| 1 | 1 | | 89R1072 LRM-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Dorazio H.B. No. 1050 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | |
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| 6 | 6 | | |
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| 7 | 7 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 8 | 8 | | AN ACT |
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| 9 | 9 | | relating to the award of attorney's fees in certain suits involving |
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| 10 | 10 | | a groundwater conservation district. |
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| 11 | 11 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 12 | 12 | | SECTION 1. Sections 36.066(g) and (h), Water Code, are |
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| 13 | 13 | | amended to read as follows: |
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| 14 | 14 | | (g) Except for [If the district prevails in any suit other |
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| 15 | 15 | | than] a suit in which a district [it] voluntarily intervenes, the |
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| 16 | 16 | | prevailing party in a suit governed by this section [district] may |
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| 17 | 17 | | seek and the court shall grant, in the interests of justice and as |
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| 18 | 18 | | provided by Subsection (h), in the same action, recovery for |
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| 19 | 19 | | attorney's fees, costs for expert witnesses, and other costs |
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| 20 | 20 | | incurred by the prevailing party [district] before the court. The |
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| 21 | 21 | | amount of the attorney's fees shall be fixed by the court. |
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| 22 | 22 | | (h) The court shall award to a prevailing party that [If the |
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| 23 | 23 | | district] prevails on some, but not all, of the issues in the suit |
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| 24 | 24 | | [, the court shall award] attorney's fees and costs only for those |
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| 25 | 25 | | issues on which the party [district] prevails. The prevailing |
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| 26 | 26 | | party [district] has the burden of segregating the attorney's fees |
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| 27 | 27 | | and costs in order for the court to make an award. |
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| 28 | 28 | | SECTION 2. Section 36.066, Water Code, as amended by this |
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| 29 | 29 | | Act, applies only to a suit involving a groundwater conservation |
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| 30 | 30 | | district that is filed on or after the effective date of this Act. A |
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| 31 | 31 | | suit filed before the effective date of this Act is subject to the |
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| 32 | 32 | | law in effect on the date the suit is filed, and that law is |
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| 33 | 33 | | continued in effect for that purpose. |
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| 34 | 34 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |
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