81R15882 JD-F
By: Swinford H.B. No. 3498
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 3498:
By: Oliveira C.S.H.B. No. 3498
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to an appeal of an order of an appraisal review board to a
district court.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 42.21, Tax Code, is amended by amending
Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (c-1) to read as follows:
(c) If an appeal under this chapter is pending when the
appraisal review board issues an order in a subsequent year under a
protest by the same property owner and that protest relates to the
same property that is involved in the pending appeal, except as
provided by Subsection (c-1), the property owner may appeal the
subsequent appraisal review board order by amending the original
petition for the pending appeal to include the grounds for
appealing the subsequent order. The amended petition must be filed
with the court in the period provided by Subsection (a) for filing a
petition for review of the subsequent order. A property owner may
appeal the subsequent appraisal review board order under this
subsection or may appeal the order independently of the pending
appeal as otherwise provided by this section, but may not do both.
A property owner may change the election of remedies provided by
this subsection at any time before the end of the period provided by
Subsection (a) for filing a petition for review.
(c-1) A petition for review filed by a property owner may
not be amended to include more than one order issued in a subsequent
year by an appraisal review board.
SECTION 2. Section 42.23, Tax Code, is amended by adding
Subsections (f), (g), (h), and (i) to read as follows:
(f) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Texas
Rules of Civil Procedure, in an appeal brought under this chapter
the discovery deadlines prescribed by Subsections (g)-(i) apply.
(g) If a property owner invokes the modified discovery rules
described by Subsection (d), each party must designate expert
witnesses and furnish written reports not later than 90 days before
trial.
(h) If a property owner does not invoke the modified
discovery rules described by Subsection (d):
(1) the party seeking affirmative relief must
designate expert witnesses and furnish written reports not later
than 90 days before trial; and
(2) each other party must designate expert witnesses
and furnish written reports not later than 60 days before trial.
(i) The discovery deadlines prescribed by this section may
be waived by agreement of the parties to the appeal. The parties
may agree to alternative discovery deadlines.
SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 42, Tax Code, is amended by
adding Section 42.235 to read as follows:
Sec. 42.235. TRIAL DEADLINE; DEFAULT FOR FAILURE TO MEET
DEADLINE; DISMISSAL FOR WANT OF PROSECUTION. (a) In an appeal
brought under this chapter, all parties must be ready for trial and
submit an agreed order setting a trial date on or before the second
anniversary of the date the petition for review was filed with the
district court.
(b) If a party has not announced ready for trial on or before
the second anniversary of the date the petition for review was
filed, or if a party does not agree to an order setting a trial date
on or before the second anniversary of the date the petition for
review was filed, the district court, after that second
anniversary, may:
(1) strike the pleadings of that party; and
(2) on a motion of a party that has announced ready for
trial, enter a default judgment against the party that has not
announced ready for trial or agreed to an order setting a trial
date.
(c) If a petition for review is amended under Section 42.21
to add an appeal of an order of the appraisal review board issued in
a subsequent year, the deadlines imposed by Subsection (a) are
extended until the second anniversary of the date the amended
petition for review was filed with the district court.
(d) An appeal brought under this chapter may not be
dismissed for want of prosecution before the applicable deadline
prescribed by this section. If none of the parties to the appeal
has announced ready for trial on or before the applicable deadline
prescribed by this section, after giving notice to the parties of
the court's intention to dismiss the appeal in the manner required
by Rule 165a, Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, the district court may
dismiss the appeal for want of prosecution.
(e) The district court shall grant a continuance or an
extension of the deadlines prescribed by this section:
(1) on a showing of good cause by a party to the
appeal; or
(2) on the court's own motion if the court finds a
substantial and unavoidable reason for a delay.
SECTION 4. Section 23.101(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The trial courts of this state shall regularly and
frequently set hearings and trials of pending matters, giving
preference to hearings and trials of the following:
(1) temporary injunctions;
(2) criminal actions, with the following actions given
preference over other criminal actions:
(A) criminal actions against defendants who are
detained in jail pending trial;
(B) criminal actions involving a charge that a
person committed an act of family violence, as defined by Section
71.004, Family Code;
(C) an offense under:
(i) Section 21.02 or 21.11, Penal Code;
(ii) Chapter 22, Penal Code, if the victim
of the alleged offense is younger than 17 years of age;
(iii) Section 25.02, Penal Code, if the
victim of the alleged offense is younger than 17 years of age;
(iv) Section 25.06, Penal Code; or
(v) Section 43.25, Penal Code; and
(D) an offense described by Article 62.001(6)(C)
or (D), Code of Criminal Procedure;
(3) election contests and suits under the Election
Code;
(4) orders for the protection of the family under
Subtitle B, Title 4, Family Code;
(5) appeals of final rulings and decisions of the
division of workers' compensation of the Texas Department of
Insurance regarding workers' compensation claims and claims under
the Federal Employers' Liability Act and the Jones Act;
(6) appeals of final orders of the commissioner of the
General Land Office under Section 51.3021, Natural Resources Code;
(7) actions in which the claimant has been diagnosed
with malignant mesothelioma, other malignant asbestos-related
cancer, malignant silica-related cancer, or acute silicosis; and
(8) appeals brought under Section 42.01 or 42.015, Tax
Code, of orders of appraisal review boards of appraisal districts
[established for counties with a population of less than 175,000].
SECTION 5. The change in the law made by this Act applies
only to an appeal under Chapter 42, Tax Code, for which a petition
for review is filed on or after the effective date of this Act. An
appeal under Chapter 42, Tax Code, for which a petition for review
was filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
law in effect on the date the petition for review was filed, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.