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DAN MORALES November 25,199l
Al-rORNEI
GENERAL
Honorable Merrill L Hartman Opiion No. DM-58
Court Reporters Ckrtification Board Re: Whether the Court Reporters Cer-
P.O. Box 13131, Capitol Station tification Board may consider an appli-
Austin, Texas 78711-3131 cation for certification under Govem-
ment Code section 52.021(e) after the
effective date of repeal of that provision,
when consideration of the application be-
gan before the repeal date (RQ-176)
Dear Judge Hartmam
You have requested an opinion from this office concerning the repeal
e&dive Sepmmber l, 1991, of section 52.021(e) of the Government Code. Former
section 52.021(e) provided the following:
(e) A person who has successfully completed a registered
professional reporter% examination administered by the
National Shortband Reporters hation having standards and
requirements equivalent to or more dif3icult than those
presaii by this chapter, who has made proper application for
and successfully passed Part B of the certification examination
admikstered by the Court Reporters Certification Board, and
who has been actively engaged in the practice of shorthand
reporting while maintaining continuous membership in the
national association is entitled to be certitkd to the supreme
court in the manner provided by Section 52.024.
‘The act repealing this provision, House Bill 1417, states in section 2 that it
takes effect September 1.1991, ~JUIapplies on& to cti@atiom
by the Ciwt Reporters Cedjicatron Bod to the supreme wwt . . .
maa’e on or &er ti date. A cert#ication made under Chapter
52, Government Code, before September 1.1991, is governed by
p. 292
Honorable Merrill L Hartman - Page 2 (DX-58)
the law as it existed on the date the certification was made, and
that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
Acts 1991,72d Leg., ch. 799,s 2, at 2809 (emphasis added).
Your request to us is prompted by the following situation. A subcommittee
of the board first considered an application for certification under section 52.021(e)
before September 1.1991. However, the subcommittee of the board, being unable
to reach a consensus on the applicant’s qualifications, postponed further
consideration of the application until a future board meeting. As no consensus was
reached on the application in question, the board has not certified the applicant to
the supreme court. September 1, 1991 has now passed, and you ask whether the
board may continue to consider the application under repealed section 52.021(e).
We conclude that it may not.
We find that the savings clause in House Bill 1417 was only intended to
apply to applications actually pending in the supreme court as of September 1,199l.
House Bill 1417 clearly’provides that section 52.021(e) continues in effect only as to
certifications made by the Court Reporters Certification Board to the’supreme court
before. September 1.1991. Id ’If the board had certified the individual in question
to the supreme court prior to September 1, the applicant would have been entitled
to a certificate under former provision 52.021(e). However, such is not the case; as
of September 1, the board had not certified the applicant to the supreme court.
Accordingly, thii particular application may ‘not be considered by the board under
section 52.023(e). De fact that the applicant in question submitted ti application
to the board piior to September 1 does not alter this result.
SUMMARY
The Court Reporters Certification Board may not continue
to consider an application for certification under now-repealed
section 52.021(e) of the Government Code. Section 52.021(e)
continues in effect only as to applications for certification that
p. 293
Honorable Merrill L. Hartman - Page 3 (DM-58)
were pending before the supreme court prior to September 1,
1991.
DAN MORALES
Attorney General of Texas
WILL PRYOR
First Assistant Attorney General
MARY KELLER
Deputy Assistant Attorney General
JUDGE ZOLLIE STEAKLEY (Ret)
Special Assistant Attorney General
RENEA HICKS
Special Assistant Attorney General
MADELEINE B. JOHNSON
Chair, Opinion Committee
Prepared by Faith Steinberg
Assistant Attorney General
P. 294