The Texas Judicial Council (Council) adopts new Chapter 176, regarding Methods for the Improvement of the Administration of Justice, and new §176.1, concerning an admonishment by a court of certain persons ineligible to possess a firearm or ammunition. The purpose of the new rule is to improve community safety in Texas, support firearm safety in Texas, and implement recommendations made by Governor Greg Abbott in his Texas Safety Action Report (September 12, 2019) to combat gun violence in Texas. The new chapter and new rule are adopted with changes to the proposed text published in the December 13, 2019, issue of the Texas Register (44 TexReg 7575). The rule will be republished.

The public comment period began December 13, 2019, and ended January 31, 2020. The Council received six comments on the proposed new chapter and new rule. Five were from judges and one was from an unidentified individual. Two comments supported the admonishment requirement, two comments posed questions to the Council regarding the admonishment and the consequences for violating the underlying laws that require an admonishment, and two comments provided observations on the admonishment requirement and asked whether it was redundant. One of the questions concerned the requirement that the admonishment be "served" on a person who does not appear in person. No changes to the chapter or rule were made as a result of the comments; however, the provision that was the basis for the question about the proposed requirement that the admonishment be "served" on a person who does not appear in person has been changed by the Council as described below.

The Council made two changes to the proposed rule as published in the December 13, 2019, issue of the Texas Register by combining §176.1(b)(2)(A) and §176.1(b)(2)(B) into one subsection, §176.1(b)(2), which now requires the written admonishment be provided "by a method reasonably likely to provide notice to the person" rather than ensuring the written admonishment be "served on the person."

Statutory Authority. New Chapter 176 and new rule §176.1 are adopted under the following sections of the Government Code: §71.019, which authorizes the Council to adopt rules expedient for the administration of its functions; §71.033, which directs the Council to design methods for simplifying judicial procedure, expediting the transaction of judicial business, and correcting faults in or improving the administration of justice; and §71.031, which directs the Council to study the organization, rules, procedures and practice, work accomplished, results, and uniformity of the discretionary powers of the state courts and methods for their improvement.

No other statutes, articles, or codes are affected by the adopted rule.