1-1     By:  Brown                                             S.B. No. 545
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed February 6, 2001; February 7, 2001,
 1-3     read first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
 1-4     March 26, 2001, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
 1-5     Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 6, Nays 0; March 26, 2001,
 1-6     sent to printer.)
 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 545                By:  Shapleigh
 1-8                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-9                                   AN ACT
1-10     relating to the venue for a suit to recover damages to a road or
1-11     highway caused by operating an overweight vehicle and transporting
1-12     oversize or overweight commodities.
1-13           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-14           SECTION 1.  Subsection (c), Section 623.016, Transportation
1-15     Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-16           (c)  Venue for a suit by a county is in district court in:
1-17                 (1)  the county in which the defendant resides;
1-18                 (2)  the county in which the defendant has its
1-19     principal place of business in this state [if the defendant is a
1-20     corporation or partnership]; or
1-21                 (3)  the county in which the damage occurred [if the
1-22     defendant is a corporation or partnership that does not have a
1-23     principal place of business in this state].
1-24           SECTION 2.  (a)  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
1-25           (b)  The change in law made by this Act to Section 623.016,
1-26     Transportation Code, applies only to a suit by a county to recover
1-27     on a bond or letter of credit under that section that is filed on
1-28     or after September 1, 2001.
1-29                                  * * * * *