Legislature Makes Seismic Shifts on Civil Courts

From the creation of new business courts with appointed judges to the impeachment of the attorney general, the state’s civil justice system was under scrutiny by Texas lawmakers in a way it hasn’t been in decades.

The regular session of the 88^th Legislature, which ended on Memorial Day, also brought the enactment of higher pay for jurors but not for judges. Legislators stopped a bill that would have weakened the Texas Citizens Participation Act, a worry for news organizations and citizen activists. City and county attorneys successfully rallied against a bill that would have limited their ability to recover damages through public nuisance suits.