BILL ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 2330 By: Moffat 5-1-95 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND Under current law, a person seeking civil damages for personal injury or death must file suit not later than two years after the cause of action, or two years after the eighteenth birthday of the victim. In situations resulting in death, the cause of action accrues from the date of death. Persons seeking civil damages in cases involving sexual assault or aggravated sexual assault must bring suit within the two year limit. In many cases, the victim requires more than two years to fully resolve the emotional conflicts involved. House Bill 2330 applies only to personal injury or death as a result of rape or sexual assault. PURPOSE As proposed, H.B. 2330 extends the statute of limitations for personal injury or death from two to five years with the stipulation that the cause of action accrues if the injury is the result of sexual assault or aggravated sexual assault. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Subchapter A, Chapter 16, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, by adding Section 16.0045, as follows: Sec. 16.0045. FIVE-YEAR LIMITATIONS PERIOD. (a) Allows for bringing suit for personal injury not later than five years from the date of the cause of action if the injury arises as a result of conduct that violates: (1) Section 22.011, Penal Code (sexual assault); or (2) Section 22.021, Penal Code (aggravated sexual assault). (b) Specifies that the cause of action accrues, as a result of conduct described in Subsection (a), on the death of the injured person. (c) Allows the filing of a petition in the appropriate court for the purposes of tolling the statute of limitations in a claim arising from conduct described in subsection (a). Provides that unknown defendants be designated by "John or Jane Doe". Sets a time limit of thirty days for substitution of the real name of the defendant for the "John or Jane Doe" designation once the real name is known. SECTION 2. Amends Section 16.003(a), Civil Practice and Remedies Code, as follows: Sec. 16.003(a). Adds the phrase "Except as provided by Section 16.0045, a" exempting only causes of action arising from violation of Sections 22.011 and 22.021, Penal Code. SECTION 3. Effective date - effective immediately. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 2330 adds Subsection (c) which allows the filing of a petition in the appropriate court for the purposes of tolling the statute of limitations in a claim arising from conduct described in Subsection (a). Subsection (c), by providing that unknown defendants be designated by "John or Jane Doe", sets a time limit of thirty days for substitution of the real name of the defendant for the "John or Jane Doe" designation once the real name is known. Sections 3 & 4 were stricken from the original and replaced in the substitute with a new Section 3 allowing the bill to become effective immediately upon passage. SUMMARY OF COMMITTEE ACTION H.B. 2330 was considered by the Civil Practices Committee in a public hearing on April 26, 1995. The following people testified in support of the bill: Mike Slack, an attorney, representing himself and the Texas Trial Lawyers Association. No one testified in opposition to or neutrally on the bill. The committee considered a complete substitute for the bill. One amendment was offered to the substitute, which was adopted without objection. The substitute, as amended, was adopted without objection. The chair directed the staff to incorporate the amendment into the substitute. The bill was left pending. H.B. 2330 was considered by the Civil Practices Committee in a formal meeting on April 27, 1995. The bill was reported favorably, as substituted, with the recommendation that it do pass and be printed, by a record vote of seven ayes, zero nays, zero pnv and two absent.