By: Lucio S.B. No. 436 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT 1-1 relating to the preservation and restoration of certain public 1-2 documents filed with a county clerk. 1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-4 SECTION 1. (a) The legislature finds that the deterioration 1-5 of public documents in the offices of the county clerks constitutes 1-6 a threat to the integrity and reliability of the existing system 1-7 for preserving public documents. 1-8 (b) The purpose of this Act is to impose a fee for filing 1-9 public documents in the offices of the county clerks beginning 1-10 September 1, 1997, and ending September 1, 2004, to provide funds 1-11 that will be used to preserve and restore existing public documents 1-12 filed in the offices of the county clerks. 1-13 SECTION 2. Subsection (b), Section 118.011, Local Government 1-14 Code, is amended to read as follows: 1-15 (b) The county clerk may set and collect the following fee 1-16 from any person: 1-17 (1) Returned Check (Sec. 1-18 118.0215)....................... not less than $15 1-19 or more than $25 1-20 (2) Records Management and 1-21 Preservation Fee (Sec. 1-22 118.0216)........................ not more than $5 1-23 (3) Records Archive Fee (Sec. 2-1 118.0217)....................... not more than $10 2-2 SECTION 3. Section 118.0216, Local Government Code, is 2-3 amended to read as follows: 2-4 Sec. 118.0216. RECORDS MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION. 2-5 (a) The fee for "Records Management and Preservation" under 2-6 Section 118.011 is for the records management and preservation 2-7 services performed by the county clerk after the filing and 2-8 recording of a document in the records of the office of the clerk. 2-9 (b) The fee must be paid at the time of the filing of the 2-10 document. 2-11 (c) The fee may be used only to provide funds for specific 2-12 records preservation and automation projects. 2-13 (d) The county clerk shall prepare an annual written plan 2-14 for the fund for automation projects and records management and 2-15 preservation services performed by the clerk. After a public 2-16 hearing, the plan shall be considered for approval by the 2-17 commissioners court. Funds from the preservation and restoration 2-18 account shall only be expended in compliance with the plan. All 2-19 expenditures from the fund shall comply with the provisions of 2-20 Subchapter C, Chapter 262. 2-21 SECTION 4. Subchapter B, Chapter 118, Local Government Code, 2-22 is amended by adding Section 118.0217 to read as follows: 2-23 Sec. 118.0217. RECORDS ARCHIVE. (a) The fee for "Records 2-24 Archive" under Section 118.011 is for the preservation and 2-25 restoration services performed by the county clerk in connection 3-1 with maintaining a county clerk's records archive. 3-2 (b) The fee must be paid at the time a person, excluding a 3-3 state agency, presents a public document to the county clerk for 3-4 recording or filing. 3-5 (c) The fee shall be deposited to a separate account in the 3-6 county general fund. 3-7 (d) The funds generated from the collection of a fee under 3-8 this section may be expended only for the preservation and 3-9 restoration of the county clerk's records archive. 3-10 (e) The funds may not be used to purchase, lease, or develop 3-11 computer software to geographically index public records, excluding 3-12 indexing public records by lot and block description. 3-13 (f) The county clerk shall prepare an annual written plan 3-14 for the fund for the preservation and restoration of the county 3-15 clerk's records archive. After a public hearing, the plan shall be 3-16 considered for approval by the commissioners court. Funds from the 3-17 records archive account shall only be expended in compliance with 3-18 the plan. All expenditures from the fund shall comply with the 3-19 provisions of Subchapter C, Chapter 262. 3-20 (g) If a county charges a fee under this section, a notice 3-21 shall be posted in the county clerk's office. The notice shall be 3-22 posted in a conspicuous place and shall state the amount of the fee 3-23 in the following form: "THE COUNTY CLERK AND COMMISSIONERS COURT 3-24 OF _______________ COUNTY HAS DETERMINED THAT IN ADDITION TO A 3-25 RECORDS MANAGEMENT FEE OF $________, A RECORDS ARCHIVE FEE OF 4-1 $________ IS NEEDED TO PRESERVE AND RESTORE COUNTY RECORDS." 4-2 (h) The fee shall be subject to approval by the 4-3 commissioners court in a public meeting. 4-4 (i) Any excess funds generated from the collection of a fee 4-5 under this section remaining after completion of a county records 4-6 archive preservation and restoration project may be expended only 4-7 for the purposes described by Section 118.0216. The county clerk 4-8 may not collect the fee authorized by this section after the county 4-9 records archive preservation and restoration is complete. 4-10 (j) In this section: 4-11 (1) "Deterioration" means any naturally occurring 4-12 process or a natural disaster that results in the destruction or 4-13 partial destruction of a public document. 4-14 (2) "Preservation" means any process that: 4-15 (A) suspends or reduces the deterioration of 4-16 public documents; or 4-17 (B) provides public access to the public 4-18 documents in a manner that reduces the risk of deterioration, 4-19 excluding providing public access to public documents indexed 4-20 geographically. 4-21 (3) "Public document" means any instrument, document, 4-22 paper, or other record that the county clerk is authorized to 4-23 accept for filing or maintaining. 4-24 (4) "Records archive" means public documents filed 4-25 with the county clerk before January 1, 1990. 5-1 (5) "Restoration" means any process that permits the 5-2 visual enhancement of a public document, including making the 5-3 document more legible. 5-4 (k) This section expires September 1, 2004. 5-5 SECTION 5. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1997. 5-6 The change in law made by this Act applies only to a public 5-7 document, as that term is defined by Section 118.0217, Local 5-8 Government Code, as added by this Act, that is presented for filing 5-9 on or after September 1, 1997. 5-10 (b) A public document, as that term is defined by Section 5-11 118.0217, Local Government Code, as added by this Act, that is 5-12 presented for filing before September 1, 1997, is governed by the 5-13 law in effect when the document was presented, and the former law 5-14 continues in effect for that purpose. 5-15 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the 5-16 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an 5-17 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the 5-18 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several 5-19 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.