76R11195 JRD-D
By Solis of Bexar H.B. No. 2063
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2063:
By Edwards C.S.H.B. No. 2063
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to allowing local registrars and municipal clerks to
1-3 charge a records management and preservation fee.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 191.0045, Health and Safety Code, is
1-6 amended by amending Subsections (d) and (g) and adding Subsection
1-7 (h) to read as follows:
1-8 (d) A local registrar who issues a certified copy of a birth
1-9 or death certificate shall charge the same fees as charged by the
1-10 bureau of vital statistics, including the additional fee required
1-11 under Subsection (e), except as provided by Subsections
1-12 [Subsection] (g) and (h).
1-13 (g) A local registrar that on March 31, 1995, was charging a
1-14 fee for the issuance of a certified copy of a birth certificate
1-15 that exceeded the fee charged by the bureau of vital statistics for
1-16 the same type of certificate may continue to do so but shall not
1-17 raise this fee until the fee charged by the bureau exceeds the fee
1-18 charged by the local registrar, except as provided by Subsection
1-19 (h). A local registrar to which this subsection applies shall
1-20 charge the additional fee as required under Subsection (e) and may
1-21 charge the additional fee allowed under Subsection (h).
1-22 (h) In addition to other fees charged under this section, a
1-23 local registrar may charge a records management and preservation
1-24 fee not to exceed $1 for each copy or certified copy of a birth,
2-1 death, or fetal death record issued by the local registrar. The
2-2 fee may be used only to provide funds for the management and
2-3 preservation of birth, death, fetal death, and other vital
2-4 statistics records maintained by the local registrar. Fees
2-5 collected under this subsection by a county or precinct officer
2-6 shall be deposited to the credit of the records management and
2-7 preservation fund established under Section 203.003(6), Local
2-8 Government Code.
2-9 SECTION 2. Subtitle A, Title 6, Local Government Code, is
2-10 amended by adding Chapter 190 to read as follows:
2-11 CHAPTER 190. MISCELLANEOUS RECORDS
2-12 PROVISIONS AFFECTING MUNICIPALITIES
2-13 Sec. 190.001. RECORDS MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION FEE. In
2-14 addition to the amounts that a municipal clerk may charge for
2-15 providing a copy of a document under Subchapter F, Chapter 552,
2-16 Government Code, or under another law, a municipal clerk may charge
2-17 a records management and preservation fee as an additional fee in
2-18 an amount equal to five percent of the amount the clerk would
2-19 otherwise charge for the copy. Money received from the records
2-20 preservation fee may be used only for the management and
2-21 preservation of municipal records.
2-22 SECTION 3. Section 203.003, Local Government Code, is
2-23 amended to read as follows:
2-24 Sec. 203.003. DUTIES OF COMMISSIONERS COURT. The
2-25 commissioners court of each county shall:
2-26 (1) promote and support the efficient and economical
2-27 management of records of all elective offices in the county to
3-1 enable elected county officers to conform to this subtitle and
3-2 rules adopted under it;
3-3 (2) facilitate the creation and maintenance of records
3-4 containing adequate and proper documentation of the organization,
3-5 functions, policies, decisions, procedures, and essential
3-6 transactions of each elective office and designed to furnish the
3-7 information necessary to protect the legal and financial rights of
3-8 the local government, the state, and the persons affected by the
3-9 activities of the local government;
3-10 (3) facilitate the identification and preservation of
3-11 the records of elective offices that are of permanent value;
3-12 (4) facilitate the identification and protection of
3-13 the essential records of elective offices;
3-14 (5) establish a county clerk records management and
3-15 preservation fund for fees subject to Section 118.0216 and approve
3-16 in advance any expenditures from the fund; and
3-17 (6) establish a records management and preservation
3-18 fund for the records management and preservation fees authorized
3-19 under Sections 118.052, 118.0546, and 118.0645, Section 51.317,
3-20 Government Code, [and] Article 102.005(d), Code of Criminal
3-21 Procedure, and Section 191.0045(h), Health and Safety Code, to the
3-22 extent Section 191.0045(h) relates to the collection of fees by
3-23 county and precinct officers, and approve in advance any
3-24 expenditures from the fund, which may be spent only for records
3-25 management preservation or automation purposes in the county.
3-26 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
3-27 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
4-1 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-2 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-3 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-4 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.