting judges. The changes clarify when judges are eligible or ineligible based on their conduct history and resignation circumstances, while also setting an expiration date for these provisions.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on retired or former district court judges' eligibility for visiting judge assignments, but the criteria for determining eligibility have been refined and clarified.

ELIGIBILITY

Added new subsection (d) establishing that retired or former judges are eligible to be named on the visiting judge list if they certify under oath that they have not been publicly reprimanded or censured by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct in the past 15 years.

Added new subsection (f-1) specifying that judges are ineligible only if they resigned or retired in lieu of discipline, as identified in a public statement by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct within the past 15 years.

TIMELINE

Added expiration date of September 1, 2033 for the new eligibility provisions in subsections (d) and (f-1).

TECHNICAL

Removed formatting inconsistencies and placeholder text from the original bill draft.

Floor votes · House May 9, 2025

How they voted

96–38

Passed · 9 other

Total votes 143

May 9, 2025

D Democratic57

49 Yea 2 Nay 6

85% Yea

R Republican86

47 Yea 36 Nay 3

54% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

May 12, 2025

Introduced

Received from the House

upper

May 10, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed

lower

May 9, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed to engrossment

lower

May 5, 2025

Lower · Passed

Committee report sent to Calendars

lower

May 5, 2025

Lower · Passed

Committee report distributed

lower

Apr 28, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)

lower

Apr 2, 2025

Lower · Passed

Left pending in committee

lower

Apr 2, 2025

Lower · Passed

Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee

lower

Mar 12, 2025

Committee

Referred to Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence

lower

Mar 12, 2025

Introduced

Read first time

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors