COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS
RULES OF JUDICIAL EDUCATION
Presiding Judge Sharon Keller, Court Liaison
As Amended Effective Sept. 1, 2001

RULE 1. AUTHORITY. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 56.006 of the Texas Government Code, these Rules of Judicial Education are hereby promulgated.

RULE 2. APPELLATE, DISTRICT AND COUNTY-LEVEL COURT JUDGES.
a. Each judge of an appellate court, district court, statutory county court, and county court performing judicial functions will, as an official duty:
(1) complete before taking office, or within one year after taking office, at least 30 hours of instruction in the administrative duties of office and substantive, procedural and evidentiary laws unless the judge has previously complied with this requirement and has been absent from the bench less than one year before taking the present office; and
(2) each fiscal year thereafter, complete at least 16 hours of instruction in substantive, procedural and evidentiary laws and court administration.
(3) Instruction credit completed during any fiscal year in excess of the minimum number of hours required may be applied to the following year's requirement.

b. Programs sponsored by the following organizations and approved by the Court of Criminal Appeals Education Committee for appellate, district, and statutory county judges, or, the County Judges Education Committee for constitutional county judges, can be utilized to satisfy the requirements of Rule 2.a.:
(1) Judicial Section of the State Bar of Texas
(2) Texas Center for the Judiciary, Inc.
(3) The Texas Association of Counties
(4) National Judicial College, Reno, Nevada
(5) Appellate Judges' Conference of the American Bar Association, Chicago, Ill.
(6) National Conference of Chief Justices
(7) American Academy of Judicial Education, Washington, D.C.
(8) Institute of Judicial Administration, NYU, New York, NY
(9) Texas College of Probate Judges
(10) National College of Probate Judges
(11) An accredited law school
(12) A local, state or national bar association
(13) A professional organization devoted to improvement of the legal profession (such as the Texas Association of Defense Counsel and the Texas Trial Lawyers Association)
(14) The County Judges and Commissioners Association of Texas or the V.G. Young Institute of Texas A & M University
(15) Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association
(16) Texas District and County Attorneys Association

c. All rules applicable to active appellate, district, and statutory county court judges, [except Rule 2a(1)] are also applicable to former and retired appellate judges, former and retired district judges, and former and retired statutory county court judges, who are subject to assignment and are named on a list maintained by the Presiding Judge of the Administrative Region.

d. A constitutional county judge is exempt from the continuing judicial education requirement for any fiscal year for which the judge files an affidavit with the Registrar stating that the judge does not perform judicial functions.

RULE 3. JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.
a. Each justice of the peace will, as an official duty:
(1) complete within one year after taking office, a 40 hour course of instruction in the performance of the duties of office; and
(2) each fiscal year thereafter, complete a 20 hour course of instruction in the performance of the duties of office.

b. A person who serves in the dual capacity as a justice of the peace and as a municipal judge may be permitted to receive credit for each office toward fulfillment of the requirements of the Rules of Judicial Education by attending a course of instruction for either office, provided that the curriculum is pertinent to the duties and responsibilities of each office. The determination of the applicability of the course to each or either office shall be made by the judicial education committee having jurisdiction over each office in accordance with that committee's procedures.

c. Only courses of instruction completed through a continuing education program approved by the Justice Court Education Committee can be utilized to satisfy the requirement of Rule 3.a.

d. Once Rule 3a(1) has been satisfied, justices of the peace who are also licensed attorneys may obtain training sponsored by the organizations listed in Rule 2b.

RULE 4. MUNICIPAL COURT JUDGES.
a. Each municipal court judge will, as an official duty:
(1) complete within one year after taking office, a minimum of 12 hours of instruction if a licensed attorney, or a minimum of 32 hours of instruction if not a licensed attorney, in the performance of the duties of office; and
(2) each fiscal year thereafter complete a minimum of 12 hours of instruction in the performance of the duties of office.

b. A person who serves in the dual capacity as a municipal judge and as a justice of the peace may be permitted to receive credit for each office toward fulfillment of the requirements of the Rules of Judicial Education by attending a course of instruction for either office, provided that the curriculum is pertinent to the duties and responsibilities of each office. The determination of the applicability of the course to each or either office shall be made by the judicial education committee having jurisdiction over each office in accordance with that committee's procedures.

c. After having served as a municipal court judge for a period of two years and met the judicial education requirement each year, a judge may attend an alternate course approved by the Municipal Courts Education Committee. An approved alternate course may be selected only every other year.

RULE 5. COURT COORDINATORS.
a. Each court coordinator of a district or statutory county court shall annually complete 16 hours of continuing education, unless the court coordinator files, with the Texas Center for the Judiciary, Inc., the prescribed form, signed by the judge or commissioners court of the county employing the court coordinator certifying that state and local funds are not available for the court coordinator's continuing education.

b. In addition to the programs provided in Rule 2.b., programs of the following organizations can be utilized to satisfy the requirements of Rule 5.a.:
(1) The Texas Association of Court Administration
(2) The Texas Office of Court Administration
(3) The National Association for Court Management
(4) The Institute of Court Management of the National Center for State Courts
(5) The Justice Management Institute
(6) A state college or university or local community college
(7) A program sponsored by a local court administrative office and approved by the local administrative judge or local presiding judge
(8) Other programs as approved by the Court of Criminal Appeals Education Committee (Judicial Advisory Committee, Texas Center Board of Directors)

c. Instruction credit completed during any fiscal year in excess of the minimum number of hours required may be applied to the following fiscal year's requirement.

d. Each court coordinator who attends an approved program or performs an approved activity will certify the event on a form provided by the Texas Center for the Judiciary, Inc.

RULE 6. OPERATION OF GRANTS.
a. Grants shall be awarded by the Court of Criminal Appeals for the period of the state fiscal year. Completed applications for grant funding shall be submitted to the Court of Criminal Appeals on or before the first day of July preceding the fiscal year for which the grant is applied.

b. Grants shall be awarded based on qualitative information provided in the Uniform Grant Application Narrative section of the completed grant application.

c. All grants shall be conducted in accordance with the following:
(1) applicable state laws and rules of the Court of Criminal Appeals, and regulations, policies, and guidelines promulgated pursuant thereto; and
(2) terms, conditions, standards, or stipulations of grant agreements and conditions.

d. Grantees shall be audited both in financial performance and program performance by the Court of Criminal appeals.

RULE 7. COURSE CREDIT.
a. Approved programs will earn the attending judge one hour of credit for each hour of instruction actually attended. Judges who serve as instructors at approved programs will receive credit for three times the presentation time.

b. Grantees are encouraged to provide courses of instruction that are statutorily mandated for those judges required to take such courses.

RULE 8. CERTIFICATION AND RECORDS.
a. Each judge who attends an approved program or performs an approved activity will certify the event on a form approved by each entity's educational committee. This certification will be sent to the Registrar named in the form, to be entered on records maintained for that purpose. Records will be retained for three years. A report shall be provided annually to the Court of Criminal Appeals listing all judges who received certification.

b. At the end of each grant year, the Registrar will report to the applicable education committee the name of any judge who has not accumulated the minimum hours of education for that year.

RULE 9. WAIVERS OF COMPLIANCE.
a. Upon receipt of the reports required by Rule 8.b., the applicable education committee will advise the named judges of the deficiency. Within 30 days of the receipt of such notice, the judge may submit a statement of the reasons that prevented compliance. Thereafter, unless the applicable committee grants a waiver for good cause shown, it will report the name of the judge to the Court of Criminal Appeals by November 1.

b. The Court of Criminal Appeals will forward to the State Commission on Judicial Conduct names of all judges who were determined to be delinquent in continuing judicial education hours. Thereafter, neither the grantee nor the Court of Criminal Appeals will communicate with the judge as to their status except to refer them to the Commission on Judicial Conduct.

RULE 10. EDUCATIONAL LEAVE. All judges covered by these Rules are granted such educational leave as may be required to fulfill the requirements of these Rules.

RULE 11. STATUTORILY MANDATED TRAINING.
a. Judicial education entities shall provide training as required by the following statutes:

b. Definitions, as related to Sec. 22.110, Gov't. Code, are as follows:
(1) The term "judge" in this rule refers to a district judge or a judge of a statutory county court;
(2) The term "Judicial Officer" in this rule refers to an associate judge appointed under Chapter 54 of this code, or Chapter 201 of the Family Code, or to a master, referee, or magistrate.

RULE 12. ISSUES CONCERNING SEX OFFENDER CHARACTERISTICS. Grantees training board certified family law attorneys and criminal, county, and district attorneys are responsible for training on issues concerning sex offender characteristics, in accordance with Senate Concurrent Resolution 16, issued May 24, 1995.