1-1     By:  Luna, Berlanga, Seaman (Senate Sponsor - Truan)  H.B. No. 3565

 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House May 5, 1997;

 1-3     May 6, 1997, read first time and referred to Committee on

 1-4     Jurisprudence; May 15, 1997, reported favorably by the following

 1-5     vote:  Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 15, 1997, sent to printer.)

 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-7                                   AN ACT

 1-8     relating to the duties of the district clerk of Nueces County.

 1-9           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

1-10           SECTION 1.  Section 25.1802(n), Government Code, is amended

1-11     to read as follows:

1-12           (n)  The district clerk serves as clerk of a county court at

1-13     law in cases enumerated in Subsection (a) [in the concurrent

1-14     jurisdiction of the county courts at law and the district courts,

1-15     and the county clerk serves as the clerk in all other cases].  The

1-16     district clerk shall establish a separate docket for each county

1-17     court at law.  In matters of concurrent jurisdiction with the

1-18     district court, the district clerk shall [and] charge the same

1-19     fees as are allowed in district court cases, except that in cases

1-20     enumerated in Subsections (a)(2), (a)(3), and (a)(5), and in

1-21     misdemeanor cases other than those involving official misconduct,

1-22     the clerk may not charge higher fees than the fees charged by

1-23     county clerks for similar cases.

1-24           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and

1-25     applies only to cases filed in a county court at law on or after

1-26     the effective date of this Act.  A case filed before the effective

1-27     date of this Act is governed by the law in effect immediately

1-28     before this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that

1-29     purpose.

1-30           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

1-31     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

1-32     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

1-33     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

1-34     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.

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