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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to the award of attorney's fees in certain suits involving |
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a groundwater conservation district. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Sections 36.066(g) and (h), Water Code, are |
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amended to read as follows: |
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(g) Except for [If the district prevails in any suit other |
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than] a suit in which a district [it] voluntarily intervenes, the |
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prevailing party in a suit governed by this section [district] may |
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seek and the court shall grant, in the interests of justice and as |
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provided by Subsection (h), in the same action, recovery for |
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attorney's fees, costs for expert witnesses, and other costs |
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incurred by the prevailing party [district] before the court. The |
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amount of the attorney's fees shall be fixed by the court. |
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(h) The court shall award to a prevailing party that [If the |
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district] prevails on some, but not all, of the issues in the suit |
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[, the court shall award] attorney's fees and costs only for those |
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issues on which the party [district] prevails. The prevailing |
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party [district] has the burden of segregating the attorney's fees |
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and costs in order for the court to make an award. |
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SECTION 2. Section 36.066, Water Code, as amended by this |
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Act, applies only to a suit involving a groundwater conservation |
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district that is filed on or after the effective date of this Act. A |
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suit filed before the effective date of this Act is subject to the |
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law in effect on the date the suit is filed, and that law is |
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continued in effect for that purpose. |
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SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |