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.