75R5207 CAG-D                           

         By Rangel, Kamel, Maxey, Cuellar, Giddings,            H.B. No. 589

            et al. 

         Substitute the following for H.B. No. 589:

         By Rangel                                          C.S.H.B. No. 589

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to the indemnification of certain personnel of certain

 1-3     institutions of higher education for admissions activities.

 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-5           SECTION 1.  Chapter 104, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, is

 1-6     amended by adding Section 104.009 to read as follows:

 1-7           Sec. 104.009.  INDEMNIFICATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION ADMISSIONS

 1-8     PERSONNEL.  (a)  In a cause of action against a person acting in

 1-9     an official capacity on behalf of a general academic teaching

1-10     institution or a medical and dental unit based on conduct of the

1-11     person in making a decision on admission of an individual to the

1-12     institution or unit, the state shall indemnify the person for

1-13     actual damages, court costs, and attorney's fees adjudged against

1-14     the person. The state's limits on recoverable damages described by

1-15     Section 104.003 apply to this section and the state's liability for

1-16     indemnification may not exceed the amount of damages described by

1-17     that section.

1-18           (b)  The state is liable for indemnification under this

1-19     section only if the damages are based on an act or omission that

1-20     the person committed in the course and scope of the person's duties

1-21     in making a decision on the admission of an individual to the

1-22     institution or unit and:

1-23                 (1)  the damages arise out of a cause of action for

1-24     negligence, except a wilful or wrongful act or an act of gross

 2-1     negligence;

 2-2                 (2)  the damages arise out of a cause of action for

 2-3     deprivation of a right, privilege, or immunity secured by the

 2-4     constitution or laws of this state or the United States except when

 2-5     a court in its judgment or a jury in its verdict finds that the

 2-6     person acted in bad faith, with conscious indifference, or with

 2-7     reckless disregard; or

 2-8                 (3)  indemnification is in the interest of the state as

 2-9     determined by the attorney general or the attorney general's

2-10     designee.

2-11           (c)  This section applies to any person acting on behalf of a

2-12     general academic teaching institution or medical and dental unit in

2-13     an official capacity, including an employee or a volunteer.

2-14           (d)  In this section, "general academic teaching institution"

2-15     and "medical and dental unit" have the meanings assigned by Section

2-16     61.003, Education Code.

2-17           SECTION 2.  This Act applies to any damages, court costs, or

2-18     attorney's fees adjudged against a person on or after the effective

2-19     date of this Act based on the conduct of the person in making a

2-20     decision on admission of an individual to a general academic

2-21     teaching institution or a medical and dental unit, regardless of

2-22     when the conduct occurred.

2-23           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

2-24     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

2-25     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

2-26     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

2-27     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,

 3-1     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its

 3-2     passage, and it is so enacted.