By Goolsby H.B. No. 1599
76R5735 CAG-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the fees imposed for the preservation and restoration
1-3 of certain county records and county courthouses.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. (a) The legislature finds that:
1-6 (1) the deterioration of public documents in the
1-7 offices of the county clerks constitutes a threat to the integrity
1-8 and reliability of the existing system for preserving public
1-9 documents; and
1-10 (2) the deterioration of county courthouses threatens
1-11 the loss of or irreparable injury to an invaluable aspect of Texas
1-12 history and the preservation of these courthouses is necessary.
1-13 (b) The purpose of this Act is to impose a fee for filing
1-14 public documents in the offices of the county clerks beginning
1-15 September 1, 1999, and ending September 1, 2006, to provide funds
1-16 that will be used to preserve and restore county courthouses and
1-17 existing public documents filed in the offices of the county
1-18 clerks.
1-19 SECTION 2. Section 118.011(b), Local Government Code, is
1-20 amended to read as follows:
1-21 (b) The county clerk may set and collect the following fee
1-22 from any person:
1-23 (1) Returned Check (Sec.
1-24 118.0215)....................... not less than $15
2-1 or more than $25
2-2 (2) Records Management and
2-3 Preservation Fee (Sec.
2-4 118.0216)........................ not more than $5
2-5 (3) Records Archive Fee (Sec.
2-6 118.0217)..................... not more than $7.50
2-7 (4) County Courthouse Restoration
2-8 Fee (Sec. 118.0218)........... not more than $7.50
2-9 SECTION 3. Section 118.0216, Local Government Code, is
2-10 amended to read as follows:
2-11 Sec. 118.0216. RECORDS MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION.
2-12 (a) The fee for "Records Management and Preservation" under
2-13 Section 118.011 is for the records management and preservation
2-14 services performed by the county clerk after the filing and
2-15 recording of a document in the records of the office of the clerk.
2-16 (b) The fee must be paid at the time of the filing of the
2-17 document.
2-18 (c) The fee shall be deposited in a separate records
2-19 management and preservation account in the general fund of the
2-20 county.
2-21 (d) The fee may be used only to provide funds for specific
2-22 records preservation and automation projects.
2-23 (e) The county clerk shall prepare an annual written plan
2-24 for funding the automation projects and records management and
2-25 preservation services performed by the clerk. After a public
2-26 hearing, the plan shall be considered for approval by the
2-27 commissioners court. Funds from the preservation and restoration
3-1 account may be expended only as provided by the plan. All
3-2 expenditures from the preservation and restoration account shall
3-3 comply with the provisions of Subchapter C, Chapter 262.
3-4 SECTION 4. Subchapter B, Chapter 118, Local Government Code,
3-5 is amended by adding Sections 118.0217 and 118.0218 to read as
3-6 follows:
3-7 Sec. 118.0217. RECORDS ARCHIVE. (a) In this section:
3-8 (1) "Deterioration" means any naturally occurring
3-9 process or a natural disaster that results in the destruction or
3-10 partial destruction of a public document.
3-11 (2) "Preservation" means any process that:
3-12 (A) suspends or reduces the deterioration of
3-13 public documents; or
3-14 (B) provides public access to the public
3-15 documents in a manner that reduces the risk of deterioration,
3-16 excluding providing public access to public documents indexed
3-17 geographically.
3-18 (3) "Public document" means any instrument, document,
3-19 paper, or other record that the county clerk is authorized to
3-20 accept for filing or maintaining.
3-21 (4) "Records archive" means public documents filed
3-22 with the county clerk before January 1, 1990.
3-23 (5) "Restoration" means any process that permits the
3-24 visual enhancement of a public document, including making the
3-25 document more legible.
3-26 (b) The fee for "Records Archive" under Section 118.011 is
3-27 for the preservation and restoration services performed by the
4-1 county clerk in connection with maintaining a county clerk's
4-2 records archive.
4-3 (c) The fee must be paid at the time a person, excluding a
4-4 state agency, presents a public document to the county clerk for
4-5 recording or filing.
4-6 (d) The fee shall be deposited in a separate records archive
4-7 account in the general fund of the county.
4-8 (e) The funds generated from the collection of a fee under
4-9 this section may be expended only for the preservation and
4-10 restoration of the county clerk's records archive.
4-11 (f) The funds may not be used to purchase, lease, or develop
4-12 computer software to geographically index public records, excluding
4-13 indexing public records by lot and block description as provided by
4-14 Section 193.009(b)(4).
4-15 (g) The county clerk shall prepare an annual written plan
4-16 for funding the preservation and restoration of the county clerk's
4-17 records archive. After a public hearing, the plan shall be
4-18 considered for approval by the commissioners court. Funds from the
4-19 records archive account may be expended only as provided by the
4-20 plan. All expenditures from the records archive account shall
4-21 comply with the provisions of Subchapter C, Chapter 262.
4-22 (h) If a county charges a fee under this section, a notice
4-23 shall be posted in a conspicuous place in the county clerk's
4-24 office. The notice must state the amount of the fee in the
4-25 following form: "THE COUNTY CLERK AND COMMISSIONERS COURT OF
4-26 _______________ COUNTY HAVE DETERMINED THAT IN ADDITION TO A
4-27 RECORDS MANAGEMENT FEE OF $________, A RECORDS ARCHIVE FEE OF
5-1 $________ IS NEEDED TO PRESERVE AND RESTORE COUNTY RECORDS."
5-2 (i) The fee is subject to approval by the commissioners
5-3 court in a public meeting.
5-4 (j) Any excess funds generated from the collection of a fee
5-5 under this section remaining after completion of a county records
5-6 archive preservation and restoration project may be expended only
5-7 for the purposes described by Section 118.0216. The county clerk
5-8 may not collect the fee authorized by this section after the county
5-9 records archive preservation and restoration is complete.
5-10 (k) This section expires September 1, 2006.
5-11 Sec. 118.0218. COUNTY COURTHOUSE RESTORATION. (a) The fee
5-12 for "County Courthouse Restoration" under Section 118.011 is for
5-13 the preservation and restoration of the county courthouse of the
5-14 county in which the fee is collected.
5-15 (b) The fee must be paid at the time a person, excluding a
5-16 state agency, presents a public document, as defined in Section
5-17 118.0217, to the county clerk for recording or filing.
5-18 (c) The fee shall be deposited in a separate county
5-19 courthouse restoration account in the general fund of the county.
5-20 (d) The funds generated from the collection of a fee under
5-21 this section may be expended only for the preservation and
5-22 restoration of the county courthouse.
5-23 (e) The commissioners court shall prepare an annual written
5-24 plan for funding the preservation and restoration of the county
5-25 courthouse. After a public hearing, the plan shall be considered
5-26 for approval by the commissioners court. Funds from the county
5-27 courthouse restoration account may be expended only as provided by
6-1 the plan. All expenditures from the county courthouse restoration
6-2 account shall comply with the provisions of Subchapter C, Chapter
6-3 262.
6-4 (f) If a county charges a fee under this section, a notice
6-5 shall be posted in a conspicuous place in the county clerk's
6-6 office. The notice must state the amount of the fee in the
6-7 following form: "THE COUNTY CLERK AND COMMISSIONERS COURT OF
6-8 _______________ COUNTY HAVE DETERMINED THAT A COUNTY COURTHOUSE
6-9 RESTORATION FEE OF $________ IS NEEDED TO PRESERVE AND RESTORE THE
6-10 COUNTY COURTHOUSE."
6-11 (g) The fee is subject to approval by the commissioners
6-12 court in a public meeting.
6-13 (h) This section expires September 1, 2006.
6-14 SECTION 5. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
6-15 The change in law made by this Act applies only to a public
6-16 document, as that term is defined by Section 118.0217, Local
6-17 Government Code, as added by this Act, that is presented for filing
6-18 on or after September 1, 1999.
6-19 (b) A public document, as that term is defined by Section
6-20 118.0217, Local Government Code, as added by this Act, that is
6-21 presented for filing before September 1, 1999, is governed by the
6-22 law in effect when the document was presented, and the former law
6-23 continues in effect for that purpose.
6-24 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
6-25 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-26 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-27 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-1 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.