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Senate Bill 1612 |
Senate Author: Zaffirini |
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Effective: See below |
House Sponsor: Orr et al. |
Senate Bill 1612 amends the Estates Code, Family Code, Government Code, and Local Government Code to do the following, effective September 1, 2023:
· set out standard procedures for court clerks transferring or receiving probate and guardianship cases between courts, including sending or marking specified documents in each transferred case and using the standardized forms created by the Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial System; and
· provide for the application of certain statewide electronic filing system requirements and documentation requirements for cases transferred from a district court or a county court to a case that is transferred to a constitutional or statutory county court or another district court.
The bill also does the following with respect to court fees:
· sets fees for certain services performed by a district court clerk and non‑court fees for services relating to certified and noncertified papers performed by a county clerk;
· clarifies that the services for which the commissioners court of a county may set reasonable fees are for service of process, including service of writs, by the offices of the sheriff and constables;
· revises certain provisions relating to the state consolidated civil fee on filing a civil case;
· changes the entity authorized to use money collected from certain criminal and civil fees allocated to the records management and preservation fund from the applicable county to the clerk of the court who collects the fee, upon commissioners court approval; and
· increase court fees for suits affecting the parent‑child relationship.
Effective September 1, 2023, Senate Bill 1612 does the following:
· makes the sending county in a transfer between counties of a child's probation supervision financially responsible for any special treatment program or placement that the juvenile court of the sending county requires as a condition of probation, regardless of whether the child's family is financially unable to pay for the program or placement; and
· removes from the applicability of statutory provisions regarding the rights and responsibilities of parents and other eligible persons, among other proceedings, a proceeding to enter a juvenile court order requiring the parent or other eligible person to reimburse the county for payments the county has made to an attorney appointed to represent the child in a juvenile proceeding.
Except as otherwise provided, the bill takes effect January 1, 2024.