The Supreme Court of Texas has appointed nine members to serve staggered terms on the newly created Judicial Branch Certification Commission.
Beginning Sept. 1, 2014, certification, registration, licensing, and compliance functions for court reporters and court reporting firms, professional guardians, process servers, and licensed court interpreters will be combined, fitting into the JBCC. The Court Reporters Certification Board, Guardianship Certification Board, and Process Server Review Board will cease to exist, and the Licensed Court Interpreter program at the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation will be transferred to the JBCC. Each profession will continue to have advisory boards.
The JBCC was created by Senate Bill 966 in the 83rd legislative session. While the JBCC is administratively attached to the Office of Court Administration, the Supreme Court appoints members and has rule-making authority for the commission.
“The objective for creating the Judicial Branch Certification Commission was government efficiency and consistency across the regulated judicial professions,” said David Slayton, administrative director of the Office of Court Administration.
The following members were appointed to the commission:
· Hon. Lee Hamilton, chair, 104th District Court, Taylor County, Abilene
· Hon. Garland (Ben) Woodward, 119th District Court, Tom Green, Runnels, and Concho counties, San Angelo
· Hon. Migdalia Lopez, 197th District Court, Cameron County, Brownsville
· Hon. Sid L. Harle, 226th District Court, Bexar County, San Antonio
· Hon. Polly Spencer, Probate Court No. 1, Bexar County, San Antonio
· Velma Arellano, official court reporter, Corpus Christi
· Don D. Ford, attorney, Houston
· Mark Blenden, attorney, Bedford
· Ann Murray Moore, attorney, Edinburg
For more information, contact Megan LaVoie at Megan.LaVoie@txcourts.gov.