H.B. No. 1297
AN ACT
relating to limits on indemnification of state employees and
officials.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 104.003, Civil Practice and Remedies
Code, is amended by amending Subsections (a) and (c) and adding
Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (c) or a specific
appropriation, state liability for indemnification under this
chapter may not exceed:
(1) $100,000 to a single person indemnified and, if
more than one person is indemnified, $300,000 for a single
occurrence in the case of personal injury, death, or deprivation of
a right, privilege, or immunity; and
(2) $10,000 for each [a] single occurrence of damage
to property.
(c) The limits on state liability provided by Subsection (a)
do not apply if[:
[(1)] the state liability is based on Section
104.002(b)[; or
[(2) the person for whose acts the state is liable
under this chapter is a member of the Texas Board of Criminal
Justice].
(d) For the purposes of this section, a claim arises out of a
single occurrence, if the claim arises from a common nucleus of
operative facts, regardless of the number of claimants or the
number of separate acts or omissions.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to indemnification in connection with a cause of action that
accrues on or after the effective date of this Act. Indemnification
in connection with a cause of action that accrues before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect
immediately before that date, and that law is continued in effect
for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2003.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1297 was passed by the House on April
30, 2003, by the following vote: Yeas 138, Nays 0, 2 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 1297 on May 30, 2003, by the following vote: Yeas 143, Nays 0,
2 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1297 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 28, 2003, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor