Chapter 22-3 General Venue Options

• Jurisdiction: United States

22-3 General Venue Options

The general rule of venue (commonly referred to as general venue) exists to assure a Texas resident of at least one venue choice in Texas, subject to the right of the court to overrule a permissive choice of venue on grounds of convenience.¹⁴ As a result, the general venue options are often utilized.

General venue essentially provides four options to the plaintiff and a potential fifth option to the defendant. The plaintiff may choose to bring suit:¹⁵

• in the county in which all or a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claim occurred;
• in the county of defendant's residence at the time the cause of action accrued if defendant is a natural person;
• in the county of the defendant's principal office in this state, if the defendant is not a natural person; or
• if Subdivisions (1), (2), and (3) do not apply, in the county in which the plaintiff resided at the time of the accrual of the cause of action.

The defendant may respond ("concurrently with or before the filing of the answer") by filing a motion to transfer the case "[f]or the convenience of the parties and witnesses and in the interest of justice" to another county.¹⁶ "A court's ruling or decision to grant or deny a transfer under Subsection (b) is not grounds for appeal or mandamus and is not reversible error."¹⁷

The case law helps explain each of these general venue options and their proper pleading:

• Where all or a substantial part of the events or omissions occurred.¹⁸ This venue provision requires showing more than a "tangential and insubstantial" connection with the county of suit,¹⁹ but the plaintiff is not required to show that the county is where a majority of the events or omissions occurred or that the county has the most substantial connection to the events or omissions giving rise to the claim.²⁰ The test is whether the pleaded venue facts show that the events or omissions at issue in the county of venue are materially connected to the cause of action,²¹ i.e., to the essential elements of the plaintiff's claim.²²
• Defendant's residence if defendant is a natural person.²³ Although an individual may have only one domicile, he may establish more than one county of residence for venue purposes.²⁴ "Even a rented room may qualify and the intent to make a permanent home is not necessary to the establishment of a second residence away from the domicile."²⁵ The Texas Supreme Court has set forth a three-element test to determine whether a second residence away from a domicile has been established. The proof must show that (1) the defendant possesses a fixed place of abode, (2) occupied or intended to be occupied consistently over a substantial period of time, (3) which is permanent rather than temporary.²⁶
• Defendant's principal office in this state if defendant is not a natural person.²⁷ " 'Principal office' means a principal office of the corporation, unincorporated association, or partnership in this state in which the decision makers for the organization within this state conduct the daily affairs of the organization. The mere presence of an agency or representative does not establish a principal office."²⁸ A business entity can have more than one principal office in Texas, but a principal office cannot be an office that is "clearly subordinate to and controlled by another Texas office," nor can it be one that

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