|
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
relating to judicial review in district court of certain workers' |
|
compensation disputes. |
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
SECTION 1. Section 410.252(d), Labor Code, is amended to |
|
read as follows: |
|
(d) If a suit is initially filed within the 45-day [40-day] |
|
period in Subsection (a), and is transferred under Subsection (c), |
|
the suit is considered to be timely filed in the court to which it is |
|
transferred. |
|
SECTION 2. Section 413.0311(d), Labor Code, is amended to |
|
read as follows: |
|
(d) A party who has exhausted all administrative remedies |
|
under Section 413.031 and this section and who is aggrieved by a |
|
final decision of the hearings officer under Subsection (c) may |
|
seek judicial review of the decision. Except as provided by |
|
Section 413.0312, judicial [Judicial] review under this subsection |
|
shall be conducted in the manner provided for judicial review of a |
|
contested case under Subchapter G, Chapter 2001, Government Code. |
|
SECTION 3. Subchapter C, Chapter 413, Labor Code, is |
|
amended by adding Section 413.0312 to read as follows: |
|
Sec. 413.0312. JUDICIAL REVIEW OF CERTAIN MEDICAL DISPUTES: |
|
TIME FOR FILING PETITION; VENUE. (a) A party may seek judicial |
|
review of a final decision of a hearings officer in a contested case |
|
hearing under Section 413.0311 by filing suit not later than the |
|
45th day after the date on which the division mailed the party the |
|
decision of the hearings officer. For purposes of this section, |
|
the mailing date is considered to be the fifth day after the date |
|
the decision of the hearings officer was filed with the division. |
|
(b) The party bringing suit to appeal the decision must file |
|
a petition with the appropriate court: |
|
(1) in the county where the employee resided at the |
|
time of the injury or death, if the employee is deceased; or |
|
(2) in the case of an occupational disease, in the |
|
county where the employee resided on the date disability began or |
|
any county agreed to by the parties. |
|
(c) If a suit under this section is filed in a county other |
|
than the county described by Subsection (b), the court, on |
|
determining that it does not have jurisdiction to render judgment |
|
on the merits of the suit, shall transfer the case to a proper court |
|
in a county described by Subsection (b). Notice of the transfer of |
|
a suit shall be given to the parties. A suit transferred under this |
|
subsection shall be considered for all purposes the same as if |
|
originally filed in the court to which it is transferred. |
|
(d) If a suit is initially filed within the 45-day period in |
|
Subsection (a), and is transferred under Subsection (c), the suit |
|
is considered to be timely filed in the court to which it is |
|
transferred. |
|
SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
|
to a suit for judicial review filed on or after the effective date |
|
of this Act. A suit for judicial review filed before the effective |
|
date of this Act is covered by the law as it existed on the date the |
|
suit was filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that |
|
purpose. |
|
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011. |