By: West S.B. No. 1630
(In the Senate - Filed March 8, 2013; March 20, 2013, read
first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
April 17, 2013, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; April 17, 2013,
sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1630 By: Deuell
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the protection of defendants against vexatious
litigants.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subdivision (5), Section 11.001, Civil Practice
and Remedies Code, is amended to read as follows:
(5) "Plaintiff" means an individual who commences or
maintains a litigation pro se.
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 11, Civil Practice and
Remedies Code, is amended by adding Section 11.002 to read as
follows:
Sec. 11.002. APPLICABILITY. (a) This chapter does not
apply to an attorney licensed to practice law in this state unless
the attorney proceeds pro se.
(b) This chapter does not apply to a municipal court.
SECTION 3. Section 11.054, Civil Practice and Remedies
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 11.054. CRITERIA FOR FINDING PLAINTIFF A VEXATIOUS
LITIGANT. A court may find a plaintiff a vexatious litigant if the
defendant shows that there is not a reasonable probability that the
plaintiff will prevail in the litigation against the defendant and
that:
(1) the plaintiff, in the seven-year period
immediately preceding the date the defendant makes the motion under
Section 11.051, has commenced, prosecuted, or maintained [in
propria persona] at least five litigations as a pro se litigant
other than in a small claims court that have been:
(A) finally determined adversely to the
plaintiff;
(B) permitted to remain pending at least two
years without having been brought to trial or hearing; or
(C) determined by a trial or appellate court to
be frivolous or groundless under state or federal laws or rules of
procedure;
(2) after a litigation has been finally determined
against the plaintiff, the plaintiff repeatedly relitigates or
attempts to relitigate, pro se [in propria persona], either:
(A) the validity of the determination against the
same defendant as to whom the litigation was finally determined; or
(B) the cause of action, claim, controversy, or
any of the issues of fact or law determined or concluded by the
final determination against the same defendant as to whom the
litigation was finally determined; or
(3) the plaintiff has previously been declared to be a
vexatious litigant by a state or federal court in an action or
proceeding based on the same or substantially similar facts,
transition, or occurrence.
SECTION 4. Section 11.101, Civil Practice and Remedies
Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections
(d) and (e) to read as follows:
(a) A court may, on its own motion or the motion of any
party, enter an order prohibiting a person from filing, pro se [in
propria persona], a new litigation in a court to which the order
applies under this section without permission of the appropriate
local administrative judge described by Section 11.102(a) to file
the litigation [in this state] if the court finds, after notice and
hearing as provided by Subchapter B, that[:
[(1)] the person is a vexatious litigant[; and
[(2) the local administrative judge of the court in
which the person intends to file the litigation has not granted
permission to the person under Section 11.102 to file the
litigation].
(d) A prefiling order entered under Subsection (a) by a
justice or constitutional county court applies only to the court
that entered the order.
(e) A prefiling order entered under Subsection (a) by a
district or statutory county court applies to each court in this
state.
SECTION 5. Section 11.102, Civil Practice and Remedies
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 11.102. PERMISSION BY LOCAL ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE.
(a) A vexatious litigant subject to a prefiling order under
Section 11.101 is prohibited from filing, pro se, new litigation in
a court to which the order applies without seeking the permission
of:
(1) the local administrative judge of the type of
court in which the vexatious litigant intends to file, except as
provided by Subdivision (2); or
(2) the local administrative district judge of the
county in which the vexatious litigant intends to file if the
litigant intends to file in a justice or constitutional county
court.
(b) A vexatious litigant subject to a prefiling order under
Section 11.101 who files a request seeking permission to file a
litigation shall provide a copy of the request to all defendants
named in the proposed litigation.
(c) The appropriate local administrative judge described by
Subsection (a) may make a determination on the request with or
without a hearing. If the judge determines that a hearing is
necessary, the judge may require that the vexatious litigant filing
a request under Subsection (b) provide notice of the hearing to all
defendants named in the proposed litigation.
(d) The appropriate [A] local administrative judge
described by Subsection (a) may grant permission to a [person found
to be a] vexatious litigant subject to a prefiling order under
Section 11.101 to file a litigation only if it appears to the judge
that the litigation:
(1) has merit; and
(2) has not been filed for the purposes of harassment
or delay.
(e) [(b)] The appropriate local administrative judge
described by Subsection (a) may condition permission on the
furnishing of security for the benefit of the defendant as provided
in Subchapter B.
(f) [(c)] A decision of the appropriate [a] local
administrative judge described by Subsection (a) denying a litigant
permission to file a litigation under Subsection (d) [(a)], or
conditioning permission to file a litigation on the furnishing of
security under Subsection (e) [(b)], is not grounds for appeal,
except that the litigant may apply for a writ of mandamus with the
court of appeals not later than the 30th day after the date of the
decision. The denial of a writ of mandamus by the court of appeals is
not grounds for appeal to the supreme court or court of criminal appeals.
SECTION 6. The heading to Section 11.103, Civil Practice
and Remedies Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 11.103. DUTIES OF CLERK[; MISTAKEN FILING].
SECTION 7. Subsections (a), (c), and (d), Section 11.103,
Civil Practice and Remedies Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (d), a clerk of a court
may not file a litigation, original proceeding, appeal, or other
claim presented, pro se, by a vexatious litigant subject to a
prefiling order under Section 11.101 unless the litigant obtains an
order from the appropriate local administrative judge described by
Section 11.102(a) permitting the filing.
(c) If the appropriate local administrative judge described
by Section 11.102(a) issues an order permitting the filing of the
litigation [under Subsection (b)], the litigation remains stayed
and the defendant need not plead until the 10th day after the date
the defendant is served with a copy of the order.
(d) A clerk of a court of appeals may file an appeal from a
prefiling order entered under Section 11.101 designating a person a
vexatious litigant or a timely filed writ of mandamus under Section
11.102 [11.102(c)].
SECTION 8. Subchapter C, Chapter 11, Civil Practice and
Remedies Code, is amended by adding Section 11.1035 to read as
follows:
Sec. 11.1035. MISTAKEN FILING. (a) If the clerk
mistakenly files litigation presented, pro se, by a vexatious
litigant subject to a prefiling order under Section 11.101 without
an order from the appropriate local administrative judge described
by Section 11.102(a), any party may file with the clerk and serve on
the plaintiff and the other parties to the litigation a notice
stating that the plaintiff is a vexatious litigant required to
obtain permission under Section 11.102 to file litigation.
(b) Not later than the 24th hour after receiving notice that
a vexatious litigant subject to a prefiling order under Section
11.101 has filed, pro se, litigation without obtaining an order
from the appropriate local administrative judge described by
Section 11.102(a), the clerk shall notify the court that the
litigation was mistakenly filed. On receiving notice from the
clerk, the court shall immediately stay the litigation and shall
dismiss the litigation unless the plaintiff, not later than the
10th day after the date the notice is filed, obtains an order from
the appropriate local administrative judge described by Section
11.102(a) permitting the filing of the litigation.
(c) An order dismissing litigation that was mistakenly
filed by a clerk may not be appealed.
SECTION 9. Section 11.104, Civil Practice and Remedies
Code, is amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) The Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial
System may not remove the name of a vexatious litigant subject to a
prefiling order under Section 11.101 from the agency's Internet
website unless the office receives a written order from the court
that entered the prefiling order or from an appellate court. An
order of removal affects only a prefiling order entered under
Section 11.101 by the same court. A court of appeals decision
reversing a prefiling order entered under Section 11.101 affects
only the validity of an order entered by the reversed court.
SECTION 10. Subdivision (3), Section 11.001, and Subsection
(b), Section 11.103, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, are
repealed.
SECTION 11. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an action commencing on or after the effective date of this Act.
An action commencing before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law as it existed on the date when the action
commenced, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 12. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
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