By Thompson H.B. No. 2398
74R7806 T
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to duties of the district clerk.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Sections 51.303(d) and (e), Government Code are
1-5 amended to read as follows:
1-6 (d) <On the last day of each term of the court, the district
1-7 clerk shall make a written statement of fines and jury fees
1-8 received, the name of each juror who served during the term, the
1-9 number of days, and the amount due the juror for the services. The
1-10 statement shall be recorded in the minutes of the court after it is
1-11 approved and signed by the presiding judge.>
1-12 <(e)> The clerk of a district court may:
1-13 (1) take the depositions of witnesses, and
1-14 (2) perform other duties imposed on the clerk by law.
1-15 SECTION 2. Section 51.317(b)(1), (2), (5), and (6),
1-16 Government Code are amended to read as follows:
1-17 (b) The fees are:
1-18 (1) for filing a suit, including an appeal from an
1-19 inferior court and a petition for pre-indictment writ of habeas
1-20 corpus........................................................$ 45
1-21 (2) for filing a cross-action, intervention, contempt
1-22 action, motion for new trial or third party petition..........$ 15
1-23 <(5) for issuing an additional copy of a process not
1-24 otherwise provided for, when requested at the time a suit or motion
2-1 is filed......................................................$ 4>
2-2 (6) <(5)> for the records management and preservation
2-3 fund...........................................................$ 5
2-4 SECTION 3. Section 51.318(b), Government Code is amended to
2-5 read as follows:
2-6 (b) The fees are:
2-7 (1) for issuing a subpoena not provided for Section
2-8 51.317, including one copy.....................................$ 8
2-9 <(3) for an additional copy of a writ or process not
2-10 otherwise provided for........................................$ 4>
2-11 (3) <(4)> for searching files and records to locate a
2-12 cause when the docket number is not provided...................$ 5
2-13 (4) <(5)> for searching files or records to ascertain
2-14 the existence of an instrument or record in the district clerk's
2-15 office.........................................................$ 5
2-16 <(6) for certifying a fact contained in a record in
2-17 the district clerk's office....................................$ 2>
2-18 <(7) for issuing a deposition, for each 100
2-19 words......................................................20 cents>
2-20 <(8) for issuing interrogatories with certificate and
2-21 seal for each page or part of a page..........................$ 1>
2-22 (5) <(9)> for abstracting a judgment..............$ 8
2-23 (6) <(10)> for approving a bond...................$ 4
2-24 (7) <(11)> for a certified copy of a record, judgment,
2-25 order, pleading, or paper on file or of record in the district
2-26 clerk's office, including certificate and seal, for each page or
2-27 part of a page.................................................$ 1
3-1 (8) for a non-certified copy for each page or part of
3-2 a page.............................not to exceed...............$ 1
3-3 SECTION 4. Section 51.319, Government Code is amended to
3-4 read as follows:
3-5 Sec. 51.319. Other Fees. The District clerk shall collect
3-6 the following fees for services performed by the clerk:
3-7 <(1) for comparing to the original a copy of a
3-8 petition, judgment, order, or other instrument necessary in the
3-9 district court, submitted by the plaintiff or defendant, a fee of
3-10 10 cents a page;>
3-11 <(2) for certifying an instrument described in
3-12 Subdivision (1) by attaching a certificate of true copy and
3-13 sealing, a fee of $1;>
3-14 (1) <(3)> for performing services related to the
3-15 matter of the estate of a deceased person or a minor transacted in
3-16 the district court, the same fees allowed the county clerk for
3-17 those services;
3-18 (2) <(4)> for serving process by certified mail or
3-19 registered mail, the same fees that sheriffs and constables are
3-20 authorized to charge for the service under Section 1, Chapter 696,
3-21 Acts of the 59th Legislature, Regular Session, 1965 (Article 3933a,
3-22 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), to charge for the service; and
3-23 (3) <(5)> for performing any other service prescribed
3-24 or authorized by law for which no fee is set by law, a reasonable
3-25 fee.
3-26 SECTION 5. Section 51.321, Government Code is repealed.
3-27 SECTION 6. Section 51.604, Government Code is amended to
4-1 read as follows:
4-2 Sec. 51.604. Jury Fee <in Certain Counties>. <(a) This
4-3 section applies only to counties with a population of two million
4-4 or more.>
4-5 (a) <(b)> The district clerk shall collect a $20 jury fee
4-6 for each civil case in district court in which a person applies for
4-7 a jury trial. The clerk of a county court or statutory county
4-8 court shall collect a $17 jury fee for each civil case in those
4-9 courts in which a person applies for a jury trial. The Clerk shall
4-10 note the payment of the fee on the court's docket sheet.
4-11 (b) <(c)> The fee required by this section must be paid by
4-12 person applying for a jury trial not later than the 10th day before
4-13 the jury trial is scheduled to begin.
4-14 (c) <(d)> The fee required by this section is in addition to
4-15 the jury fee required by Rule 216, Texas Rules of Civil Procedure,
4-16 an any other fee allowed by law or rule.
4-17 SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
4-18 SECTION 8. The importance of this legislation and the
4-19 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-20 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-21 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-22 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.