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.