78R11859 SLO-D


By:  Hartnett                                                     H.B. No. 3386



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the adoption of rules by the supreme court relating to 
the county in which district court proceedings may be conducted.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 74.024(c), Government Code, is amended 
to read as follows:
	(c)  The supreme court may consider the adoption of rules 
relating to:       
		(1)  nonbinding time standards for pleading, 
discovery, motions, and dispositions;
		(2)  nonbinding dismissal of inactive cases from 
dockets, if the dismissal is warranted;
		(3)  attorney's accountability for and incentives to 
avoid delay and to meet time standards;
		(4)  penalties for filing frivolous motions;                                  
		(5)  firm trial dates;                                                        
		(6)  restrictive devices on discovery;                                        
		(7)  a uniform dockets policy;                                                
		(8)  formalization of settlement conferences or 
settlement programs; [and]
		(9)  standards for selection and management of 
nonjudicial personnel; and
		(10)  the conducting of proceedings under Rule 11, 
Rules of Judicial Administration, by a district court outside the 
county in which the case is pending.
	SECTION 2.  Section 74.024(c), Government Code, as amended 
by this Act, applies only to a suit filed on or after September 1, 
2003.  A suit filed before September 1, 2003, is governed by the law 
in effect on the date the suit was filed, and the former law is 
continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.