By Hartnett                                            H.B. No. 501
       74R3485 MLR-D
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to the issuance of a writ of mandamus or writ of
    1-3  prohibition by a court of appeals.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  Section 22.221, Government Code, is amended by
    1-6  adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
    1-7        (c)  If a court of appeals denies a leave to file a petition
    1-8  for  a writ of mandamus or an application for a writ of prohibition
    1-9  for a technical reason and not on the merits, the court shall
   1-10  inform the parties in writing of the reason for the denial.  To the
   1-11  extent of any conflict with the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure,
   1-12  this section controls.  Notwithstanding Section 22.004, Government
   1-13  Code, this section may not be modified or repealed by a rule
   1-14  adopted by the supreme court.
   1-15        SECTION 2.  This Act applies only to a proceeding seeking a
   1-16  writ of mandamus or writ of prohibition filed in a court of appeals
   1-17  under Section 22.221, Government Code, on or after the effective
   1-18  date of this Act.  A proceeding seeking a writ of mandamus or writ
   1-19  of prohibition filed under that section before the effective date
   1-20  of this Act is governed by the law as it existed on the date of the
   1-21  filing of the application or the motion for leave to file, and the
   1-22  former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
   1-23        SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
   1-24  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
    2-1  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
    2-2  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
    2-3  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.