By Gallego H.B. No. 784
75R2973 MLS-F
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 after
1-8 due notice to the parties or their attorneys, the supreme court,
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 either
1-16 audio, video, or both.
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 after due
2-2 notice to 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.