By Corte H.B. No. 167
74R1511 DLF-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the ability to recover damages for injuries sustained
1-3 after entering residential or business property with the intent to
1-4 commit a felony or theft.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Title 4, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, is
1-7 amended by adding Chapter 87 to read as follows:
1-8 CHAPTER 87. LIABILITY FOR INJURIES SUSTAINED AFTER
1-9 ENTERING PROPERTY WITH CRIMINAL INTENT
1-10 Sec. 87.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
1-11 (1) "Business property" means a structure, vehicle, or
1-12 real property that is used for commercial purposes and the real
1-13 property on which the structure or vehicle is located. The term
1-14 includes:
1-15 (A) each separately secured portion of a
1-16 structure or vehicle; and
1-17 (B) each structure appurtenant to or connected
1-18 with the structure or vehicle and under the legal control of the
1-19 defendant.
1-20 (2) "Claimant" means a party, including a plaintiff,
1-21 counterclaimant, cross-claimant, or third-party claimant, seeking
1-22 recovery of damages.
1-23 (3) "Defendant" means a party, including a
1-24 counterdefendant, cross-defendant, or third-party defendant, from
2-1 whom a claimant seeks damages.
2-2 (4) "Habitation" means a structure or vehicle that is
2-3 adapted for the overnight accommodation of persons and includes:
2-4 (A) each separately secured or occupied portion
2-5 of the structure or vehicle; and
2-6 (B) each structure appurtenant to or connected
2-7 with the structure or vehicle.
2-8 (5) "Residential property" means a habitation or the
2-9 real property on which the habitation is located.
2-10 Sec. 87.002. RECOVERY OF DAMAGES PROHIBITED. A defendant is
2-11 not liable for damages for an injury if the defendant shows, by a
2-12 preponderance of the evidence, that:
2-13 (1) the claimant sustained the injury while on
2-14 residential or business property;
2-15 (2) the property was:
2-16 (A) owned by, leased to, or otherwise legally
2-17 under the control of the defendant; or
2-18 (B) business property and the defendant was the
2-19 owner or an employee of the business;
2-20 (3) the claimant entered the property without the
2-21 consent of the defendant; and
2-22 (4) the claimant entered the property with intent to
2-23 commit a felony or theft.
2-24 Sec. 87.003. DERIVATIVE CLAIMS. Section 87.002 applies to a
2-25 claim for damages made by a person whose right to recovery derives
2-26 from an injury to another person whose right to recovery would be
2-27 barred under Section 87.002, including a claim for wrongful death,
3-1 or for loss of consortium or companionship.
3-2 SECTION 2. Chapter 87, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, as
3-3 added by this Act, applies only to conduct that occurs on or after
3-4 the effective date of this Act. Conduct that occurred before the
3-5 effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect at the
3-6 time the conduct occurred, and that law is continued in effect for
3-7 that purpose.
3-8 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
3-9 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-10 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-11 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-12 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-13 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-14 passage, and it is so enacted.