In Re Transcontinental Realty Investors, Inc.

The question here is whether an amendment to the permissive-venue statute in the 1980s should be interpreted to eliminate businesses from every venue statute that refers to where a party “resides.” We hold that it should not, and thus the defendant corporation here is entitled to be sued in Dallas County where it “resides.”

North Texas Municipal Water District filed this suit in Kaufman County to condemn a 30-foot easement for a pipeline across land owned by Transcontinental Realty Investors, Inc. The land is located partly in Dallas County and partly in Kaufman County. Section 21.013 of the…