78R1495 KCR-D
By: Thompson H.B. No. 1355
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the statute of limitations for suits alleging sexual
abuse.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 16.0045, Civil Practice and Remedies
Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection
(d) to read as follows:
(a) Subject to Subsection (d), a [A] person must bring suit
for personal injury not later than five years after the day the
cause of action accrues if the injury arises as a result of conduct
that violates:
(1) Section 22.011, Penal Code (sexual assault); or
(2) Section 22.021, Penal Code (aggravated sexual
assault).
(d) If a person could not reasonably discover an injury
arising from the conduct described by Subsection (a) on the day the
cause of action accrued, including emotional or psychological
injury, the person must bring suit for damages arising from the
injury not later than five years after the earlier of:
(1) the date the person discovered the injury; or
(2) the date the person should reasonably have
discovered the injury.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003, and
applies only to a cause of action arising from an injury that could
not reasonably have been discovered before September 1, 2003. An
action arising from an injury that could reasonably have been
discovered before September 1, 2003, is governed by the law
applicable to the action immediately before the effective date of
this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.