S.B. No. 392
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 September 1, 2013.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 392 passed the Senate on
April 29, 2013, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that
the Senate concurred in House amendment on May 25, 2013, by the
following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 392 passed the House, with
amendment, on May 22, 2013, by the following vote: Yeas 148,
Nays 0, two present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor