H.B. No. 380

AN ACT
relating to the authority of a district court to hear and determine
certain ad valorem tax appeals.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 42.01, Tax Code, is amended by amending
Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(a) A property owner is entitled to appeal:
(1) an order of the appraisal review board
determining:
(A) a protest by the property owner as provided
by Subchapter C of Chapter 41;
(B) a [determination of an appraisal review board
on a] motion filed under Section 25.25;
(C) [a determination of an appraisal review
board] that the property owner has forfeited the right to a final
determination of a motion filed under Section 25.25 or of a protest
under Section 41.411 for failing to comply with the prepayment
requirements of Section 25.26 or 41.4115, as applicable; [or]
(D) [a determination of an appraisal review board
of] eligibility for a refund requested under Section 23.1243; or
(E) that the appraisal review board lacks
jurisdiction to finally determine a protest by the property owner
under Subchapter C, Chapter 41, or a motion filed by the property
owner under Section 25.25 because the property owner failed to
comply with a requirement of Subchapter C, Chapter 41, or Section
25.25, as applicable; or
(2) an order of the comptroller issued as provided by
Subchapter B, Chapter 24, apportioning among the counties the
appraised value of railroad rolling stock owned by the property
owner.
(c) A property owner who establishes that the appraisal
review board had jurisdiction to issue a final determination of the
protest by the property owner under Subchapter C, Chapter 41, or of
the motion filed by the property owner under Section 25.25 in an
appeal under Subsection (a)(1)(E) of this section is entitled to a
final determination by the court of the protest under Subchapter C,
Chapter 41, or of the motion filed under Section 25.25. A final
determination of a protest under Subchapter C, Chapter 41, by the
court under this subsection may be on any ground of protest
authorized by this title applicable to the property that is the
subject of the protest, regardless of whether the property owner
included the ground in the property owner’s notice of protest.
SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 42, Tax Code, is amended by
adding Section 42.231 to read as follows:
Sec. 42.231. JURISDICTION OF DISTRICT COURT; REMAND OF
CERTAIN APPEALS. (a) This section applies only to an appeal by a
property owner of an order of the appraisal review board
determining:
(1) a protest by the property owner as provided by
Subchapter C, Chapter 41; or
(2) a motion filed by the property owner under Section
25.25.
(b) Subject to the provisions of this section and
notwithstanding any other law, if a plea to the jurisdiction is
filed in the appeal on the basis that the property owner failed to
exhaust the property owner’s administrative remedies, the court
may, in lieu of dismissing the appeal for lack of jurisdiction,
remand the action to the appraisal review board with instructions
to allow the property owner an opportunity to cure the property
owner’s failure to exhaust administrative remedies.
(c) An action remanded to the appraisal review board under
Subsection (b) is considered to be a timely filed protest under
Subchapter C, Chapter 41, or motion under Section 25.25, as
applicable. The appraisal review board shall schedule a hearing on
the protest or motion and issue a written decision determining the
protest or motion in the manner required by Subchapter C, Chapter
41, or Section 25.25, as applicable.
(d) A determination of the appraisal review board relating
to the remanded action may be appealed to the court that remanded
the action to the board. A determination appealed to the court
under this subsection may not be the subject of a plea to the
jurisdiction on the basis of the property owner’s failure to
exhaust administrative remedies.
(e) Notwithstanding Subsection (b), on agreement of each
party to the appeal and with the approval of the court, the parties
to the appeal may waive remand of the action to the appraisal review
board and elect that the court determine the appeal on the merits.
If the parties waive remand of the action under this subsection,
each party is considered to have exhausted the party’s
administrative remedies.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an appeal under Chapter 42, Tax Code, that is filed on or after
the effective date of this Act. An appeal under Chapter 42, Tax
Code, that is filed before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the appeal is filed, and
the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.

______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House

I certify that H.B. No. 380 was passed by the House on April
17, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 137, Nays 6, 1 present, not
voting.

______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House

I certify that H.B. No. 380 was passed by the Senate on May 9,
2019, by the following vote: Yeas 26, Nays 5.

______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date

_____________________
Governor