A review of state legislation affecting the courts
March 31, 2023 -- Since 2006, Gavel to Gavel has tracked state-by-state legislative activity with potential impact on state courts.
Notable legislation includes:
- New Hampshire constitutional amendment to raise the mandatory judicial retirement age from 70 to 75 approved by Senate Judiciary committee; full House had previously approved plan 321-27.
- Texas plan to create a new statewide Fifteenth Court of Appeals approved by the Senate Jurisprudence Committee; the court would have exclusive jurisdiction over cases to which the state, a state agency, or a state official is a party.
- Bills to require judges receive training on trauma-informed care (Texas) and sexual abuse and assault (California) advance.
- Tennessee bills would alter the judicial disciplinary process; Board of Judicial Conduct would be required to notify and provide a copy of the findings and judgment, the board's formal findings of fact and opinion, and any sanction imposed, to the complainant by mail. Allows for complainants to appeal board decisions to the state supreme court.
- Montana Senate approves legislation to remove the power of district judges and the supreme court to name members of the Judicial Standards Commission and transfer power to the speaker of the house and attorney general; the bill now heads to the governor's desk.