S.B. No. 1630

	AN ACT
	relating to the protection of defendants against vexatious
	litigants.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Subdivision (5), Section 11.001, Civil Practice
	and Remedies Code, is amended to read as follows:
	(5)  "Plaintiff" means an individual who commences or
	maintains a litigation pro se.
	SECTION 2.  Subchapter A, Chapter 11, Civil Practice and
	Remedies Code, is amended by adding Section 11.002 to read as
	follows:
	Sec. 11.002.  APPLICABILITY. (a)  This chapter does not
	apply to an attorney licensed to practice law in this state unless
	the attorney proceeds pro se.
	(b)  This chapter does not apply to a municipal court.
	SECTION 3.  Section 11.054, Civil Practice and Remedies
	Code, is amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 11.054.  CRITERIA FOR FINDING PLAINTIFF A VEXATIOUS
	LITIGANT. A court may find a plaintiff a vexatious litigant if the
	defendant shows that there is not a reasonable probability that the
	plaintiff will prevail in the litigation against the defendant and
	that:
	(1)  the plaintiff, in the seven-year period
	immediately preceding the date the defendant makes the motion under
	Section 11.051, has commenced, prosecuted, or maintained [in
	propria persona] at least five litigations as a pro se litigant
	other than in a small claims court that have been:
	(A)  finally determined adversely to the
	plaintiff;
	(B)  permitted to remain pending at least two
	years without having been brought to trial or hearing; or
	(C)  determined by a trial or appellate court to
	be frivolous or groundless under state or federal laws or rules of
	procedure;
	(2)  after a litigation has been finally determined
	against the plaintiff, the plaintiff repeatedly relitigates or
	attempts to relitigate, pro se [in propria persona], either:
	(A)  the validity of the determination against the
	same defendant as to whom the litigation was finally determined; or
	(B)  the cause of action, claim, controversy, or
	any of the issues of fact or law determined or concluded by the
	final determination against the same defendant as to whom the
	litigation was finally determined; or
	(3)  the plaintiff has previously been declared to be a
	vexatious litigant by a state or federal court in an action or
	proceeding based on the same or substantially similar facts,
	transition, or occurrence.
	SECTION 4.  Section 11.101, Civil Practice and Remedies
	Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections
	(d) and (e) to read as follows:
	(a)  A court may, on its own motion or the motion of any
	party, enter an order prohibiting a person from filing, pro se [in
	propria persona], a new litigation in a court to which the order
	applies under this section without permission of the appropriate
	local administrative judge described by Section 11.102(a) to file
	the litigation [in this state] if the court finds, after notice and
	hearing as provided by Subchapter B, that[:
	[(1)]  the person is a vexatious litigant[; and
	[(2)     the local administrative judge of the court in
	which the person intends to file the litigation has not granted
	permission to the person under Section 11.102 to file the
	litigation].
	(d)  A prefiling order entered under Subsection (a) by a
	justice or constitutional county court applies only to the court
	that entered the order.
	(e)  A prefiling order entered under Subsection (a) by a
	district or statutory county court applies to each court in this
	state.
	SECTION 5.  Section 11.102, Civil Practice and Remedies
	Code, is amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 11.102.  PERMISSION BY LOCAL ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE.
	(a)  A vexatious litigant subject to a prefiling order under
	Section 11.101 is prohibited from filing, pro se, new litigation in
	a court to which the order applies without seeking the permission
	of:
	(1)  the local administrative judge of the type of
	court in which the vexatious litigant intends to file, except as
	provided by Subdivision (2); or
	(2)  the local administrative district judge of the
	county in which the vexatious litigant intends to file if the
	litigant intends to file in a justice or constitutional county
	court.
	(b)  A vexatious litigant subject to a prefiling order under
	Section 11.101 who files a request seeking permission to file a
	litigation shall provide a copy of the request to all defendants
	named in the proposed litigation.
	(c)  The appropriate local administrative judge described by
	Subsection (a) may make a determination on the request with or
	without a hearing. If the judge determines that a hearing is
	necessary, the judge may require that the vexatious litigant filing
	a request under Subsection (b) provide notice of the hearing to all
	defendants named in the proposed litigation.
	(d)  The appropriate [A] local administrative judge
	described by Subsection (a) may grant permission to a [person found
	to be a] vexatious litigant subject to a prefiling order under
	Section 11.101 to file a litigation only if it appears to the judge
	that the litigation:
	(1)  has merit; and
	(2)  has not been filed for the purposes of harassment
	or delay.
	(e) [(b)]  The appropriate local administrative judge
	described by Subsection (a) may condition permission on the
	furnishing of security for the benefit of the defendant as provided
	in Subchapter B.
	(f) [(c)]  A decision of the appropriate [a] local
	administrative judge described by Subsection (a) denying a litigant
	permission to file a litigation under Subsection (d) [(a)], or
	conditioning permission to file a litigation on the furnishing of
	security under Subsection (e) [(b)], is not grounds for appeal,
	except that the litigant may apply for a writ of mandamus with the
	court of appeals not later than the 30th day after the date of the
	decision.  The denial of a writ of mandamus by the court of appeals is
	not grounds for appeal to the supreme court or court of criminal appeals.
	SECTION 6.  The heading to Section 11.103, Civil Practice
	and Remedies Code, is amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 11.103.  DUTIES OF CLERK[; MISTAKEN FILING].
	SECTION 7.  Subsections (a), (c), and (d), Section 11.103,
	Civil Practice and Remedies Code, are amended to read as follows:
	(a)  Except as provided by Subsection (d), a clerk of a court
	may not file a litigation, original proceeding, appeal, or other
	claim presented, pro se, by a vexatious litigant subject to a
	prefiling order under Section 11.101 unless the litigant obtains an
	order from the appropriate local administrative judge described by
	Section 11.102(a) permitting the filing.
	(c)  If the appropriate local administrative judge described
	by Section 11.102(a) issues an order permitting the filing of the
	litigation [under Subsection (b)], the litigation remains stayed
	and the defendant need not plead until the 10th day after the date
	the defendant is served with a copy of the order.
	(d)  A clerk of a court of appeals may file an appeal from a
	prefiling order entered under Section 11.101 designating a person a
	vexatious litigant or a timely filed writ of mandamus under Section
	11.102 [11.102(c)].
	SECTION 8.  Subchapter C, Chapter 11, Civil Practice and
	Remedies Code, is amended by adding Section 11.1035 to read as
	follows:
	Sec. 11.1035.  MISTAKEN FILING. (a)  If the clerk
	mistakenly files litigation presented, pro se, by a vexatious
	litigant subject to a prefiling order under Section 11.101 without
	an order from the appropriate local administrative judge described
	by Section 11.102(a), any party may file with the clerk and serve on
	the plaintiff and the other parties to the litigation a notice
	stating that the plaintiff is a vexatious litigant required to
	obtain permission under Section 11.102 to file litigation.
	(b)  Not later than the next business day after the date the
	clerk receives notice that a vexatious litigant subject to a
	prefiling order under Section 11.101 has filed, pro se, litigation
	without obtaining an order from the appropriate local
	administrative judge described by Section 11.102(a), the clerk
	shall notify the court that the litigation was mistakenly filed. On
	receiving notice from the clerk, the court shall immediately stay
	the litigation and shall dismiss the litigation unless the
	plaintiff, not later than the 10th day after the date the notice is
	filed, obtains an order from the appropriate local administrative
	judge described by Section 11.102(a) permitting the filing of the
	litigation.
	(c)  An order dismissing litigation that was mistakenly
	filed by a clerk may not be appealed.
	SECTION 9.  Section 11.104, Civil Practice and Remedies
	Code, is amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
	(c)  The Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial
	System may not remove the name of a vexatious litigant subject to a
	prefiling order under Section 11.101 from the agency's Internet
	website unless the office receives a written order from the court
	that entered the prefiling order or from an appellate court. An
	order of removal affects only a prefiling order entered under
	Section 11.101 by the same court. A court of appeals decision
	reversing a prefiling order entered under Section 11.101 affects
	only the validity of an order entered by the reversed court.
	SECTION 10.  Subdivision (3), Section 11.001, and Subsection
	(b), Section 11.103, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, are
	repealed.
	SECTION 11.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
	to an action commencing on or after the effective date of this Act.
	An action commencing before the effective date of this Act is
	governed by the law as it existed on the date when the action
	commenced, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 12.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
	______________________________	______________________________
	President of the Senate	Speaker of the House
	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1630 passed the Senate on
	April 25, 2013, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0; and that
	the Senate concurred in House amendment on May 25, 2013, by the
	following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0.
	______________________________
	Secretary of the Senate
	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1630 passed the House, with
	amendment, on May 22, 2013, by the following vote: Yeas 148,
	Nays 0, two present not voting.
	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House
	Approved:
	______________________________
	Date
	______________________________
	Governor