BILL ANALYSIS



H.B. 3205
By: Naishtat
4-28-95
Committee Report (Unamended)


BACKGROUND

     Section 30.330 of the Texas Government Code relates to the
manner in which the Clerk of the Municipal Court of Austin is
required to file and maintain original complaints and other court
papers.  The existing statute provides that the clerk shall keep a
separate folder for each case and note on the outside of the folder
the style of the case, nature of the case and other pertinent
information.  This is a very laborious process as the Municipal
Court of Austin maintains several hundred thousand cases and
complaints each year.


PURPOSE

     House Bill 3205 streamlines the record keeping process at the
Austin Municipal Court.  The bill applies only to the Clerk of the
Municipal Court of Austin.


RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

     It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not
expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency or institution.


SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends Section 30.330 (a) and (b) of the Government Code
           to allow the Clerk of the Municipal Court of Austin to
           maintain a file and other records for each case with
           pertinent court information and deletes the requirement
           of maintaining a separate folder for each case with
           pertinent court information on the outside of each
           folder.

SECTION 2. Effective date.

SECTION 3. Emergency clause.


SUMMARY OF COMMITTEE ACTION

     Pursuant to a public notice posted on April 26, 1995, the
Committee on Judicial Affairs met in a formal meeting on April 28,
1995, to consider H.B. 3205.  The Chair laid out H.B. 3205 and
explained the bill.  Rep. Alonzo moved to report H.B. 3205
favorably back to the full House, without amendment, with the
recommendation that it do pass, be printed and sent to the
Committee on Local and Consent Calendars.  The motion prevailed by
the following record vote:  5 ayes, 0 nays, 0 PNV and 4 absent.