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.