By Dutton                                             H.B. No. 2186
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to summary judgments issued by a court.
 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-4           SECTION 1.  Subtitle C, Title 2, Civil Practice and Remedies
 1-5     Code, is amended by adding Chapter 40 to read as follows:
 1-6                        CHAPTER 40. SUMMARY JUDGMENT
 1-7           Sec. 40.001.  DEFINITION.  In this chapter, "claim" means:
 1-8                 (1)  a claim, counterclaim, or cross-claim under which
 1-9     a person seeks recovery of damages or other relief that may be
1-10     granted by a court; or
1-11                 (2)  an action to obtain a declaratory judgment.
1-12           Sec. 40.002.  WRITTEN FINDINGS REQUIRED.  The judge of a
1-13     court who grants a motion for summary judgment with respect to all
1-14     or any part of a claim shall specify the grounds, in writing, on
1-15     which the motion is granted not later than the date on which the
1-16     judgment is signed by the judge of the court.
1-17           Sec. 40.003.  SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN CERTAIN CASES: NOTICE
1-18     REQUIRED IN CITATION.  In a claim for a liquidated money demand or
1-19     a claim involving a sworn account that is brought in a justice
1-20     court, the clerk of the court shall include a notice in the
1-21     citation that, unless a sworn answer is filed on behalf of the
1-22     defendant, a summary judgment against the defendant may result.
1-23           Sec. 40.004.  CONFLICT WITH TEXAS RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE.
1-24     To the extent of any conflict between this chapter and the Texas
 2-1     Rules of Civil Procedure, including Rule 166a, this chapter
 2-2     controls.
 2-3           SECTION 2.  This Act applies only to a grant of a motion for
 2-4     summary judgment on or after the effective date of this Act.  A
 2-5     grant of a motion for a summary judgment before the effective date
 2-6     of this Act is governed by the law as it existed immediately before
 2-7     the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect
 2-8     for that purpose.
 2-9           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-10           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-11     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-12     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-13     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-14     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.