By Allen                                               H.B. No. 262
         76R2091 GWK-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the payment of fees and costs by an inmate who has
 1-3     filed a frivolous lawsuit.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Sections 14.006(c) and (e), Civil Practice and
 1-6     Remedies Code, are amended to read as follows:
 1-7           (c)  In each month following the month in which payment is
 1-8     made under Subsection (b), the inmate shall pay an amount equal to
 1-9     the lesser of:
1-10                 (1)  20 [10] percent of  that month's deposits to the
1-11     trust account; or
1-12                 (2)  the total amount of court fees and costs that
1-13     remain unpaid.
1-14           (e)  On receipt of a copy of an order issued under Subsection
1-15     (a), the department or jail shall withdraw money from the trust
1-16     account in accordance with Subsections (b), (c), and (d).  The
1-17     department or jail shall hold the money in a separate account and
1-18     shall forward the money to the court clerk once each calendar
1-19     quarter [on the earlier of the following dates:]
1-20                 [(1)  the date the total amount to be forwarded equals
1-21     the total amount of court fees and costs that remains unpaid; or]
1-22                 [(2)  the date the inmate is released].
1-23           SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act to Section
1-24     14.006(c), Civil Practice and Remedies Code, applies to a monthly
 2-1     payment made by a prisoner during the month of October 1999 and
 2-2     each subsequent month.
 2-3           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
 2-4           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
 2-5     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
 2-6     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
 2-7     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
 2-8     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.