By Barrientos                                          S.B. No. 625
         76R4552 CAG-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the indemnification of certain personnel of certain
 1-3     institutions of higher education for admissions activities.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Chapter 104, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, is
 1-6     amended by adding Section 104.010 to read as follows:
 1-7           Sec. 104.010.  INDEMNIFICATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION ADMISSIONS
 1-8     PERSONNEL.  (a)  In a cause of action against a person acting in an
 1-9     official capacity on behalf of a general academic teaching
1-10     institution or a medical and dental unit based on conduct of the
1-11     person in making a decision on admission of an individual to the
1-12     institution or unit, the state shall indemnify the person for
1-13     actual damages, court costs, and attorney's fees adjudged against
1-14     the person. The state's limits on recoverable damages described by
1-15     Section 104.003 apply to this section and the state's liability for
1-16     indemnification may not exceed the amount of damages described by
1-17     that section.
1-18           (b)  The state is liable for indemnification under this
1-19     section only if the damages are based on an act or omission that
1-20     the person committed in the course and scope of the person's duties
1-21     in making a decision on the admission of an individual to the
1-22     institution or unit and:
1-23                 (1)  the damages arise out of a cause of action for
1-24     negligence, except a wilful or wrongful act or an act of gross
 2-1     negligence;
 2-2                 (2)  the damages arise out of a cause of action for
 2-3     deprivation of a right, privilege, or immunity secured by the
 2-4     constitution or laws of this state or the United States except when
 2-5     a court in its judgment or a jury in its verdict finds that the
 2-6     person acted in bad faith, with conscious indifference, or with
 2-7     reckless disregard; or
 2-8                 (3)  indemnification is in the interest of the state as
 2-9     determined by the attorney general or the attorney general's
2-10     designee.
2-11           (c)  This section applies to any person acting on behalf of a
2-12     general academic teaching institution or medical and dental unit in
2-13     an official capacity, including an employee or a volunteer.
2-14           (d)  In this section, "general academic teaching institution"
2-15     and "medical and dental unit" have the meanings assigned by Section
2-16     61.003, Education Code.
2-17           SECTION 2.  This Act applies to any damages, court costs, or
2-18     attorney's fees adjudged against a person on or after the effective
2-19     date of this Act based on the conduct of the person in making a
2-20     decision on admission of an individual to a general academic
2-21     teaching institution or a medical and dental unit, regardless of
2-22     when the conduct occurred.
2-23           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-24     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-25     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-26     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-27     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
 3-1     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
 3-2     passage, and it is so enacted.