ZEM H.B. 71 75(R)BILL ANALYSIS CIVIL PRACTICES H.B. 71 By: Longoria 4-30-97 Committee Report (Unamended) BACKGROUND Civil suits involving multiple parties from outside the state of Texas are being filed in counties throughout the state. The clerk must file these suits and can only assess a one time clerk's fee against one of the parties regardless of the number of plaintiffs and defendants. The number of plaintiffs can number in the thousands, as in the case of India vs. Union Carbide with over 6,000 plaintiffs. Hundreds of pleadings may be filed that have to be maintained by the District Clerk as permanent record at the expense of the county taxpayers. PURPOSE To allow District clerks to collect, in addition to other fees, a $45.00 joint action filing fee from each non-exempt plaintiff who is a party to a joint action. 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 51.317, Government Code, by adding Subsections (d) and (e) to read as follows: (d) Requires the district clerk to collect, in addition to other fees, a $45 joint action filing fee from each plaintiff who is a party to a joint action. (e) Exempts the plaintiff from the filing fee if he establishes, by affidavit, that the action is a Family Code matter, the plaintiff is indigent, the fees have been paid for each plaintiff, or the plaintiff is a resident of this state. SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 1997. Applies prospectively; savings clause. SECTION 3. Emergency clause.