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House Bill 2716 |
House Author: Darby |
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Effective: 6-17-11 |
Senate Sponsor: Carona |
House Bill 2716 amends Local Government Code provisions relating to the fees charged for the management and preservation of a county clerk's records. Previous law required a records management and preservation fee set by a county clerk in a county that is adjacent to an international boundary to be deposited in a separate records management and preservation account in the general fund of the county. House Bill 2716 applies that requirement to all counties.
The bill also establishes that any interest accrued in regard to a records archive fee adopted by a commissioners court required to be deposited in a separate records archive account in the general fund of the county remains with the account. Rather than being subject to approval in a public meeting in general, the designation of public documents that are part of an applicable records archive by a county clerk is subject to approval by the commissioners court in a public meeting during the budget process. Under previous law, a county clerk was required to prepare an annual written plan for funding the preservation and restoration of the county clerk's records archive and, after a public hearing, the plan was to be considered for approval by the commissioners court. The bill instead requires the county clerk to prepare the annual written plan before collecting a records archive fee and authorizes the public hearing on the plan to be held during the budget process. The bill authorizes the plan, after the establishment of the fee, to be approved annually during the budget process. The bill subjects the fee to approval by the commissioners court in a public meeting during the budget process, rather than during a public meeting in general.
The bill repeals a provision relating to the use and collection of a records archive fee after completion of a county records archive preservation and restoration project.