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Tex. Gov't Code § 552.323

ASSESSMENT OF COSTS OF LITIGATION AND REASONABLE ATTORNEY FEES

Applied in 3 court decisions — leading case City of Garland v. Dallas Morning News (1998)

Most recently applied in City of Houston v. Kallinen (February 2017)

Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 268, Sec. 1, eff

How often courts cite this section

199520002010201710
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

(a) In an action brought under Section 552.321 or 552.3215, the court shall assess costs of litigation and reasonable attorney fees incurred by a plaintiff who substantially prevails, except that the court may not assess those costs and fees against a governmental body if the court finds that the governmental body acted in reasonable reliance on:

(1) a judgment or an order of a court applicable to the governmental body;

(2) the published opinion of an appellate court; or

(3) a written decision of the attorney general, including a decision issued under Subchapter G or an opinion issued under Section 402.042.

(b) In an action brought under Section 552.324, the court may not assess costs of litigation or reasonable attorney's fees incurred by a plaintiff or defendant who substantially prevails unless the court finds the action or the defense of the action was groundless in fact or law. In exercising its discretion under this subsection, the court shall consider whether the conduct of the governmental body had a reasonable basis in law and whether the litigation was brought in good faith.

Official source: Texas Constitution and Statutes. Reproduced from public-domain Texas statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.