85R6753 CAE-F
 
  By: Smithee H.B. No. 1761
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to jurisdiction of the Texas Supreme Court.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Sections 22.001(a), (b), and (c), Government
  Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  The supreme court has appellate jurisdiction, except in
  criminal law matters, of an [coextensive with the limits of the
  state and extending to all questions of law arising in the following
  cases when they have been brought to the courts of appeals from]
  appealable order or judgment of the trial courts if the court
  determines that the appeal presents a question[:
               [(1)     a case in which the justices of a court of appeals
  disagree on a question of law material to the decision;
               [(2)     a case in which one of the courts of appeals holds
  differently from a prior decision of another court of appeals or of
  the supreme court on a question of law material to a decision of the
  case;
               [(3)     a case involving the construction or validity of
  a statute necessary to a determination of the case;
               [(4)  a case involving state revenue;
               [(5)     a case in which the railroad commission is a
  party; and
               [(6)  any other case in which it appears that an error]
  of law [has been committed by the court of appeals, and] that
  [error] is important [of such importance] to the jurisprudence of
  the state. The supreme court's jurisdiction does not include
  [that, in the opinion of the supreme court, it requires correction,
  but excluding those] cases in which the jurisdiction of the court of
  appeals is made final by statute.
         (b)  A case over which the court has jurisdiction under
  Subsection (a) may be carried to the supreme court [either] by
  petition for review [writ of error or by certificate from the court
  of appeals, but the court of appeals may certify a question of law
  arising in any of those cases at any time it chooses, either before
  or after the decision of the case in that court].
         (c)  Except as provided by this subsection, an appeal may be
  taken to the supreme court only if the appeal was first brought to
  the court of appeals.  An appeal may be taken directly to the
  supreme court from an order of a trial court granting or denying an
  interlocutory or permanent injunction on the ground of the
  constitutionality of a statute of this state. [It is the duty of
  the supreme court to prescribe the necessary rules of procedure to
  be followed in perfecting the appeal.]
         SECTION 2.  The heading to Section 22.007, Government Code,
  is amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 22.007.  PETITION FOR REVIEW [APPLICATION FOR WRIT OF
  ERROR].
         SECTION 3.  Sections 22.007(a) and (e), Government Code, are
  amended to read as follows:
         (a)  The supreme court may act on petitions for review
  [applications for writs of error] when the court deems it
  expedient. [The supreme court shall pass on an application for writ
  of error in a case in which the justices of the courts of appeals
  have disagreed or have declared void a statute of the state.]
         (e)  The granting of a petition for review [an application
  for writ of error] admits the case into the supreme court, and the
  supreme court shall proceed with the case as provided by law. The
  denial [refusal] or dismissal of a petition for review [an
  application] has the effect of denying the admission of the case
  into the supreme court, except that a motion for rehearing may be
  made [to the designated justices ] in the same manner that a motion
  for rehearing to the supreme court is made in a case in which the
  court granted review. The denial or dismissal of a petition for
  review may [refusal or dismissal of an application shall] not be
  regarded as a precedent or authority.
         SECTION 4.  The following provisions of the Government Code
  are repealed:
               (1)  Section 22.001(e);
               (2)  Sections 22.007(b), (c), (d), (f), and (g); and
               (3)  Sections 22.225(b), (c), (d), and (e).
         SECTION 5.  The repeal of Section 22.225(d), Government
  Code, applies only to an interlocutory order rendered on or after
  the effective date of this Act. An interlocutory order rendered
  before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law
  applicable to the order immediately before the effective date of
  this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 6.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.