By Gallego                                             H.B. No. 784

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to the hearing of oral argument by appellate courts.

 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-4           SECTION 1.  Subchapter D, Chapter 22, Government Code, is

 1-5     amended by adding Section 22.302 to read as follows:

 1-6           Sec. 22.302.  USE OF TELECONFERENCING TECHNOLOGY.  (a)  At

 1-7     the discretion of its chief justice or presiding judge and with the

 1-8     consent of the parties or their attorneys, the supreme court, the

 1-9     court of criminal appeals, or a court of appeals may hear oral

1-10     argument through the use of teleconferencing technology.  The court

1-11     and the parties or their attorneys may participate in oral argument

1-12     from any location through the use of teleconferencing technology.

1-13           (b)  In this section, "teleconferencing technology" means

1-14     technology that provides for a conference of individuals in

1-15     different locations, connected by electronic means, through both

1-16     audio and video.

1-17           SECTION 2.  Section 73.003, Government Code, is amended by

1-18     amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (e) to read as

1-19     follows:

1-20           (a)  Except as provided by Subsections [Subsection] (b) and

1-21     (e), the justices of the court of appeals to which a case is

1-22     transferred shall hear oral argument, after due notice to the

1-23     parties or their attorneys, at the place from which the case is

1-24     originally transferred.

 2-1           (e)  At the discretion of its chief justice and with the

 2-2     consent of the parties or their attorneys, a court to which a case

 2-3     is transferred may hear oral argument through the use of

 2-4     teleconferencing technology as provided by Section 22.302.  The

 2-5     court and the parties or their attorneys may participate in oral

 2-6     argument from any location through the use of teleconferencing

 2-7     technology.

 2-8           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

 2-9           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the

2-10     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

2-11     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

2-12     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

2-13     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.