HBA-LCA H.B. 2822 76(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2822
By: Deshotel
Judicial Affairs
4/22/1999
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

While the fee schedules of criminal and civil courts have been updated to a
flat-fee system, probate courts, under current law, must still use a
scaled-fee system.  Scaled fees may cause unnecessary  
additional cost to the offices of probate clerks, and are less efficient to
administer than flat fees. 

H.B. 2822 updates the Local Government Code to provide that, consistent
with criminal and civil courts, a probate court may administer a flat fee
schedule. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Section 118.052, Local Government Code, as follows:

Sec. 118.052.  FEE SCHEDULE.  Increases certain fees a county clerk must
collect for services rendered relating to probate original action.
Eliminates certain fees for services rendered relating to a pending probate
action.   

SECTION 2.  Amends Section 118.056, Local Government Code, by deleting
Sections (a) and (b), regarding fees for services in pending probate action
and the fee for filing a document. Requires that each fee under Section
118.052(2)(B) is be paid in cash.   

SECTION 3.  Effective date: September 1, 1999.

SECTION 4.  Emergency clause.