1-1     By:  Gallego (Senate Sponsor - Ellis)                  H.B. No. 784

 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House April 14, 1997;

 1-3     April 16, 1997, read first time and referred to Committee on

 1-4     Jurisprudence; May 13, 1997, reported favorably by the following

 1-5     vote:  Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 13, 1997, sent to printer.)

 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-7                                   AN ACT

 1-8     relating to the hearing of oral argument by appellate courts.

 1-9           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

1-10           SECTION 1.  Subchapter D, Chapter 22, Government Code, is

1-11     amended by adding Section 22.302 to read as follows:

1-12           Sec. 22.302.  USE OF TELECONFERENCING TECHNOLOGY.  (a)  At

1-13     the discretion of its chief justice or presiding judge and with the

1-14     consent of the parties or their attorneys, the supreme court, the

1-15     court of criminal appeals, or a court of appeals may hear oral

1-16     argument through the use of teleconferencing technology.  The court

1-17     and the parties or their attorneys may participate in oral argument

1-18     from any location through the use of teleconferencing technology.

1-19           (b)  In this section, "teleconferencing technology" means

1-20     technology that provides for a conference of individuals in

1-21     different locations, connected by electronic means, through both

1-22     audio and video.

1-23           SECTION 2.  Section 73.003, Government Code, is amended by

1-24     amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (e) to read as

1-25     follows:

1-26           (a)  Except as provided by Subsections [Subsection] (b) and

1-27     (e), the justices of the court of appeals to which a case is

1-28     transferred shall hear oral argument, after due notice to the

1-29     parties or their attorneys, at the place from which the case is

1-30     originally transferred.

1-31           (e)  At the discretion of its chief justice and with the

1-32     consent of the parties or their attorneys, a court to which a case

1-33     is transferred may hear oral argument through the use of

1-34     teleconferencing technology as provided by Section 22.302.  The

1-35     court and the parties or their attorneys may participate in oral

1-36     argument from any location through the use of teleconferencing

1-37     technology.

1-38           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

1-39           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the

1-40     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

1-41     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

1-42     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

1-43     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.

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