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SCR 43, 64th R.S.

Granting permission to John R. Jenkins to bring suit into any court of competent jurisdiction in the State of Texas against the State of Texas, the Texas Department of Corrections, the County of Harris, the Harris County Sheriff's Department, the Harris County Jail, the Harris County Rehabilitation Center, the City of Houston, the Houston Police Department and the Houston City jail, and that the case shall be tried as other civil cases reserving to either party the right of appeal; providing that in the event such a suit is filed, service of citation or any other necessary process shall be had upon the Secretary of State for the State of Texas, the Direcctor of the Texas Department of Corrections, the Commissioners' Court of Harris County or a member thereof and the County of Harris, the Harris County Sheriff for the Sheriff's Department fo Harris County, the Harris County Jail and the Harris County Rehabilitation Center, the Mayor of the City of Houston for the City of Houston, and the Chief of Police of the City of Houston for the Houston Police Department and the Houston City Jail; providing that nothing herein shall be construed as a waiver of any defense, of law or fact, that may be asserted by or available to said governmental units in said unit, but that all such defenses are hereby specifically reserved; providing that nothing herein shall be construed as an admission on the part of said governmental units as to the validity of any allegation or claims asserted in said suit, and that all allegations or claims asserted in said suit must be proved as in other suits under the same rules as evidence and the same laws as apply in and govern the trial of other civil cases.

House and Senate Journals

The House and Senate Journals contain the official proceedings of the House of Representatives and Senate. The Journals include the text of proposed amendments to legislation and record votes. The Journals do not routinely contain transcripts of debates on bills; material such as speeches, statements of intent, parlimentary inquiries or other discussion may occasionally be included if members of the Legislature specifically asked that it be recorded in the Journals.

Printed journals for most sessions are available at the Legislative Reference Library, in law libraries around the state, and at the Dallas and Houston public libraries.

Scanned House and Senate Journals from the 64th R.S. are available online.

Recordings

Since 1973, the Texas Legislature has recorded most public committee hearings and House and Senate floor debates. Listening to these recordings may be helpful in compiling a bill's legislative history. To review or request recordings, locate the following dates in the bill history

Names of the House and Senate committees to which the bill was referred.
Dates the bill was considered by the committees in public hearing.
Dates of the second and third readings in the House and Senate

Digitized copies of some of the House recordings for the 64th R.S. are available from the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

Digitized copies of the Senate recordings for the 64th R.S. are available from the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

Recordings may be ordered through the mail or obtained in person at the House or Senate media offices:

House Tapes, 63rd Legislature (1973) - present
John H. Reagan Building, Room 330
105 West 15th Street
Austin, Texas 78701
(512) 463-0920
(512) 463-5729 Fax
*Requests must be in writing and paid in advance. View a sample request form.

Senate Tapes
Legislative Reference Library
1100 N. Congress Ave. Room 2N.3
Austin, Texas 78701
(512) 463-1252
NOTE: Due to preservation concerns for the original cassette tapes, patrons are no longer able to listen to the original tapes. Digitized copies of the Senate recordings are available from the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

Transcripts

Committee hearings and floor debates are not routinely transcribed; however, they may occasionally be available. If transcripts are included in the committee minutes in the library collection, they will be available on the Committee information tab. Other transcripts found in the library collection are listed on the Articles tab. Contact the offices holding the recordings for each chamber to ask about the availability of additional transcripts.

Other helpful documents

A variety of sources can provide background material, analysis and historical perspective for legislation which may be useful to the researcher. The sources suggested below may contain useful information which is not directly linked to a bill number.

Legislative Reports

Legislative interim committees and special investigative committees may be assigned to conduct in-depth studies of significant issues, to review the effectiveness of new legislation, and to develop legislative proposals for upcoming sessions.

Search the Legislative Reports database by subject or keyword for related reports.

State agency reports

Reports issued by state agencies, the House Research Organization, the Senate Research Center, and the Sunset Advisory Commission may also help to identify legislative intent. Recent reports are often available on the web site of the agency issuing the report; older reports may be available at the Legislative Reference Library or at other Texas State Depository Libraries.

The Legislative Archive System is a work in progress. Complete information is not available for all bills and all sessions. Visit the Legislative Archive System status page for details. Please contact the Legislative Reference Library at 512-463-1252 if you have any questions. Information on this website is provided as a public service by the Legislative Reference Library. The Legislative Reference Library makes no representation as to its completeness or accuracy and makes no warranty in regard to its use. Users assume all risk of reliance on the information included on this site.