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.
1-44 * * * * *