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| 1 | 1 | By: Perry S.B. No. 862 | |
| 2 | - | (In the Senate - Filed February 14, 2017; | |
| 3 | - | February 27, 2017, read first time and referred to Committee on | |
| 4 | - | Agriculture, Water & Rural Affairs; April 6, 2017, reported | |
| 5 | - | adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the following | |
| 6 | - | vote: Yeas 4, Nays 3; April 6, 2017, sent to printer.) | |
| 7 | - | Click here to see the committee vote | |
| 8 | - | COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 862 By: Kolkhorst | |
| 9 | 2 | ||
| 10 | 3 | ||
| 11 | 4 | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED | |
| 12 | 5 | AN ACT | |
| 13 | 6 | relating to the award of attorney's fees and other costs in certain | |
| 14 | 7 | proceedings involving a groundwater conservation district. | |
| 15 | 8 | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | |
| 16 | 9 | SECTION 1. Section 36.066(g), Water Code, is amended to | |
| 17 | 10 | read as follows: | |
| 18 | 11 | (g) In a suit to which [If] the district is a party, | |
| 19 | 12 | [prevails in any suit other than a suit in which it voluntarily | |
| 20 | 13 | intervenes, the district may seek and] the court may [shall] grant | |
| 21 | 14 | reasonable and necessary[, in the interests of justice and as | |
| 22 | 15 | provided by Subsection (h), in the same action, recovery for] | |
| 23 | 16 | attorney's fees, costs for expert witnesses, and other costs | |
| 24 | 17 | incurred by the prevailing party [district] before the court as are | |
| 25 | - | equitable and just. [The amount of the attorney's fees shall be | |
| 26 | - | fixed by the court.] | |
| 18 | + | equitable and just. The court may not award attorney's fees in an | |
| 19 | + | amount that exceeds $250,000. [The amount of the attorney's fees | |
| 20 | + | shall be fixed by the court.] | |
| 27 | 21 | SECTION 2. Section 36.102(d), Water Code, is amended to | |
| 28 | 22 | read as follows: | |
| 29 | 23 | (d) In [If the district prevails in] any suit to enforce the | |
| 30 | 24 | district's [its] rules, the [district may seek and the] court may | |
| 31 | 25 | [shall] grant reasonable and necessary [against any person, in the | |
| 32 | 26 | same action, recovery for] attorney's fees, costs for expert | |
| 33 | 27 | witnesses, and other costs incurred by the prevailing party | |
| 34 | - | [district] before the court as are equitable and just. [The amount | |
| 35 | - | of the attorney's fees shall be fixed by the court.] | |
| 28 | + | [district] before the court as are equitable and just. The court | |
| 29 | + | may not award attorney's fees in an amount that exceeds $250,000. | |
| 30 | + | [The amount of the attorney's fees shall be fixed by the court.] | |
| 36 | 31 | SECTION 3. Section 36.066(h), Water Code, is repealed. | |
| 37 | 32 | SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to | |
| 38 | 33 | a proceeding commenced under Chapter 36, Water Code, on or after the | |
| 39 | 34 | effective date of this Act. A proceeding commenced before the | |
| 40 | 35 | effective date of this Act is governed by the law applicable to the | |
| 41 | 36 | proceeding immediately before the effective date of this Act, and | |
| 42 | 37 | that law is continued in effect for that purpose. | |
| 43 | 38 | SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017. | |
| 44 | - | * * * * * |