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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to the award of attorney's fees and other costs in certain |
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suits involving a groundwater conservation district. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Section 36.066, Water Code, is amended by |
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amending Subsection (g) and adding Subsection (i) to read as |
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follows: |
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(g) If the district prevails in any suit other than a suit in |
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which it voluntarily intervenes, the district may seek and the |
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court may [shall] grant, in the interests of justice and as provided |
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by Subsection (h), in the same action, recovery for attorney's |
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fees, costs for expert witnesses, and other costs incurred by the |
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district before the court. The amount of the attorney's fees shall |
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be fixed by the court in an amount not to exceed $100,000. |
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(i) Notwithstanding Section 36.052(a), Subsections (g) and |
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(h) of this section prevail over any other special law inconsistent |
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with those subsections unless the other law: |
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(1) limits an award of attorney's fees in a suit to an |
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amount less than $100,000; or |
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(2) prohibits an award of attorney's fees or costs. |
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SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to |
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a suit involving a groundwater conservation district that is filed |
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on or after the effective date of this Act. A suit filed before the |
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effective date of this Act is subject to the law in effect on the |
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date the suit is filed, and that law is continued in effect for that |
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purpose. |
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SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. |