Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1447 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Estes S.B. No. 1447
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to the liability of a sport shooting range.
7	7	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
8	8	SECTION 1. The heading to Subchapter B, Chapter 128, Civil
9	9	Practice and Remedies Code, is amended to read as follows:
10	10	SUBCHAPTER B. CIVIL ACTIONS BY PRIVATE PERSONS
11	11	SECTION 2. Sections 128.051(3) and (4), Civil Practice and
12	12	Remedies Code, are amended to read as follows:
13	13	(3) "Expert" means a person who is:
14	14	(A) giving opinion testimony about the
15	15	appropriate standard of care for a sport shooting range, an owner or
16	16	operator of a sport shooting range, or the owner of real property on
17	17	which a sport shooting range is operated, or the causal
18	18	relationship between the injury, harm, or damages claimed and the
19	19	alleged departure from the applicable standard of care; and
20	20	(B) qualified pursuant to Sections 128.054 or
21	21	128.055 to render opinions on the standards or [and] causal
22	22	relationship described by Paragraph (A) under the Texas Rules of
23	23	Evidence.
24	24	(4) "Expert report" means a written report by an
25	25	expert meeting the requirements of Section 128.054 that provides a
26	26	fair summary of the expert's opinions as of the date of the report
27	27	regarding applicable standards of care for operation of a sport
28	28	shooting range[,] and the manner in which a defendant failed to meet
29	29	the standards, or by an expert meeting the requirements of Section
30	30	128.055 that provides a fair summary of the expert's opinions as of
31	31	the date of the report regarding [and] the causal relationship
32	32	between that failure and the injury, harm, or damages claimed.
33	33	SECTION 3. Sections 128.052(b) and (c), Civil Practice and
34	34	Remedies Code, are amended to read as follows:
35	35	(b) Nothing in this section prohibits a civil action against
36	36	a sport shooting range, the owner or operator of a sport shooting
37	37	range, or the owner of the real property on which a sport shooting
38	38	range is operated for recovery of damages for:
39	39	(1) breach of contract for use of the real property on
40	40	which a sport shooting range is located;
41	41	(2) damage or harm to private property caused by the
42	42	discharge of firearms on a sport shooting range; or
43	43	(3) personal injury or death caused by the discharge
44	44	of a firearm on a sport shooting range[; or
45	45	[(4) injunctive relief to enforce a valid ordinance,
46	46	statute, or regulation].
47	47	(c) Damages may be awarded[, or an injunction may be
48	48	obtained,] in a civil action brought under [this section]
49	49	Subsection (b) only if the claimant shows by a preponderance of the
50	50	evidence, through the testimony of one or more experts meeting the
51	51	requirements of Section 128.054 [witnesses], that the sport
52	52	shooting range, the owner or operator of the sport shooting range,
53	53	or the owner of real property on which the sport shooting range is
54	54	operated deviated from the standard of care that is reasonably
55	55	expected of an ordinarily prudent sport shooting range, owner or
56	56	operator of a sport shooting range, or owner of real property on
57	57	which a sport shooting range is operated in the same or similar
58	58	circumstances and by the testimony of one or more expert witnesses
59	59	meeting the requirements of Section 128.055 that the alleged
60	60	deviation from the appropriate standard of care was the cause of the
61	61	damages asserted. This subsection does not create a cause of
62	62	action.
63	63	SECTION 4. Sections 128.053(a), (d), and (e), Civil
64	64	Practice and Remedies Code, are amended to read as follows:
65	65	(a) In a suit against a sport shooting range, an owner or
66	66	operator of a sport shooting range, or the owner of real property on
67	67	which a sport shooting range is operated, a claimant shall, not
68	68	later than the 90th day after the date the original petition was
69	69	filed, serve on each party or the party's attorney one or more
70	70	expert reports authored by one or more experts meeting the
71	71	requirements of Sections 128.054 and 128.055, with a curriculum
72	72	vitae of each expert listed in the report for each defendant against
73	73	whom a claim is asserted. The date for serving the report may be
74	74	extended by written agreement of the affected parties. Each
75	75	defendant whose conduct is implicated in a report must file and
76	76	serve any objection to the sufficiency of the report not later than
77	77	the 21st day after the date the report and curriculum vitae are [is]
78	78	served or all objections are waived.
79	79	(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a
80	80	claimant may satisfy any requirement of this section for serving an
81	81	expert report by serving reports of separate experts meeting the
82	82	requirements of Sections 128.054 or 128.055 regarding different
83	83	defendants or regarding different issues arising from the conduct
84	84	of a defendant, including issues of liability and causation.
85	85	Nothing in this section shall be construed to mean that a single
86	86	expert must address all liability and causation issues with respect
87	87	to all defendants or with respect to both liability and causation
88	88	issues for a defendant.
89	89	(e) A court shall grant a motion challenging the adequacy of
90	90	an expert report only if it appears to the court, after a hearing,
91	91	that the report does not represent an objective, good faith effort
92	92	to comply with the requirements of an expert report. A court shall
93	93	find that an expert report served in compliance with Subsection (a)
94	94	does not represent an objective, good faith effort to comply with
95	95	the requirements of an expert report if:
96	96	(1) the expert's curriculum vitae indicates the expert
97	97	does not meet the requirements of Section 128.054 to offer opinions
98	98	on the appropriate standard of care for a sport shooting range or
99	99	that the expert does not meet the requirements of Section 128.055 to
100	100	offer opinions concerning a causal link between the alleged
101	101	deviation from the appropriate standard of care and the damages
102	102	claimed; or
103	103	(2) the expert report fails to address either the
104	104	standard of care for a sport shooting range, the alleged breach of
105	105	the standard of care, or a causal link between the alleged breach
106	106	and the claimant's damages.
107	107	SECTION 5. Subchapter B, Chapter 128, Civil Practice and
108	108	Remedies Code, is amended by adding Sections 128.054 and 128.055 to
109	109	read as follows:
110	110	Sec. 128.054. QUALIFICATIONS OF EXPERT WITNESS ON THE
111	111	STANDARD OF CARE. (a) In a suit involving a claim subject to the
112	112	requirements of Section 128.053, a person may qualify as an expert
113	113	witness on the issue of whether the sport shooting range, the owner
114	114	or operator of a sport shooting range, or the owner of real property
115	115	on which a sport shooting range is operated departed from the
116	116	accepted standard of care only if the person:
117	117	(1) is operating a sport shooting range as defined by
118	118	Section 250.001, Local Government Code, at the time such testimony
119	119	is given, or was operating a sport shooting range as defined by
120	120	Section 250.001, Local Government Code, at the time the claim
121	121	arose;
122	122	(2) has knowledge of the accepted standards of care
123	123	for a sport shooting range of the type involved in the claim; and
124	124	(3) is qualified on the basis of training or
125	125	experience to offer an expert opinion regarding those accepted
126	126	standards of care.
127	127	(b) As used in this section, "operating a sport shooting
128	128	range" includes responsibility for, or actual participation,
129	129	either directly or in a supervisory capacity, in the maintenance
130	130	and repair of the facility, the supervision of persons shooting on
131	131	the range, the identification and correction of any safety hazards,
132	132	and the establishment of rules of conduct and safety procedures for
133	133	persons using the facility.
134	134	(c) In determining whether a person has sufficient training
135	135	or experience to qualify as an expert under this section, the court
136	136	shall consider whether, at the time the claim arose or at the time
137	137	the testimony is given, the witness meets the qualification
138	138	requirements of Subsections (a) and (b) by demonstrating experience
139	139	with a sport shooting range that is substantially similar to the
140	140	range against which the claim is asserted with regard to the range's
141	141	size, the range's location, the population density surrounding the
142	142	range, and the types of firearms used on the range.
143	143	(d) This section does not prevent an operator of a sport
144	144	shooting range who is a defendant from qualifying as an expert.
145	145	Sec. 128.055. QUALIFICATIONS OF EXPERT WITNESS ON
146	146	CAUSATION. (a) In a suit involving a claim subject to the
147	147	requirements of Section 128.053, a person may qualify as an expert
148	148	witness on the issue of the causal relationship between the alleged
149	149	departure from the standard of care and the injury, harm, or damages
150	150	claimed only if the person:
151	151	(1) is qualified to render opinions on that causal
152	152	relationship under the Texas Rules of Evidence; and
153	153	(2) if the claim is based in whole or in part on an
154	154	allegation that injury, harm, or damages were caused by one or more
155	155	bullets or other projectiles, demonstrates that the person
156	156	possesses education, training, and experience in the science of
157	157	ballistics dealing with the flight, behavior, and effects of
158	158	bullets and other projectiles launched from a firearm.
159	159	(b) In a jury trial, the court shall determine an expert's
160	160	competence to testify about ballistics under Subsection (a)(2)
161	161	outside the presence of the jury.
162	162	SECTION 6. The change in law made by this Act applies only
163	163	to a cause of action that accrues on or after the effective date of
164	164	this Act. A cause of action that accrues before the effective date
165	165	of this Act is governed by the law in effect immediately before the
166	166	effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for
167	167	that purpose.
168	168	SECTION 7. This Act takes effect on September 1, 2017.