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79R1460 MFC-D

By:  Thompson                                                     H.B. No. 674



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 applies only to a cause of action 
arising from an injury that could not reasonably have been 
discovered before September 1, 2005.  An action arising from an 
injury that could reasonably have been discovered before September 
1, 2005, 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.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.