By Tallas                                             H.B. No. 2750
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to the specification for legal papers.
    1-3        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-4        SECTION 1.  Section 191.007, Local Government Code, is
    1-5  amended to read as follows:
    1-6        Sec. 191.007.  Specifications for Legal Papers; Increased
    1-7  Fees.  (a)  A legal paper presented to a county clerk for filing or
    1-8  for recording must meet the requirements prescribed by Subsections
    1-9  (b) through (g).
   1-10        (b)  A page is considered to be one side of a sheet of paper.
   1-11  A page must:
   1-12        (1)  be no wider than 8-1/2  inches and no longer than 14
   1-13  inches;
   1-14        (2)  have a sufficient weight and substance so that printing,
   1-15  typing, or handwriting on it will not smear or bleed through; and
   1-16        (3)  be printed in type no smaller than 8 point type and be
   1-17  suitable otherwise for reproducing from it a readable record by a
   1-18  photocopy or photostatic or microphotographic process used in the
   1-19  office of the county clerk.
   1-20        (c)  A clearly identifying heading, similar to the headings
   1-21  on most commercially supplied printed forms, must be placed at the
   1-22  top of the first page to identify the type or kind of legal paper.
   1-23        (d)  Printing, typing, and handwriting must be clearly
    2-1  legible.
    2-2        (e)  Names must be legibly typed or printed immediately under
    2-3  each signature.
    2-4        (f)  All photostats, photocopies and other types of
    2-5  reproduction must have black printing, typing, or handwriting on a
    2-6  white background, commonly known as positive prints.
    2-7        (g)  Riders and attachments must comply with the size
    2-8  requirement prescribed by Subsection (b) and shall not be larger
    2-9  than the size of the page.   Only one rider or attachment may be
   2-10  included in or attached to a page.
   2-11        (h)  The filing fee or recording fee for each page of a legal
   2-12  paper that is presented for filing or recording to a county clerk
   2-13  and fails to meet one or more of the requirements prescribed by
   2-14  Subsections (b) through (g) is equal to twice the regular filing
   2-15  fee or recording fee provided by statute for that page.
   2-16        (i)  If a page of a legal paper has more riders or
   2-17  attachments than one, the filing fee or recording fee for each
   2-18  rider or attachment in excess of one is twice the regular filing
   2-19  fee or recording fee provided by statute.
   2-20        (j)  If a page of a legal paper has one or more riders or
   2-21  attachments larger than the permitted size, the filing fee or
   2-22  recording fee for each oversized rider or attachment is twice the
   2-23  regular filing fee or recording fee provided by statute for the
   2-24  rider or attachment.
   2-25        (k)  This section does not authorize a county clerk to refuse
    3-1  to record a legal paper for the reason that it fails to meet one or
    3-2  more of the requirements prescribed by Subsections (b) through (g).
    3-3  Failure to comply with these requirements does not invalidate the
    3-4  instrument.
    3-5        SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
    3-6        SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
    3-7  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
    3-8  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
    3-9  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   3-10  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.