Discussion of Goal 5.00
Provide judges and court personnel the means to satisfy mandatory education requirements.

Section 27.005, Texas Government Code, and rules promulgated by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals pursuant to Section 56.006, Texas Government Code, require all justices of the peace to attend an 80-Hour course within one year of taking office and a 20-Hour course each year thereafter. This requirement applies to both attorney and non-attorney JP’s.

Objectives:

5.01-5.06 Provide all mandatory and some optional annual training for newly-elected/appointed justices of the peace; advanced seminars for experienced justices of the peace; basic and advanced seminars for court clerks; seminars for constables in the subject area of basic civil process and a limited number of management seminars. The following strategies will be employed in meeting the challenges of the objectives discussed above:

This 80 hour mandatory annual training for newly elected justices of the peace has three components:

• The 20-Hour New Judges Orientation is held in December following the general election.
• The 40-Hour General Jurisdiction component is held in January; and
• The final 20-Hour Follow-up and Specific topic component is held later in the same fiscal year.

Implement 20-hour seminars for justices of the peace entitled "General Jurisdiction", with multiple tracks of instruction allowing the judge to customize his or her education to best fit the needs of the individual court; hold seminars for court clerks featuring multi-tracking, divided into advanced and basic curriculum, to accommodate the needs of new and veteran personnel; and implement 20-Hour seminars for constables featuring multi-tracking, divided into advanced and basic curriculum to accommodate the needs of new and veteran personnel.  The staff of the Texas Justice Court Training Center will administer these seminars at various locations statewide. The various committees that are provided for in the Justices of the Peace and Constables Association of Texas, Inc. constitution and bylaws will determine the curricula, faculty, personnel and general program policy. Reports will be made to the Justice Court Education Committee, as required by statute and the Rules of Judicial Education of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. All seminars will be held between September 1 and August 31 of each academic year in locations convenient to participants around the state. To supplement the training provided to the service clientele through resident programs, a series of one-day seminars may be held across the state to address the needs of judges and court personnel who desire additional education in a specific subject area or as a legislative update.