BILL ANALYSIS



C.S.H.B. 1943
By: Thompson
4-25-95
Committee Report (Substituted)


BACKGROUND

House Bill 887, passed last session, changed the fees a witness, in
a civil proceeding, is entitled to for responding to a subpoena to
appear in court. The fee was changed from a dollar a day and
mileage to simply $10 per day. This bill was intended to reflect
the increased cost of parking and other costs involved in appearing
to testify before a court. However it has been a long standing
question over whether a subpoena to the custodian of records for a
document required the former $1 fee. Since the amount in question
was only $1 per subpoena, companies processing subpoena for
documents routinely paid the $1. However now that the witness fee
is $10, paying this fee on subpoenaed documents has become rather
burdensome.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this bill is to establish a $1 fee for the
production or certification of documents in accordance with a
subpoena, request for production, or other instrument issued under
the authority of a tribunal.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of this committee that this bill does not grant
any additional rulemaking authority to any state official, agency,
department, or institution.

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends Subchapter A, Chapter 22, Civil Practice and
Remedies Code, by adding Section 22.004 as follows:

     Sec. 22.004. FEE FOR PRODUCTION OR CERTIFICATION OF DOCUMENTS.
     (a) Entitles the custodian of a record who receives a request
for the production or certification of a record in accordance with
a subpoena, request for production, or other instrument issued
under the authority of a tribunal to a fee of $1 for the production
or certification of the record. Provides if more than one record is
required in a single subpoena the custodian is entitled to only one
fee.
     (b) Provides that the custodian of a record who produces or
certifies a record, who is not required to appear, in court is not
entitled to a witness fee under Section 22.001 (the $10 witness
fee).
     (c) Provides that the party who requests the record shall pay
the fee at the time the subpoena, request or other instrument is
served.
     (d) Provides that the fee required by this section must be
taxed in the bill of costs as other costs.
     (e) Provides that the fee required by this section is in
addition to any other fee imposed by law for the production or
certification of a record.

SECTION 2. Emergency Clause - Effective immediately.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

CSHB 1943 makes changes in the original bill that clarify or
correct language in the original. In Section 1 of the bill,
"summons for the production of a document" is changed to read
"receives a request for the production or certification of a record
in accordance with a subpoena, request for production, or other
instrument issued under the authority of a tribunal". Also in
Section 1  "production of the record and the deposition, affidavit,
or certification" is amended to read "production or certification
of the record" and "production  of the record" is changed to read
"production or certification of the record". A new subsection (e)
is added to Sec. 22.004, that provides that the fee required by
this section is in addition to any other fee imposed by law for the
production or certification of a record.

SUMMARY OF COMMITTEE ACTION

House Bill 1943 was considered by the Committee on Civil Practices
in a public hearing on March 29, 1995. The following people
testified in support of the bill: Bill Carroll, representing the
Texas Court Reporters Association. No one testified in opposition
to or neutrally on the bill. The bill was left pending. H.B. 1943
was considered by the Committee on Civil Practices in a public
hearing on April 19, 1995. The bill was reported favorably, as
substituted, with the recommendation that it do pass and be
printed, by a record vote of six ayes, zero nays, zero pnv and
three absents. The committee held a formal meeting on April 24,
1995, to reconsider H.B. 1943. The motion to reconsider the vote to
report H.B. 1943 was approved without objection. The committee
considered a complete substitute for the bill. The substitute was
adopted without objection. The bill was reported favorably, as
substituted, with the recommendation that it do pass, be printed
and be sent to the Committee on Local Consent Calendars, by a
record vote of eight ayes, zero nays, zero pnv and one absent.