Honorable Jeff Leach, Chair, House Committee on Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB1763 by Leach (Relating to the disposition of money from certain attorney accounts delivered to the comptroller as unclaimed property.), As Introduced
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would require the Comptroller to deposit certain unclaimed or unidentified funds in an abandoned Interest on Lawyers' Trust Account (IOLTA) or a client trust account to Fund 0573 – Judicial Fund. If the Comptroller is required to pay a claim to a person establishing ownership of such funds, the Texas Supreme Court would be required to reimburse the Comptroller for the amount of the claim from Fund 0573 – Judicial Fund. Amounts not claimed could only be appropriated to the Supreme Court for basic civil legal services.
The Comptroller's Unclaimed Property division reports that $1.29 million in all previously surrendered IOLTA accounts are currently held as unclaimed property; approximately $48,000 in such accounts is received as unclaimed property annually. The amount of client trust fund money currently held as unclaimed property is unknown, as the Comptroller does not separately account for client trust fund accounts.
The bill would apply to the types of unclaimed property identified above and deposited by the Comptroller on, before, or after the effective date of this Act.
Because unclaimed funds are always subject to being claimed by the person entitled to the property, the Comptroller's office assumes that there will be no significant fiscal impact associated with implementing the provisions of the bill.
Local Government Impact
No fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.
Source Agencies:
212 Office of Court Administration, Texas Judicial Council, 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts