Monitoring the Session

HB 4613

Lose Your Unequal Appraisal Appeal? Pay Their Lawyers Up To $100K

Died in committee

Verdict: No flags

No flagsInitial review
Rep. Chris TurnerDHouse 101

Initial review · graded Oct 20, 2026 · Headline, summary and grade are analysis of the bill text, not a finding about any person · How we grade

Caption

relating to the award of attorney's fees to an appraisal district, appraisal review board, or chief appraiser that prevails in an appeal on the ground that a property has been appraised for ad valorem tax purposes unequally.

Caption from analyzed text · version I.

Summary

If the appraisal district wins, you can be ordered to cover its attorney’s fees.

The bill lets an appraisal district, appraisal review board, or chief appraiser recover reasonable attorney's fees, up to $100,000, when it wins a court appeal in which a property owner claimed the property was appraised unequally. It touches property owners who sue over unequal appraisal and the local appraisal bodies that defend those suits. A property owner who loses an unequal-appraisal appeal filed on or after September 1, 2025, can now be ordered to pay the government side's lawyer bills.

Labels

Labels: PENDING FOREVER. Heard by the House Ways & Means subcommittee on Property Tax Appraisals on Apr 17, 2025 and left pending. Never voted out. The bill died.

Receipt

The receipt

89R-HB4613 · 2025-03-12

SOLD BY

Rep. Chris TurnerDHouse 101

ITEM

relating to the award of attorney's fees to an appraisal district, appraisal review board, or chief appraiser that prevails in an appeal on the ground that a property has been appraised for ad valorem tax purposes unequally.

WHAT IT DOES

If the appraisal district wins, you can be ordered to cover its attorney’s fees.

The bill lets an appraisal district, appraisal review board, or chief appraiser recover reasonable attorney's fees, up to $100,000, when it wins a court appeal in which a property owner claimed the property was appraised unequally. It touches property owners who sue over unequal appraisal and the local appraisal bodies that defend those suits. A property owner who loses an unequal-appraisal appeal filed on or after September 1, 2025, can now be ordered to pay the government side's lawyer bills.

CHARGES

[ ] NONE FOUND

TOTAL

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version I · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version I · April 16, 2025

No first-year general revenue figure available here.

LBB published estimates · flow over the stated periods.

Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

HISTORY

  1. Filed
  2. Read first time
  3. Referred to s/c on Property Tax Appraisals by Speaker
  4. Scheduled for public hearing in s/c on . . .
  5. Considered by s/c in public hearing
  6. Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in subcommittee
  7. Left pending in subcommittee
FILED UNDER

SPEECH AND LAWFARE

THE TEXT

“An appraisal district, an appraisal review board, or a chief appraiser that prevails in an appeal under Section 42.26 may be awarded reasonable attorney's fees.”

Bill text, introduced version (I)

The bill adds fee-shifting for the government side, which raises the cost to a property owner of losing an unequal-appraisal lawsuit against the appraisal district.

No flags

THANK YOU FOR CHECKING THE RECEIPT

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

Chris Turner

Donors

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC$108KTexas REALTORS Political Action Committee$100KTexas Sands PAC$84K

Not tied to this bill.

Sources

The author's campaign account only. Own money and internal transfers are separate on the member page.

Derived itemized flow · Oct 27, 2024 to Jun 1, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC$107,500.00

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC

$107,500.00

Cash
$107,500.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$107,500.00

Also funds 137 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 24, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · Dec 6, 2024 to Feb 21, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 100985193, 101006969, 101027154, 101035221, 101040103.

Texas REALTORS Political Action Committee$100,389.10

Texas REALTORS Political Action Committee

$100,389.10

Cash
$70,000.00
Paid by others
$30,389.10
Total
$100,389.10
mail $25,664.64text $3,089.24event $1,125.00Other filed descriptions $260.22advertising $250.00

Also funds 140 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 2, 2024 to Oct 24, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · Dec 4, 2024 to Mar 3, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 100985193, 101006969, 101027154, 101040103, 101064980.

Texas Sands PAC$84,000.00

Texas Sands PAC

$84,000.00

Cash
$84,000.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$84,000.00

Also funds 121 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 3, 2024 to Oct 24, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · Dec 6, 2024 to Feb 6, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 100985193, 101040103.

Money

Missing data does not establish zero giving. Display amounts are rounded.

×

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC

$107,500.00

Cash
$107,500.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$107,500.00

Also funds 137 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 24, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · Dec 6, 2024 to Feb 21, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 100985193, 101006969, 101027154, 101035221, 101040103.

×

Texas REALTORS Political Action Committee

$100,389.10

Cash
$70,000.00
Paid by others
$30,389.10
Total
$100,389.10
mail $25,664.64text $3,089.24event $1,125.00Other filed descriptions $260.22advertising $250.00

Also funds 140 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 2, 2024 to Oct 24, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · Dec 4, 2024 to Mar 3, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 100985193, 101006969, 101027154, 101040103, 101064980.

×

Texas Sands PAC

$84,000.00

Cash
$84,000.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$84,000.00

Also funds 121 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 3, 2024 to Oct 24, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · Dec 6, 2024 to Feb 6, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 100985193, 101040103.

Votes

No floor vote loaded for this bill.

Fiscal

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version I · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version I · April 16, 2025

No first-year general revenue figure available here.

LBB published estimates · flow over the stated periods.

Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

How this was graded

Analysis of text version I by claude-opus-5-5, Oct 20, 2026, against the published rubric.

Sources

Texas House · Filed Mar 12, 2025

04/17/2025 H Left pending in subcommittee

Texas Legislature Online · Introduced

Data snapshot Oct 26, 2026 at 4:19 AM CDT. Grades, charges, quotes and corrections follow the published record.

House committee · Ways & Means · Final status: Died in committee

Subjects

Taxation--Property-Appeal of Tax Decisions

Taxation--Property-Appraisals & Appraisal Districts

ATTORNEY'S FEES

Text

The text as introduced · 208 words

89R16118 CS-D

By: Turner
H.B. No. 4613

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the award of attorney's fees to an appraisal district,

appraisal review board, or chief appraiser that prevails in an

appeal on the ground that a property has been appraised for ad

valorem tax purposes unequally.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 42.29, Tax Code, is amended by amending

Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:

(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the amount of an award

of attorney's fees to a property owner may not exceed the lesser of:

(1) $100,000; or

(2) the total amount by which the property owner's tax

liability is reduced as a result of the appeal.

(c) An appraisal district, an appraisal review board, or a

chief appraiser that prevails in an appeal under Section 42.26 may

be awarded reasonable attorney's fees. The amount of the award may

not exceed $100,000.

SECTION 2. Section 42.29, Tax Code, as amended by this Act,

applies only to an appeal under Chapter 42, Tax Code, for which a

petition for review is filed on or after the effective date of this

Act.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.