TX HB507

Creates a nine-member statewide capital defense training and standards committee to establish policies, qualification standards, training requirements, and continuing legal education curricula for attorneys representing indigent defendants in death penalty cases

Committee members must be licensed attorneys with significant capital defense or indigent criminal defense experience, and cannot be prosecutors, law enforcement officers, or employees of the office of capital and forensic writs; members serve four-year terms without compensation

Requires local selection committees in each administrative judicial region to evaluate and post online a list of qualified attorneys eligible for appointment in capital cases where the death penalty is sought

Changes disqualification standard for attorneys from court findings of "ineffective assistance of counsel" to local selection committee determinations of "deficient legal representation," with consideration of whether past conduct reflects future ability to provide effective representation

Requires attorneys on qualified lists to annually submit proof of completed training, continuing education requirements, and a list of death penalty cases handled; applies only to capital felony cases filed on or after September 1, 2025