Sec. 15.0181. JONES ACT. (a) In this section:

(1) "Coastal county" means:

(A) a county in a coastal area, as defined by Section 33.004, Natural Resources Code; or

(B) a county having a United States Customs port through which waterborne freight is transported.

(2) "Coastal erosion" means the loss of land, marshes, wetlands, beaches, or other coastal features because of the actions of wind, waves, tides, storm surges, subsidence, or other forces.

(3) "Erosion response project" means an action intended to address or mitigate coastal erosion, including beach nourishment, sediment management, beneficial use of dredged material, creation or enhancement of a dune, wetland, or marsh, and construction of a breakwater, bulkhead, groin, jetty, or other structure.

(4) "Gulf Coast state" means Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, or Florida.

(5) "Inland waters" means the navigable waters shoreward of the navigational demarcation lines dividing the high seas from harbors, rivers, the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, and other inland waters of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, or Indiana or of Florida along the Gulf of Mexico shoreline of Florida from the Florida-Alabama border down to and including the shoreline of Key West, Florida. The term does not include the Great Lakes.

(b) This section applies only to suits brought under the Jones Act (46 U.S.C. Section 30104).

(c) Except as provided by this section, a suit brought under the Jones Act shall be brought:

(1) in the county where the defendant's principal office in this state is located;

(2) in the county in which all or a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claim occurred; or

(3) in the county where the plaintiff resided at the time the cause of action accrued.

(d) If all or a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claim occurred on the inland waters of this state, ashore in this state, or during the course of an erosion response project in this state, the suit shall be brought:

(1) in the county in which all or a substantial part of the events giving rise to the claim occurred; or

(2) in the county where the defendant's principal office in this state is located.

(e) If all or a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claim occurred on inland waters outside this state, ashore in a Gulf Coast state, or during the course of an erosion response project in a Gulf Coast state, the suit shall be brought:

(1) in the county where the defendant's principal office in this state is located if the defendant's principal office in this state is located in a coastal county;

(2) in Harris County unless the plaintiff resided in Galveston County at the time the cause of action accrued;

(3) in Galveston County unless the plaintiff resided in Harris County at the time the cause of action accrued; or

(4) if the defendant does not have a principal office in this state located in a coastal county, in the county where the plaintiff resided at the time the cause of action accrued.

Added by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 203 (H.B. 1602), Sec. 2, eff. May 24, 2007.

Amended by:

Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 87 (S.B. 1969), Sec. 5.001, eff. September 1, 2009.