Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Business Courts Adjustments topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee reviews bill to refine Texas business courts, add judges and clarify jurisdiction
Summary
Senate Bill 2883 would make multiple adjustments to Texas business courts created by House Bill 19, including lowering a monetary threshold for certain disputes to $5 million, adding judges in high-volume divisions, integrating business courts into multi-district and other programs, and equalizing salary treatment.
The Senate Committee on Jurisprudence took testimony on Senate Bill 2883, a committee substitute that would refine the operation, jurisdiction and resources of Texas business courts established last session.
Senator Hughes, presenting the committee substitute, said the changes build on House Bill 19 and would not expand the business-court footprint into rural counties. The substitute lowers the amount-in-controversy threshold for certain transactions and commercial disputes from $10 million to $5 million, adds specific judges in high-demand divisions, clarifies integration with multi-district litigation and visiting-judge programs, and directs the Texas Supreme Court to adopt rules for prompt jurisdictional determinations.
Mike Tankersley of the Texas Business Law Foundation described the proposal as incremental refinements and said the bill proposes one additional judge for a Dallas division and one for a Houston division. "The bill proposes 1 additional judge for Dallas, the first division, 1 additional judge for Houston, the eleventh division," Tankersley said.
Patrick Sweeten, a judge in the business-court third division, said the courts are operational and that filings have come in at a brisk pace. "We have 118 cases now in the business court. I think there are 82 active cases," Sweeten told the committee, and said roughly 46% of filings have been in Harris County and about 30% in Dallas County.
The committee substitute also addresses salary treatment: it would set a business-court judge’s state-paid salary equal to a district court judge’s salary plus the maximum county supplement, so state funding would cover the supplement amount in counties that do not provide it.
Witnesses said the substitute also clarifies that consumer and product-liability matters remain excluded from business-court jurisdiction and that the measure attempts to align practice lists across statutes so business courts are integrated into the judicial system.
Committee members asked whether the changes would flood the courts; stakeholders said the change is intended to be incremental and to resolve practical jurisdictional questions that have arisen in the courts’ first months. The committee opened testimony from several stakeholders and left the bill pending while the House and Senate coordinate language.
