76R14737 DAK-F                          
         By Duncan                                             S.B. No. 1436
         Substitute the following for S.B. No. 1436:
         By Uresti                                         C.S.S.B. No. 1436
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the authority of a judge to conduct certain judicial
 1-3     proceedings in a county other than the one in which the suit is
 1-4     filed.
 1-5           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-6           SECTION 1.  Section 74.094, Government Code, is amended by
 1-7     adding Subsections (e) and (f) to read as follows:
 1-8           (e)  A judge who has jurisdiction over a suit pending in one
 1-9     county may, unless objected to by any party, conduct any of the
1-10     judicial proceedings except the trial on the merits in a different
1-11     county.
1-12           (f)  A pretrial judge assigned to hear pretrial matters in
1-13     related cases under Rule 11, Texas Rules of Judicial
1-14     Administration, may hold pretrial proceedings and hearings on
1-15     pretrial matters for a case to which the judge has been assigned
1-16     in:
1-17                 (1)  the county in which the case is pending; or
1-18                 (2)  a county in which there is pending a related case
1-19     to which the pretrial judge has been assigned.
1-20           SECTION 2.  (a)  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
1-21           (b)  Section 74.094(e), Government Code, as added by this
1-22     Act, applies only to a suit filed on or after the effective date of
1-23     this Act.  A suit filed before the effective date of this Act is
 2-1     covered by the law in effect when the suit was filed, and the
 2-2     former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
 2-3           (c)  Section 74.094(f), Government Code, as added by this
 2-4     Act, applies to a suit pending or filed on or after the effective
 2-5     date of this Act.
 2-6           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
 2-7     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
 2-8     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
 2-9     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-10     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.