By Carona S.B. No. 234
75R1099 MWV-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to a civil procedure for clearing or destroying certain
1-3 recorded documents.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subtitle A, Title 2, Civil Practice and Remedies
1-6 Code, is amended by adding Chapter 12 to read as follows:
1-7 CHAPTER 12. RECORDED DOCUMENTS
1-8 Sec. 12.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
1-9 (1) "Plaintiff" means a county or district clerk
1-10 seeking relief under this chapter.
1-11 (2) "Recorded document" means a document that has been
1-12 recorded with an agency or official of a local government, without
1-13 regard to whether the recording of the document is authorized by
1-14 law, including a document that purports to be:
1-15 (A) any type of lien; or
1-16 (B) recorded under Chapter 12, Property Code.
1-17 Sec. 12.002. CAUSE OF ACTION. (a) A plaintiff may bring an
1-18 action to obtain an order under Section 12.003.
1-19 (b) The court shall issue an order under Section 12.003 if
1-20 it is shown that the recorded document is:
1-21 (1) false; or
1-22 (2) not a document that may be recorded under law.
1-23 Sec. 12.003. COURT ORDER. If the court grants relief under
1-24 this chapter, it shall issue an order:
2-1 (1) identifying the recorded document;
2-2 (2) stating that the recorded document is false or not
2-3 a document that may be recorded under law, as appropriate; and
2-4 (3) requiring that:
2-5 (A) the court's order be recorded in the same
2-6 manner as the recorded document that is the subject of the order;
2-7 or
2-8 (B) the recorded document that is the subject of
2-9 the order be destroyed.
2-10 Sec. 12.004. DEFENDANT. The plaintiff shall name as
2-11 defendant to the action the person who caused the recorded document
2-12 to be recorded. If this person is unknown to the plaintiff,
2-13 citation may be made by publication as provided in the Texas Rules
2-14 of Civil Procedure.
2-15 Sec. 12.005. VENUE. An action under this chapter may be
2-16 brought in any justice, county, or district court in the county in
2-17 which the recorded document is recorded.
2-18 Sec. 12.006. FILING FEES. (a) The fee for filing an action
2-19 under this chapter is $1. The plaintiff must pay the fee to the
2-20 clerk of the court in which the action is filed. Except as
2-21 provided by Subsection (b), the plaintiff may not be assessed any
2-22 other fee, cost, charge, or expense by the clerk of the court or
2-23 other public official in connection with the action.
2-24 (b) The fee for service of notice of an action under this
2-25 section charged to the plaintiff may not exceed:
2-26 (1) $20 if the notice is delivered in person; or
2-27 (2) the cost of postage if the service is by
3-1 registered or certified mail.
3-2 (c) If the fee imposed under Subsection (a) is less than the
3-3 filing fee the court imposes for filing other similar actions and
3-4 the plaintiff prevails in the action, the court may order a
3-5 defendant to pay to the court the difference between the fee paid
3-6 under Subsection (a) and the filing fee the court imposes for
3-7 filing other similar actions.
3-8 Sec. 12.007. PLAINTIFF'S COSTS. (a) The court shall award
3-9 the plaintiff the costs of bringing the action if:
3-10 (1) the plaintiff prevails; and
3-11 (2) the court finds that the defendant, at the time
3-12 the defendant caused the recorded document to be recorded, knew or
3-13 should have known that the recorded document is:
3-14 (A) false; or
3-15 (B) not a document that may be recorded under
3-16 law.
3-17 (b) For purposes of this section, the costs of bringing the
3-18 action include all court costs, attorney's fees, and related
3-19 expenses of bringing the action, including investigative expenses.
3-20 Sec. 12.008. REPRESENTATION BY COUNTY ATTORNEY. The county
3-21 attorney shall represent a plaintiff in an action under this
3-22 chapter.
3-23 Sec. 12.009. EFFECT ON OTHER LAW. This law is cumulative of
3-24 other law under which a plaintiff may obtain judicial relief with
3-25 respect to a recorded document.
3-26 SECTION 2. Section 202.001(b), Local Government Code, is
3-27 amended to read as follows:
4-1 (b) The following records may be destroyed without meeting
4-2 the conditions of Subsection (a):
4-3 (1) records the destruction or obliteration of which
4-4 is directed by an expunction order issued by a [district] court
4-5 pursuant to state law; and
4-6 (2) records defined as exempt from scheduling or
4-7 filing requirements by rules adopted by the commission or listed as
4-8 exempt in a records retention schedule issued by the commission.
4-9 SECTION 3. An action for an order under Chapter 12, Civil
4-10 Practice and Remedies Code, as added by this Act, may be brought
4-11 with respect to a recorded document without regard to whether the
4-12 document was filed before, on, or after the effective date of this
4-13 Act.
4-14 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
4-15 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-16 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-17 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-18 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-19 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-20 passage, and it is so enacted.