By: Lucio S.B. No. 1193
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the fees imposed for the preservation and restoration
1-2 of certain county records and county courthouses.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. (a) The legislature finds that:
1-5 (1) the deterioration of public documents in the
1-6 offices of the county clerks constitutes a threat to the integrity
1-7 and reliability of the existing system for preserving public
1-8 documents; and
1-9 (2) the deterioration of county courthouses threatens
1-10 the loss of or irreparable injury to an invaluable aspect of Texas
1-11 history and the preservation of these courthouses is necessary.
1-12 (b) The purpose of this Act is to impose a fee for filing
1-13 public documents in the offices of the county clerks beginning
1-14 September 1, 1999, and ending September 1, 2006, to provide funds
1-15 that will be used to preserve and restore county courthouses and
1-16 existing public documents filed in the offices of the county
1-17 clerks.
1-18 SECTION 2. Section 118.011, Local Government Code, is
1-19 amended by adding Subsections (e), (f), and (g) to read as follows:
1-20 (e) The county clerk shall, if the commissioners court of
1-21 the county adopts an order establishing the amount of the fee,
1-22 collect the following fee from any person:
1-23 (1) Records Archive Fee
1-24 (Sec. 118.0217) ................. not more than $5
2-1 (2) County Courthouse Restoration Fee
2-2 (Sec. 118.0218) ................. not more than $5
2-3 (f) The commissioners court of a county may not adopt an
2-4 order that establishes fees authorized under Subsection (e) that in
2-5 the aggregate are more than $7.50.
2-6 (g) This subsection and Subsections (e) and (f) expire on
2-7 September 1, 2006.
2-8 SECTION 3. Section 118.0216, Local Government Code, is
2-9 amended to read as follows:
2-10 Sec. 118.0216. RECORDS MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION.
2-11 (a) The fee for "Records Management and Preservation" under
2-12 Section 118.011 is for the records management and preservation
2-13 services performed by the county clerk after the filing and
2-14 recording of a document in the records of the office of the clerk.
2-15 (b) The fee must be paid at the time of the filing of the
2-16 document.
2-17 (c) The fee shall be deposited in a separate records
2-18 management account in the general fund of the county.
2-19 (d) The fee may be used only to provide funds for specific
2-20 records preservation and automation purposes [projects].
2-21 (e) The county clerk shall prepare an annual written plan
2-22 for funding the automation projects and records management services
2-23 performed by the clerk. After a public hearing, the plan shall be
2-24 considered for approval by the commissioners court. Funds from the
2-25 records management account may be expended only as provided by the
2-26 plan. All expenditures from the records management account shall
3-1 comply with the provisions of Subchapter C, Chapter 262.
3-2 SECTION 4. Subchapter B, Chapter 118, Local Government Code,
3-3 is amended by adding Sections 118.0217 and 118.0218 to read as
3-4 follows:
3-5 Sec. 118.0217. RECORDS ARCHIVE. (a) In this section:
3-6 (1) "Deterioration" means any naturally occurring
3-7 process or a natural disaster that results in the destruction or
3-8 partial destruction of a public document.
3-9 (2) "Preservation" means any process that:
3-10 (A) suspends or reduces the deterioration of
3-11 public documents; or
3-12 (B) provides public access to the public
3-13 documents in a manner that reduces the risk of deterioration,
3-14 excluding providing public access to public documents indexed
3-15 geographically.
3-16 (3) "Public document" means any instrument, document,
3-17 paper, or other record that the county clerk is authorized to
3-18 accept for filing or maintaining.
3-19 (4) "Records archive" means public documents filed
3-20 with the county clerk before January 1, 1990.
3-21 (5) "Restoration" means any process that permits the
3-22 visual enhancement of a public document, including making the
3-23 document more legible.
3-24 (b) The commissioners court of a county, by order, may adopt
3-25 a records archive fee under Section 118.011(e). The fee for
3-26 "Records Archive" under Section 118.011(e) is for the preservation
4-1 and restoration services performed by the county clerk in
4-2 connection with maintaining a county clerk's 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 COMMISSIONERS COURT OF _______________ COUNTY
4-26 HAS DETERMINED THAT A RECORDS ARCHIVE FEE OF $________ IS NEEDED TO
5-1 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 commissioners
5-8 court of a county may not order the collection of a fee authorized
5-9 by this section after the county records archive preservation and
5-10 restoration is complete.
5-11 (k) This section expires September 1, 2006.
5-12 Sec. 118.0218. COUNTY COURTHOUSE RESTORATION. (a) The
5-13 commissioners court of a county, by order, may adopt a county
5-14 courthouse restoration fee under Section 118.011(e). The fee for
5-15 "County Courthouse Restoration" under Section 118.011(e) is for the
5-16 preservation and restoration of the county courthouse of the county
5-17 in which the fee is collected.
5-18 (b) The fee must be paid at the time a person, excluding a
5-19 state agency, presents a public document, as defined in Section
5-20 118.0217, to the county clerk for recording or filing.
5-21 (c) The fee shall be deposited in a separate county
5-22 courthouse restoration account in the general fund of the county.
5-23 (d) The funds generated from the collection of a fee under
5-24 this section may be expended only for the preservation and
5-25 restoration of the county courthouse.
5-26 (e) The commissioners court shall prepare an annual written
6-1 plan for funding the preservation and restoration of the county
6-2 courthouse. After a public hearing, the plan shall be considered
6-3 for approval by the commissioners court. Funds from the county
6-4 courthouse restoration account may be expended only as provided by
6-5 the plan. All expenditures from the county courthouse restoration
6-6 account shall comply with the provisions of Subchapter C, Chapter
6-7 262.
6-8 (f) If a county charges a fee under this section, a notice
6-9 shall be posted in a conspicuous place in the county clerk's
6-10 office. The notice must state the amount of the fee in the
6-11 following form: "THE COMMISSIONERS COURT OF _______________ COUNTY
6-12 HAS DETERMINED THAT A COUNTY COURTHOUSE RESTORATION FEE OF
6-13 $________ IS NEEDED TO PRESERVE AND RESTORE THE COUNTY COURTHOUSE."
6-14 (g) The fee is subject to approval by the commissioners
6-15 court in a public meeting.
6-16 (h) This section expires September 1, 2006.
6-17 SECTION 5. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
6-18 The change in law made by this Act applies only to a public
6-19 document, as that term is defined by Section 118.0217, Local
6-20 Government Code, as added by this Act, that is presented for filing
6-21 on or after September 1, 1999.
6-22 (b) A public document, as that term is defined by Section
6-23 118.0217, Local Government Code, as added by this Act, that is
6-24 presented for filing before September 1, 1999, is governed by the
6-25 law in effect when the document was presented, and the former law
6-26 continues in effect for that purpose.
7-1 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
7-2 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
7-3 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
7-4 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-5 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.