83R2485 TJS-D
By: West S.B. No. 392
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. Sections 402.010(a) and (c), Government Code,
are amended 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 [court]
shall, if the attorney general is not a party to or counsel involved
in the litigation, serve notice of the constitutional 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.
(c) A party's [court's] failure to file or serve notice as
required by Subsection (a) does not deprive the court of
jurisdiction or forfeit an otherwise timely filed claim or defense
based on the challenge to the constitutionality of a statute of this
state.
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.