1-1     By:  Duncan                                            S.B. No. 801
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed February 20, 2001; February 21, 2001,
 1-3     read first time and referred to Committee on Jurisprudence;
 1-4     May 2, 2001, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
 1-5     Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 4, Nays 0; May 2, 2001,
 1-6     sent to printer.)
 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 801                   By:  Duncan
 1-8                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-9                                   AN ACT
1-10     relating to the liability of certain state-operated treatment
1-11     facilities and mental health facilities.
1-12           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13           SECTION 1.  Subsection (g), Section 321.003, Health and
1-14     Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-15           (g)  This section does not:
1-16                 (1)  authorize a suit for damages against a department
1-17     or agency of the state;
1-18                 (2)  waive sovereign immunity to suit or liability; or
1-19                 (3)  supersede or abrogate any other remedy existing in
1-20     law, including any remedy provided under Chapter 101, Civil
1-21     Practice and Remedies Code.
1-22           SECTION 2.  With regard to a suit filed against a treatment
1-23     facility or mental health facility under Section 321.003, Health
1-24     and Safety Code, this Act is intended only to clarify the
1-25     legislative intent of Section 321.003, Health and Safety Code.  At
1-26     the time of the enactment of Section 321.003, Health and Safety
1-27     Code, the legislature did not intend that section to authorize a
1-28     suit for damages against a department or agency of the state or
1-29     waive sovereign immunity to suit or liability.
1-30           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
1-31     a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
1-32     provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
1-33     Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
1-34     Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
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