I read TCPRC 101.101(c) and Govt. Code 311.034 to mean that a claimant must provide the governmental entity with notice prior to filing the lawsuit. Please weigh in on what you think. HISTORY: Lost in the trial court, won in the 14th and now they have asked the High Court to hear it. Claimant filed a brief and intervenor filed an AC brief. (The intervenor is the worker's comp carrier and wants to be paid. If the County is out, they get 0. ) I read prerequisite to suit to mean that an action must occur before filing the suit, not the suit satisfies the prerequisite. The latter is what they are arguing. Rjones-Brazoria County
The Texas Supreme Court just denied the petition for review in this case: Jefferson Cty. v. Farris, 569 S.W.3d 814 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2018, pet. denied) in which the Court of Appeals stated that: "Because we concluded that the Chapter 89 presentment requirement was not a statutory prerequisite, we hold that the trial court did not err by denying the plea to the jurisdiction on this basis." Id. at 828. This was an asbestos wrongful death case brought under the Texas Tort Claims Act, but that language about presentment to the Commissioners Court under Tex. Loc. Gov't Code § 89.004 not being a statutory prerequisite to suit under Tex. Gov't Code § 311.034 is going to be used against a lot of pleas to the jurisdiction filed on behalf of the County.
