By Ben Gibbs
Daylight savings time has come around again. Communities across Texas have kicked off programs that coincide with daylight savings to encourage homeowners to check the batteries in their smoke alarms. For municipal courts, a similar thing happens every summer of an odd-numbered year: time to reexamine any city charters, ordinances, and procedures related to the municipal court to ensure compliance with a new batch of laws.
For example, effective September 1, 2023, the Legislature amended Section 61.001(a) of the Texas Government Code to raise the juror reimbursement rate from $6 per day to $20 per day. See H.B. 3474 (2023). Subsection (c), however, was unchanged, which provides that jurors in municipal court are not entitled to reimbursement. Municipalities may nonetheless elect to provide jury reimbursement and determine the amount.
Practically speaking, there are three approaches a municipality may take when it comes to juror reimbursement: pay nothing, pay a fixed amount, or pay an amount equal to the rate in the Government Code. If a city ordinance or resolution is based on either of the first two methods, no changes are needed. However, if it is based on the third method, the city will either need to pay the $20 per day or modify the ordinance.
Remember, the best time to familiarize yourself with the city’s court-related ordinances was when they passed. The second-best time is now.
Full Court Press 