By:  Brown                                             S.B. No. 545
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the venue for a suit to recover damages to a road or
 1-3     highway caused by operating an overweight vehicle and transporting
 1-4     oversize or overweight commodities.
 1-5           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-6           SECTION 1.  Subsection (c), Section 623.016, Transportation
 1-7     Code, is amended to read as follows:
 1-8           (c)  Venue for a suit by a county is in district court in:
 1-9                 (1)  the county in which the defendant resides;
1-10                 (2)  the county in which the defendant has its
1-11     principal place of business in this state [if the defendant is a
1-12     corporation or partnership]; or
1-13                 (3)  the county in which the damage occurred [if the
1-14     defendant is a corporation or partnership that does not have a
1-15     principal place of business in this state].
1-16           SECTION 2.  (a)  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
1-17           (b)  The change in law made by this Act to Section 623.016,
1-18     Transportation Code, applies only to a suit by a county to recover
1-19     on a bond or letter of credit under that section that is filed on
1-20     or after September 1, 2001.