Sec. 24.946. PROCEDURE. (a) The board shall meet in accordance with its own rules. The board shall meet at least once in each interim between regular sessions of the legislature and shall exercise its reapportionment powers only in the interims between regular legislative sessions. Meetings of the board shall be subject to the provisions of Chapter 551, except as otherwise provided by this subchapter. A reapportionment may not be ordered in the interim immediately following a regular session of the legislature in which a valid and subsisting statewide reapportionment of judicial districts is enacted by the legislature. Unless the legislature enacts a statewide reapportionment of the judicial districts following each federal decennial census, the board shall convene not later than the first Monday of June of the third year following the year in which the federal decennial census is taken to make a statewide reapportionment of the districts. The board shall complete its work on the reapportionment and file its order with the secretary of state not later than August 31 of the same year. If the Judicial Districts Board fails to make a statewide apportionment by that date, the Legislative Redistricting Board established by Article III, Section 28, of the Texas Constitution shall make a statewide reapportionment of the judicial districts not later than the 150th day after the final day for the Judicial Districts Board to make the reapportionment, and that apportionment takes effect as provided by Sections 24.948 and 24.949.
(b) The board shall adopt its own rules of procedure and has the power to make investigations, hold hearings, compel by subpoena the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of records, administer oaths, and do all things necessary in its judgment to carry out its duties.
(c) On the request of the chairman, a peace officer shall serve a subpoena issued by the board. The officer shall serve the subpoena in the same manner as a subpoena issued by a district court is served. If the person to whom a subpoena is directed fails to comply, the board may bring suit in the district court to enforce the subpoena. If the court determines that good cause exists for the issuance of the subpoena, the court shall order compliance. The court may modify the requirements of a subpoena that the court determines are unreasonable. Failure to comply with the order of the district court is punishable as contempt.
(d) The board may provide for the compensation of subpoenaed witnesses. The amount of compensation may not exceed the amount paid to a witness subpoenaed by a district court in a civil proceeding.
Added by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 148, Sec. 2.19(a), eff. Sept. 1, 1987. Amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 5.95(83), eff. Sept. 1, 1995.
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