1-1     By:  Dutton (Senate Sponsor - Harris)                 H.B. No. 2186
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House May 10, 1999;
 1-3     May 10, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on
 1-4     Jurisprudence; May 14, 1999, reported favorably by the following
 1-5     vote:  Yeas 3, Nays 0; May 14, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to summary judgments issued by a court.
 1-9           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-10           SECTION 1.  Subtitle C, Title 2, Civil Practice and Remedies
1-11     Code, is amended by adding Chapter 40 to read as follows:
1-12                        CHAPTER 40. SUMMARY JUDGMENT
1-13           Sec. 40.001.  DEFINITION.  In this chapter, "claim" means:
1-14                 (1)  a claim, counterclaim, or cross-claim under which
1-15     a person seeks recovery of damages or other relief that may be
1-16     granted by a court; or
1-17                 (2)  an action to obtain a declaratory judgment.
1-18           Sec. 40.002.  WRITTEN FINDINGS REQUIRED.  The judge of a
1-19     court who grants a motion for summary judgment with respect to all
1-20     or any part of a claim shall specify the grounds, in writing, on
1-21     which the motion is granted not later than the date on which the
1-22     judgment is signed by the judge of the court.
1-23           Sec. 40.003.  SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN CERTAIN CASES: NOTICE
1-24     REQUIRED IN CITATION.  In a claim for a liquidated money demand or
1-25     a claim involving a sworn account that is brought in a justice
1-26     court, the clerk of the court shall include a notice in the
1-27     citation that, unless a sworn answer is filed on behalf of the
1-28     defendant, a summary judgment against the defendant may result.
1-29           Sec. 40.004.  CONFLICT WITH TEXAS RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE.
1-30     To the extent of any conflict between this chapter and the Texas
1-31     Rules of Civil Procedure, including Rule 166a, this chapter
1-32     controls.
1-33           SECTION 2.  This Act applies only to a grant of a motion for
1-34     summary judgment on or after the effective date of this Act.  A
1-35     grant of a motion for a summary judgment before the effective date
1-36     of this Act is governed by the law as it existed immediately before
1-37     the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect
1-38     for that purpose.
1-39           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
1-40           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
1-41     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-42     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-43     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-44     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
1-45                                  * * * * *