§ 110.006.Notice; Right to Accommodate

A notice and cure provision, and the cure is the part with real consequences.

A person may not bring an action unless, 60 days before, the person gives written notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, stating that their free exercise is substantially burdened, the particular act or refusal to act that is burdened, and the manner in which the exercise of governmental authority burdens it.

The three items are specific, and a notice describing a grievance without identifying the burdened act and how the authority burdens it does not comply.

The exception covers the urgent case. A claimant may sue within the 60 days for declaratory or injunctive relief and associated fees, costs and expenses where the burden is imminent and the person was not informed and did not otherwise have knowledge in time to reasonably provide the notice.

Both conditions are required, and damages are excluded from what may be sought that way.

Subsections (c) to (e) are where the section does its work. An agency receiving notice may remedy the substantial burden — and a person whose burden has been cured by a remedy implemented under this section may not bring an action.

So a cure extinguishes the claim. That is the trade the 60 days buys: an opportunity to fix the problem instead of litigating it.

The remedy is judged on a relaxed standard. It need not be the least restrictive means, notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter — though it must be narrowly tailored to remove the particular burden.

That is a considered relaxation. An agency acting voluntarily should not have to meet the standard it would face in litigation, or it would litigate instead.

Two subsections address people in custody. Complying with an inmate grievance system satisfies the notice requirement, and such a system must provide a statement of the agency’s rationale for imposing the burden with any adverse determination.