By Luna                                               S.B. No. 1184
       74R2548 MWV-D
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to certain fees and costs collected by statutory county
    1-3  courts in counties with a population of more than one million.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  Section 51.702(g), Government Code, is amended to
    1-6  read as follows:
    1-7        (g)  A clerk may not collect a fee under this section and a
    1-8  fee or cost under Section 51.701 or 51.703.
    1-9        SECTION 2.  Subchapter H, Chapter 51, Government Code, is
   1-10  amended by adding Section 51.703 to read as follows:
   1-11        Sec. 51.703.  FEES AND COSTS IN COUNTY WITH POPULATION OF
   1-12  MORE THAN ONE MILLION.  (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (i),
   1-13  in a county with a population of more than one million, in addition
   1-14  to all other fees and costs authorized or required by other law, a
   1-15  clerk of a statutory county court shall collect the filing fees and
   1-16  costs required by this section.
   1-17        (b)  The clerk of a statutory county court acting under this
   1-18  section shall collect a $20 filing fee in each civil case filed in
   1-19  the court.
   1-20        (c)  In addition to other court costs, a person shall pay $10
   1-21  as a court cost on conviction of any criminal offense in a
   1-22  statutory county court, including cases in which probation or
   1-23  deferred adjudication is granted.  A conviction that arises under
   1-24  Chapter 173, Acts of the 47th Legislature, Regular Session, 1941
    2-1  (Article 6687b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), or a conviction
    2-2  under the Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on Highways (Article
    2-3  6701d, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes) is included, except that a
    2-4  conviction arising under any law that regulates pedestrians or the
    2-5  parking of motor vehicles is not included.
    2-6        (d)  Court costs and fees due under this section shall be
    2-7  collected in the same manner as other fees, fines, or costs are
    2-8  collected in the case.
    2-9        (e)  The clerk of a statutory county court shall deposit a
   2-10  filing fee or court cost collected under this section in the
   2-11  county's general fund to be used for court-related purposes for the
   2-12  support of the judiciary.
   2-13        (f)  Sections 51.320 and 51.321 apply to a fee or cost
   2-14  collected under this section.
   2-15        (g)  A judge of a statutory county court in a county that
   2-16  collects a fee or court costs under this section may not engage in
   2-17  the private practice of law.
   2-18        (h)  This section applies only to fees and costs for a
   2-19  12-month period beginning July 1 in a county in which the
   2-20  commissioners court:
   2-21              (1)  adopts a resolution authorizing the fees and costs
   2-22  under this section for the 12-month period; and
   2-23              (2)  files the resolution with the comptroller not
   2-24  later than June 1 immediately preceding the 12-month period during
   2-25  which the fees and costs are to be collected.
   2-26        (i)  A clerk of a statutory county court may not collect a
   2-27  fee or cost under this section and a fee or cost under Section
    3-1  51.701 or 51.702.
    3-2        SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
    3-3        SECTION 4.  This Act applies only to filing fees for civil
    3-4  cases filed and to costs on convictions occurring on or after the
    3-5  effective date of this Act.
    3-6        SECTION 5.  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.