BILL ANALYSIS H.B. 1943 By: Thompson (Henderson) Jurisprudence 5-17-95 Senate Committee Report (Unamended) BACKGROUND H.B. 887, passed by the 73rd Legislature, 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 $1 per day and mileage to simply $10 per day. The 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 As proposed, H.B. 1943 establishes a $1 fee for the production or certification of certain documents in accordance with an instrument issued under the authority of a tribunal. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Chapter 22A, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, by adding Section 22.004, as follows: Sec. 22.004. FEE FOR PRODUCTION OR CERTIFICATION OF DOCUMENTS. (a) Entitles a custodian of a record (custodian) who receives a request for production or certification of a record under a subpoena or other instrument issued under the authority of a tribunal that compels production or certification of a record to $1 for production or certification of the record. Entitles the custodian of the records to only one fee if more than one record is produced or certified. (b) Provides that a custodian who produces or certifies a record, but who is not required to appear in court, is not entitled to a witness fee. (c) Requires the party who requests production or certification of a record to pay the fee required for the record at the time the instrument is served. (d) Requires the fee to be taxed in the bill of costs as other costs. (e) Provides that the fee is in addition to any other fee imposed by law for the production or certification of a record. SECTION 2. Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage.