diff --git a/app/views/legislation/annotations/comments.js.erb b/app/views/legislation/annotations/comments.js.erb
index 7718b0465..8074f6040 100644
--- a/app/views/legislation/annotations/comments.js.erb
+++ b/app/views/legislation/annotations/comments.js.erb
@@ -10,3 +10,8 @@ $('a.publish-comment').on({
   }
 });
 
+<% if @comment.errors.any? %>
+  $('a.publish-comment').hide();
+  $('#js-comment-form-annotation').toggle();
+  $('#js-comment-form-annotation textarea').focus();
+<% end %>