Texas 2013 - 83rd Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1630 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	83R29222 SCL-F
2	2	By: West S.B. No. 1630
3	3	(Lewis)
4	4	Substitute the following for S.B. No. 1630: No.
5	5
6	6
7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the protection of defendants against vexatious
10	10	litigants.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Subdivision (5), Section 11.001, Civil Practice
13	13	and Remedies Code, is amended to read as follows:
14	14	(5) "Plaintiff" means an individual who commences or
15	15	maintains a litigation pro se.
16	16	SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 11, Civil Practice and
17	17	Remedies Code, is amended by adding Section 11.002 to read as
18	18	follows:
19	19	Sec. 11.002. APPLICABILITY. (a) This chapter does not
20	20	apply to an attorney licensed to practice law in this state unless
21	21	the attorney proceeds pro se.
22	22	(b) This chapter does not apply to a municipal court.
23	23	SECTION 3. Section 11.054, Civil Practice and Remedies
24	24	Code, is amended to read as follows:
25	25	Sec. 11.054. CRITERIA FOR FINDING PLAINTIFF A VEXATIOUS
26	26	LITIGANT. A court may find a plaintiff a vexatious litigant if the
27	27	defendant shows that there is not a reasonable probability that the
28	28	plaintiff will prevail in the litigation against the defendant and
29	29	that:
30	30	(1) the plaintiff, in the seven-year period
31	31	immediately preceding the date the defendant makes the motion under
32	32	Section 11.051, has commenced, prosecuted, or maintained [in
33	33	propria persona] at least five litigations as a pro se litigant
34	34	other than in a small claims court that have been:
35	35	(A) finally determined adversely to the
36	36	plaintiff;
37	37	(B) permitted to remain pending at least two
38	38	years without having been brought to trial or hearing; or
39	39	(C) determined by a trial or appellate court to
40	40	be frivolous or groundless under state or federal laws or rules of
41	41	procedure;
42	42	(2) after a litigation has been finally determined
43	43	against the plaintiff, the plaintiff repeatedly relitigates or
44	44	attempts to relitigate, pro se [in propria persona], either:
45	45	(A) the validity of the determination against the
46	46	same defendant as to whom the litigation was finally determined; or
47	47	(B) the cause of action, claim, controversy, or
48	48	any of the issues of fact or law determined or concluded by the
49	49	final determination against the same defendant as to whom the
50	50	litigation was finally determined; or
51	51	(3) the plaintiff has previously been declared to be a
52	52	vexatious litigant by a state or federal court in an action or
53	53	proceeding based on the same or substantially similar facts,
54	54	transition, or occurrence.
55	55	SECTION 4. Section 11.101, Civil Practice and Remedies
56	56	Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections
57	57	(d) and (e) to read as follows:
58	58	(a) A court may, on its own motion or the motion of any
59	59	party, enter an order prohibiting a person from filing, pro se [in
60	60	propria persona], a new litigation in a court to which the order
61	61	applies under this section without permission of the appropriate
62	62	local administrative judge described by Section 11.102(a) to file
63	63	the litigation [in this state] if the court finds, after notice and
64	64	hearing as provided by Subchapter B, that[:
65	65	[(1)] the person is a vexatious litigant[; and
66	66	[(2) the local administrative judge of the court in
67	67	which the person intends to file the litigation has not granted
68	68	permission to the person under Section 11.102 to file the
69	69	litigation].
70	70	(d) A prefiling order entered under Subsection (a) by a
71	71	justice or constitutional county court applies only to the court
72	72	that entered the order.
73	73	(e) A prefiling order entered under Subsection (a) by a
74	74	district or statutory county court applies to each court in this
75	75	state.
76	76	SECTION 5. Section 11.102, Civil Practice and Remedies
77	77	Code, is amended to read as follows:
78	78	Sec. 11.102. PERMISSION BY LOCAL ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE.
79	79	(a) A vexatious litigant subject to a prefiling order under
80	80	Section 11.101 is prohibited from filing, pro se, new litigation in
81	81	a court to which the order applies without seeking the permission
82	82	of:
83	83	(1) the local administrative judge of the type of
84	84	court in which the vexatious litigant intends to file, except as
85	85	provided by Subdivision (2); or
86	86	(2) the local administrative district judge of the
87	87	county in which the vexatious litigant intends to file if the
88	88	litigant intends to file in a justice or constitutional county
89	89	court.
90	90	(b) A vexatious litigant subject to a prefiling order under
91	91	Section 11.101 who files a request seeking permission to file a
92	92	litigation shall provide a copy of the request to all defendants
93	93	named in the proposed litigation.
94	94	(c) The appropriate local administrative judge described by
95	95	Subsection (a) may make a determination on the request with or
96	96	without a hearing. If the judge determines that a hearing is
97	97	necessary, the judge may require that the vexatious litigant filing
98	98	a request under Subsection (b) provide notice of the hearing to all
99	99	defendants named in the proposed litigation.
100	100	(d) The appropriate [A] local administrative judge
101	101	described by Subsection (a) may grant permission to a [person found
102	102	to be a] vexatious litigant subject to a prefiling order under
103	103	Section 11.101 to file a litigation only if it appears to the judge
104	104	that the litigation:
105	105	(1) has merit; and
106	106	(2) has not been filed for the purposes of harassment
107	107	or delay.
108	108	(e) [(b)] The appropriate local administrative judge
109	109	described by Subsection (a) may condition permission on the
110	110	furnishing of security for the benefit of the defendant as provided
111	111	in Subchapter B.
112	112	(f) [(c)] A decision of the appropriate [a] local
113	113	administrative judge described by Subsection (a) denying a litigant
114	114	permission to file a litigation under Subsection (d) [(a)], or
115	115	conditioning permission to file a litigation on the furnishing of
116	116	security under Subsection (e) [(b)], is not grounds for appeal,
117	117	except that the litigant may apply for a writ of mandamus with the
118	118	court of appeals not later than the 30th day after the date of the
119	119	decision. The denial of a writ of mandamus by the court of appeals is
120	120	not grounds for appeal to the supreme court or court of criminal appeals.
121	121	SECTION 6. The heading to Section 11.103, Civil Practice
122	122	and Remedies Code, is amended to read as follows:
123	123	Sec. 11.103. DUTIES OF CLERK[; MISTAKEN FILING].
124	124	SECTION 7. Subsections (a), (c), and (d), Section 11.103,
125	125	Civil Practice and Remedies Code, are amended to read as follows:
126	126	(a) Except as provided by Subsection (d), a clerk of a court
127	127	may not file a litigation, original proceeding, appeal, or other
128	128	claim presented, pro se, by a vexatious litigant subject to a
129	129	prefiling order under Section 11.101 unless the litigant obtains an
130	130	order from the appropriate local administrative judge described by
131	131	Section 11.102(a) permitting the filing.
132	132	(c) If the appropriate local administrative judge described
133	133	by Section 11.102(a) issues an order permitting the filing of the
134	134	litigation [under Subsection (b)], the litigation remains stayed
135	135	and the defendant need not plead until the 10th day after the date
136	136	the defendant is served with a copy of the order.
137	137	(d) A clerk of a court of appeals may file an appeal from a
138	138	prefiling order entered under Section 11.101 designating a person a
139	139	vexatious litigant or a timely filed writ of mandamus under Section
140	140	11.102 [11.102(c)].
141	141	SECTION 8. Subchapter C, Chapter 11, Civil Practice and
142	142	Remedies Code, is amended by adding Section 11.1035 to read as
143	143	follows:
144	144	Sec. 11.1035. MISTAKEN FILING. (a) If the clerk
145	145	mistakenly files litigation presented, pro se, by a vexatious
146	146	litigant subject to a prefiling order under Section 11.101 without
147	147	an order from the appropriate local administrative judge described
148	148	by Section 11.102(a), any party may file with the clerk and serve on
149	149	the plaintiff and the other parties to the litigation a notice
150	150	stating that the plaintiff is a vexatious litigant required to
151	151	obtain permission under Section 11.102 to file litigation.
152	152	(b) Not later than the next business day after the date the
153	153	clerk receives notice that a vexatious litigant subject to a
154	154	prefiling order under Section 11.101 has filed, pro se, litigation
155	155	without obtaining an order from the appropriate local
156	156	administrative judge described by Section 11.102(a), the clerk
157	157	shall notify the court that the litigation was mistakenly filed. On
158	158	receiving notice from the clerk, the court shall immediately stay
159	159	the litigation and shall dismiss the litigation unless the
160	160	plaintiff, not later than the 10th day after the date the notice is
161	161	filed, obtains an order from the appropriate local administrative
162	162	judge described by Section 11.102(a) permitting the filing of the
163	163	litigation.
164	164	(c) An order dismissing litigation that was mistakenly
165	165	filed by a clerk may not be appealed.
166	166	SECTION 9. Section 11.104, Civil Practice and Remedies
167	167	Code, is amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
168	168	(c) The Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial
169	169	System may not remove the name of a vexatious litigant subject to a
170	170	prefiling order under Section 11.101 from the agency's Internet
171	171	website unless the office receives a written order from the court
172	172	that entered the prefiling order or from an appellate court. An
173	173	order of removal affects only a prefiling order entered under
174	174	Section 11.101 by the same court. A court of appeals decision
175	175	reversing a prefiling order entered under Section 11.101 affects
176	176	only the validity of an order entered by the reversed court.
177	177	SECTION 10. Subdivision (3), Section 11.001, and Subsection
178	178	(b), Section 11.103, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, are
179	179	repealed.
180	180	SECTION 11. The change in law made by this Act applies only
181	181	to an action commencing on or after the effective date of this Act.
182	182	An action commencing before the effective date of this Act is
183	183	governed by the law as it existed on the date when the action
184	184	commenced, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
185	185	SECTION 12. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.