1-1     By:  Reyna of Bexar (Senate Sponsor - Wentworth)       H.B. No. 918
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House May 10, 1999;
 1-3     May 10, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on
 1-4     Jurisprudence; May 14, 1999, reported favorably, as amended, by the
 1-5     following vote:  Yeas 3, Nays 0; May 14, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6     COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1                               By:  Harris
 1-7     On page 1, between lines 49 and 50 insert the section below and
 1-8     renumber the following sections accordingly:
 1-9           SECTION 3.  Section 51.803 is amended by amending Subsection
1-10     (b) to read as follows:
1-11           (b)  An instrument may only be filed as provided by this
1-12     subchapter if the district, county, or court of appeals has
1-13     established a system for receiving electronically transmitted
1-14     information from an electronic copying device, and the system has
1-15     been approved by the Supreme Court.  A district or county court may
1-16     not mandate electronic filing as a sole means of filing documents
1-17     in lawsuits.  A district or county clerk or clerk of a court of
1-18     appeals who believes there is justification for use of an
1-19     electronic filing system in the clerk's office must request
1-20     approval of the system from the supreme court.  The supreme court
1-21     shall approve or disapprove the system and may withdraw approval
1-22     any time the system does not meet its requirements.
1-23                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-24                                   AN ACT
1-25     relating to the copies prepared by a district or county clerk of
1-26     certain court records.
1-27           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-28           SECTION 1.  Subchapter C, Chapter 118, Local Government Code,
1-29     is amended by adding Section 118.0526 to read as follows:
1-30           Sec. 118.0526.  COPIES OF COURT RECORDS PRESERVED ONLY ON
1-31     MICROFILM OR BY ELECTRONIC METHOD.  (a)  On the written request of
1-32     a party in an action, the clerk of a county court shall provide the
1-33     court with a copy of a motion, order, or other pleading in the
1-34     action that is preserved only on microfilm or by other electronic
1-35     means.  The request must specify the document sought and the
1-36     approximate date that the document was filed.
1-37           (b)  The county clerk may not charge a fee for a copy made
1-38     under this section.
1-39           SECTION 2.  Subchapter D, Chapter 51, Government Code, is
1-40     amended by adding Section 51.3195 to read as follows:
1-41           Sec. 51.3195.  COPIES OF COURT RECORDS PRESERVED ONLY ON
1-42     MICROFILM OR BY ELECTRONIC METHOD.  (a)  On the written request of
1-43     a party in an action, the district clerk shall provide the court
1-44     with a copy of a motion, order, or other pleading in the action
1-45     that is preserved only on microfilm or by other electronic means.
1-46     The request must specify the document sought and the approximate
1-47     date that the document was filed.
1-48           (b)  The district clerk may not charge a fee for a copy made
1-49     under this section.
1-50           SECTION 3.   This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
1-51           SECTION 4.   The importance of this legislation and the
1-52     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-53     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-54     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-55     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
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