Sec. 41.45. HEARING ON PROTEST. (a) On the filing of a notice as required by Section 41.44, the appraisal review board shall schedule a hearing on the protest. If more than one protest is filed relating to the same property, the appraisal review board shall schedule a single hearing on all timely filed protests relating to the property. A hearing for a property that is owned in undivided or fractional interests, including separate interests in a mineral in place, shall be scheduled to provide for participation by all owners who have timely filed a protest.
(b) The property owner initiating the protest is entitled to an opportunity to appear to offer evidence or argument. The property owner may offer his evidence or argument by affidavit without personally appearing if he attests to the affidavit before an officer authorized to administer oaths and submits the affidavit to the board hearing the protest before it begins the hearing on the protest. On receipt of an affidavit, the board shall notify the chief appraiser. The chief appraiser may inspect the affidavit and is entitled to a copy on request.
(c) The chief appraiser shall appear at each protest hearing before the appraisal review board to represent the appraisal office.
(d) An appraisal review board consisting of more than three members may sit in panels of not fewer than three members to conduct protest hearings. However, the determination of a protest heard by a panel must be made by the board. If the recommendation of a panel is not accepted by the board, the board may refer the matter for rehearing to a panel composed of members who did not hear the original hearing or, if there are not at least three members who did not hear the original protest, the board may determine the protest. Before determining a protest or conducting a rehearing before a new panel or the board, the board shall deliver notice of the hearing or meeting to determine the protest in accordance with the provisions of this subchapter.
(e) On request made to the appraisal review board before the date of the hearing, a property owner who has not designated an agent under Section 1.111 to represent the owner at the hearing is entitled to one postponement of the hearing to a later date without showing cause. In addition and without limitation as to the number of postponements, the board shall postpone the hearing to a later date if the property owner or the owner's agent at any time shows good cause for the postponement or if the chief appraiser consents to the postponement. The hearing may not be postponed to a date less than five or more than 30 days after the date scheduled for the hearing when the postponement is sought unless the date and time of the hearing as postponed are agreed to by the chairman of the appraisal review board or the chairman's representative, the property owner, and the chief appraiser. A request by a property owner for a postponement under this subsection may be made in writing, including by facsimile transmission or electronic mail, by telephone, or in person to the appraisal review board, a panel of the board, or the chairman of the board. The chairman or the chairman's representative may take action on a postponement under this subsection without the necessity of action by the full board if the hearing for which the postponement is requested is scheduled to occur before the next regular meeting of the board. The granting by the appraisal review board, the chairman, or the chairman's representative of a postponement under this subsection does not require the delivery of additional written notice to the property owner.
(e-1) A property owner or a person designated by the property owner as the owner's agent to represent the owner at the hearing who fails to appear at the hearing is entitled to a new hearing if the property owner or the owner's agent files, not later than the fourth day after the date the hearing occurred, a written statement with the appraisal review board showing good cause for the failure to appear and requesting a new hearing.
(e-2) For purposes of Subsections (e) and (e-1), "good cause" means a reason that includes an error or mistake that:
(1) was not intentional or the result of conscious indifference; and
(2) will not cause undue delay or other injury to the person authorized to extend the deadline or grant a rescheduling.
(f) A property owner who has been denied a hearing to which the property owner is entitled under this chapter may bring suit against the appraisal review board by filing a petition or application in district court to compel the board to provide the hearing. If the property owner is entitled to the hearing, the court shall order the hearing to be held and may award court costs and reasonable attorney fees to the property owner.
(g) In addition to the grounds for a postponement under Subsection (e), the board shall postpone the hearing to a later date if:
(1) the owner of the property or the owner's agent is also scheduled to appear at a hearing on a protest filed with the appraisal review board of another appraisal district;
(2) the hearing before the other appraisal review board is scheduled to occur on the same date as the hearing set by the appraisal review board from which the postponement is sought;
(3) the notice of hearing delivered to the property owner or the owner's agent by the other appraisal review board bears an earlier postmark than the notice of hearing delivered by the board from which the postponement is sought or, if the date of the postmark is identical, the property owner or agent has not requested a postponement of the other hearing; and
(4) the property owner or the owner's agent includes with the request for a postponement a copy of the notice of hearing delivered to the property owner or the owner's agent by the other appraisal review board.
(h) Before the hearing on a protest or immediately after the hearing begins, the chief appraiser and the property owner or the owner's agent shall each provide the other with a copy of any written material or material preserved on any portable device designed to maintain an electronic, magnetic, or digital reproduction of a document or image that the person intends to offer or submit to the appraisal review board at the hearing.
(i) To be valid, an affidavit offered under Subsection (b) must be attested to before an officer authorized to administer oaths and include:
(1) the name of the property owner initiating the protest;
(2) a description of the property that is the subject of the protest; and
(3) evidence or argument.
(j) A statement from the property owner that specifies the determination or other action of the chief appraiser, appraisal district, or appraisal review board relating to the subject property from which the property owner seeks relief constitutes sufficient argument under Subsection (i).
(k) The comptroller shall prescribe a standard form for an affidavit offered under Subsection (b). Each appraisal district shall make copies of the affidavit form available to property owners without charge.
(l) A property owner is not required to use the affidavit form prescribed by the comptroller when offering an affidavit under Subsection (b).
(m) If the protest relates to a taxable leasehold or other possessory interest in real property that is owned by this state or a political subdivision of this state, the attorney general or a representative of the state agency that owns the land, if the real property is owned by this state, or a person designated by the political subdivision that owns the real property, as applicable, is entitled to appear at the hearing and offer evidence and argument.
(n) A property owner does not waive the right to appear in person at the protest hearing by submitting an affidavit to the appraisal review board. The board may consider the affidavit only if the property owner does not appear at the protest hearing in person. For purposes of scheduling the hearing, the property owner shall state in the affidavit that the property owner does not intend to appear at the hearing or that the property owner intends to appear at the hearing and that the affidavit may be used only if the property owner does not appear at the hearing. If the property owner does not state in the affidavit whether the owner intends to appear at the hearing, the board shall consider the submission of the affidavit as an indication that the property owner does not intend to appear at the hearing. If the property owner states in the affidavit that the owner does not intend to appear at the hearing or does not state in the affidavit whether the owner intends to appear at the hearing, the appraisal review board is not required to consider the affidavit at the scheduled hearing and may consider the affidavit at a hearing designated for the specific purpose of processing affidavits.
(o) If the chief appraiser uses audiovisual equipment at a hearing on a protest, the appraisal office shall provide audiovisual equipment of the same general type, kind, and character for use during the hearing by the property owner or the property owner's agent.
Acts 1979, 66th Leg., p. 2306, ch. 841, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1982. Amended by Acts 1981, 67th Leg., 1st C.S., p. 171, ch. 13, Sec. 138, eff. Jan. 1, 1982; Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 794, Sec. 1, eff. June 18, 1987; Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 796, Sec. 37; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 836, Sec. 3.1, eff. Sept. 1, 1991; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 828, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1995; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1039, Sec. 38, eff. Jan. 1, 1998; Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 416, Sec. 3, eff. Sept. 1, 1999; Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 463, Sec. 2, eff. Jan. 1, 2000; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1420, Sec. 21.001(99), eff. Sept. 1, 2001.
Amended by:
Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 626 (H.B. 538), Sec. 2, eff. January 1, 2008.
Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 1267 (H.B. 1030), Sec. 4, eff. June 19, 2009.
Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 771 (H.B. 1887), Sec. 11, eff. September 1, 2011.
Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 924 (S.B. 1546), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2011.
Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1259 (H.B. 585), Sec. 21, eff. January 1, 2014.
Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1201 (S.B. 1394), Sec. 1, eff. January 1, 2016.
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