By: West S.B. No. 392
(In the Senate - Filed February 5, 2013; February 13, 2013,
read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
April 24, 2013, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; April 24, 2013,
sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 392 By: Deuell
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to notice to the attorney general of challenges to the
constitutionality of Texas statutes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 402.010, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to read as
follows:
(a) In an action in which a party to the litigation files a
petition, motion, or other pleading challenging the
constitutionality of a statute of this state, the party shall file
the form required by Subsection (a-1). The court shall, if the
attorney general is not a party to or counsel involved in the
litigation, serve notice of the constitutional challenge
[question] and a copy of the petition, motion, or other pleading
that raises the challenge on the attorney general either by
certified or registered mail or electronically to an e-mail address
designated by the attorney general for the purposes of this
section[. Notice under this section must identify the statute in
question, state the basis for the challenge, and specify the
petition, motion, or other pleading that raises the challenge].
(a-1) The Office of Court Administration of the Texas
Judicial System shall adopt the form that a party challenging the
constitutionality of a statute of this state must file with the
court in which the action is pending indicating which pleading
should be served on the attorney general in accordance with this
section.
SECTION 2. Section 402.010, Government Code, as amended by
this Act, applies only to a petition, motion, or other pleading
filed in litigation on or after the effective date of this Act. A
pleading filed in litigation before the effective date of this Act
is governed by the law applicable to the pleading immediately
before the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
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