1-1     By:  Lucio                                             S.B. No. 436

 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed February 5, 1997; February 6, 1997,

 1-3     read first time and referred to Committee on Intergovernmental

 1-4     Relations; March 24, 1997, reported adversely, with favorable

 1-5     Committee Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 10, Nays 1;

 1-6     March 24, 1997, sent to printer.)

 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 436                    By:  Lucio

 1-8                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-9                                   AN ACT

1-10     relating to the preservation and restoration of certain public

1-11     documents filed with a county clerk.

1-12           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

1-13           SECTION 1.  (a)  The legislature finds that the deterioration

1-14     of public documents in the offices of the county clerks constitutes

1-15     a threat to the integrity and reliability of the existing system

1-16     for preserving public documents.

1-17           (b)  The purpose of this Act is to impose a fee for filing

1-18     public documents in the offices of the county clerks beginning

1-19     September 1, 1997, and ending September 1, 2004, to provide funds

1-20     that will be used to preserve and restore existing public documents

1-21     filed in the offices of the county clerks.

1-22           SECTION 2.  Subsection (b), Section 118.011, Local Government

1-23     Code, is amended to read as follows:

1-24           (b)  The county clerk may set and collect the following fee

1-25     from any person:

1-26                 (1)  Returned Check (Sec.

1-27                      118.0215)....................... not less than $15

1-28                                                        or more than $25

1-29                 (2)  Records Management and

1-30                      Preservation Fee (Sec.

1-31                      118.0216)........................ not more than $5

1-32                 (3)  Records Archive Fee (Sec.

1-33                      118.0217)....................... not more than $10

1-34           SECTION 3.  Section 118.0216, Local Government Code, is

1-35     amended to read as follows:

1-36           Sec. 118.0216.  RECORDS MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION. (a)  The

1-37     fee for "Records Management and Preservation" under Section 118.011

1-38     is for the records management and preservation services performed

1-39     by the county clerk after the filing and recording of a document in

1-40     the records of the office of the clerk.

1-41           (b)  The fee must be paid at the time of the filing of the

1-42     document.

1-43           (c)  The fee may be used only to provide funds for specific

1-44     records preservation and automation projects.

1-45           (d)  The fee may not be used to provide funds for any item

1-46     that, regardless of whether the fee is collected by the county

1-47     clerk, would be included in the budget for the county clerk's

1-48     office, unless the commissioners court makes a written finding

1-49     explaining the necessity for additional funds for the item to

1-50     accomplish specific preservation and automation projects.

1-51           SECTION 4.  Subchapter B, Chapter 118, Local Government Code,

1-52     is amended by adding Section 118.0217 to read as follows:

1-53           Sec. 118.0217.  RECORDS ARCHIVE.  (a)  The fee for "Records

1-54     Archive" under Section 118.011 is for the preservation and

1-55     restoration services performed by the county clerk in connection

1-56     with maintaining a county records archive.

1-57           (b)  The fee must be paid at the time a person, excluding a

1-58     state agency, presents a public document to the county clerk for

1-59     recording or filing.

1-60           (c)  The fee shall be deposited to a separate account in the

1-61     county general fund.

1-62           (d)  The funds generated from the collection of a fee under

1-63     this section may be expended only for the preservation and

1-64     restoration of the county records archive.

 2-1           (e)  The funds may not be used to:

 2-2                 (1)  purchase, lease, or develop computer software to

 2-3     geographically index public records, excluding indexing public

 2-4     records by lot and block description; or

 2-5                 (2)  provide funds for any item that, regardless of

 2-6     whether the fee is collected by the county clerk, would be included

 2-7     in the budget for the county clerk's office, unless the

 2-8     commissioners court makes a written finding explaining the

 2-9     necessity for additional funds for the item to accomplish specific

2-10     preservation and restoration projects.

2-11           (f)  Any excess funds generated from the collection of a fee

2-12     under this section remaining after completion of a county records

2-13     archive preservation and restoration project may be expended only

2-14     for the purposes described by Section 118.0216.  The county clerk

2-15     may not collect the fee authorized by this section after the county

2-16     records archive preservation and restoration is complete.

2-17           (g)  In this section:

2-18                 (1)  "Deterioration" means any naturally occurring

2-19     process or a natural disaster that results in the destruction or

2-20     partial destruction of a public document.

2-21                 (2)  "Preservation" means any process that:

2-22                       (A)  suspends or reduces the deterioration of

2-23     public documents; or

2-24                       (B)  provides public access to the public

2-25     documents in a manner that reduces the risk of deterioration,

2-26     excluding providing public access to public documents indexed

2-27     geographically.

2-28                 (3)  "Public document" means any instrument, document,

2-29     paper, or other record that the county clerk is authorized to

2-30     accept for filing or maintaining.

2-31                 (4)  "Records archive" means public documents filed

2-32     with the county clerk before January 1, 1990.

2-33                 (5)  "Restoration" means any process that permits the

2-34     visual enhancement of a public document, including making the

2-35     document more legible.

2-36           (h)  This section expires September 1, 2004.

2-37           SECTION 5.  (a)  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

2-38     The change in law made by this Act applies only to a public

2-39     document, as that term is defined by Section 118.0217, Local

2-40     Government Code, as added by this Act, that is presented for filing

2-41     on or after September 1, 1997.

2-42           (b)  A public document, as that term is defined by Section

2-43     118.0217, Local Government Code, as added by this Act, that is

2-44     presented for filing before September 1, 1997, is governed by the

2-45     law in effect when the document was presented, and the former law

2-46     continues in effect for that purpose.

2-47           SECTION 6.  The importance of this legislation and the

2-48     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

2-49     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

2-50     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

2-51     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.

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