1-1 By: Lucio S.B. No. 1193
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed March 10, 1999; March 11, 1999, read
1-3 first time and referred to Committee on Intergovernmental
1-4 Relations; April 12, 1999, reported adversely, with favorable
1-5 Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0;
1-6 April 12, 1999, sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1193 By: Lindsay
1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-9 AN ACT
1-10 relating to the fees imposed for the preservation and restoration
1-11 of certain county records and county courthouses.
1-12 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13 SECTION 1. (a) The legislature finds that:
1-14 (1) the deterioration of public documents in the
1-15 offices of the county clerks constitutes a threat to the integrity
1-16 and reliability of the existing system for preserving public
1-17 documents; and
1-18 (2) the deterioration of county courthouses threatens
1-19 the loss of or irreparable injury to an invaluable aspect of Texas
1-20 history and the preservation of these courthouses is necessary.
1-21 (b) The purpose of this Act is to impose a fee for filing
1-22 public documents in the offices of the county clerks beginning
1-23 September 1, 1999, and ending September 1, 2006, to provide funds
1-24 that will be used to preserve and restore county courthouses and
1-25 existing public documents filed in the offices of the county
1-26 clerks.
1-27 SECTION 2. Section 118.011, Local Government Code, is
1-28 amended by adding Subsections (e), (f), and (g) to read as follows:
1-29 (e) The county clerk shall, if the commissioners court of
1-30 the county adopts an order establishing the amount of the fee,
1-31 collect the following fee from any person:
1-32 (1) Records Archive Fee
1-33 (Sec. 118.0217) ................. not more than $5
1-34 (2) County Courthouse Restoration Fee
1-35 (Sec. 118.0218) ................. not more than $5
1-36 (f) The commissioners court of a county may not adopt an
1-37 order that establishes fees authorized under Subsection (e) that in
1-38 the aggregate are more than $7.50.
1-39 (g) This subsection and Subsections (e) and (f) expire on
1-40 September 1, 2006.
1-41 SECTION 3. Section 118.0216, Local Government Code, is
1-42 amended to read as follows:
1-43 Sec. 118.0216. RECORDS MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION.
1-44 (a) The fee for "Records Management and Preservation" under
1-45 Section 118.011 is for the records management and preservation
1-46 services performed by the county clerk after the filing and
1-47 recording of a document in the records of the office of the clerk.
1-48 (b) The fee must be paid at the time of the filing of the
1-49 document.
1-50 (c) The fee shall be deposited in a separate records
1-51 management account in the general fund of the county.
1-52 (d) The fee may be used only to provide funds for specific
1-53 records preservation and automation purposes [projects].
1-54 (e) The county clerk shall prepare an annual written plan
1-55 for funding the automation projects and records management services
1-56 performed by the clerk. After a public hearing, the plan shall be
1-57 considered for approval by the commissioners court. Funds from the
1-58 records management account may be expended only as provided by the
1-59 plan. All expenditures from the records management account shall
1-60 comply with the provisions of Subchapter C, Chapter 262.
1-61 SECTION 4. Subchapter B, Chapter 118, Local Government Code,
1-62 is amended by adding Sections 118.0217 and 118.0218 to read as
1-63 follows:
1-64 Sec. 118.0217. RECORDS ARCHIVE. (a) In this section:
2-1 (1) "Deterioration" means any naturally occurring
2-2 process or a natural disaster that results in the destruction or
2-3 partial destruction of a public document.
2-4 (2) "Preservation" means any process that:
2-5 (A) suspends or reduces the deterioration of
2-6 public documents; or
2-7 (B) provides public access to the public
2-8 documents in a manner that reduces the risk of deterioration,
2-9 excluding providing public access to public documents indexed
2-10 geographically.
2-11 (3) "Public document" means any instrument, document,
2-12 paper, or other record that the county clerk is authorized to
2-13 accept for filing or maintaining.
2-14 (4) "Records archive" means public documents filed
2-15 with the county clerk before January 1, 1990.
2-16 (5) "Restoration" means any process that permits the
2-17 visual enhancement of a public document, including making the
2-18 document more legible.
2-19 (b) The commissioners court of a county, by order, may adopt
2-20 a records archive fee under Section 118.011(e). The fee for
2-21 "Records Archive" under Section 118.011(e) is for the preservation
2-22 and restoration services performed by the county clerk in
2-23 connection with maintaining a county clerk's records archive.
2-24 (c) The fee must be paid at the time a person, excluding a
2-25 state agency, presents a public document to the county clerk for
2-26 recording or filing.
2-27 (d) The fee shall be deposited in a separate records archive
2-28 account in the general fund of the county.
2-29 (e) The funds generated from the collection of a fee under
2-30 this section may be expended only for the preservation and
2-31 restoration of the county clerk's records archive.
2-32 (f) The funds may not be used to purchase, lease, or develop
2-33 computer software to geographically index public records, excluding
2-34 indexing public records by lot and block description as provided by
2-35 Section 193.009(b)(4).
2-36 (g) The county clerk shall prepare an annual written plan
2-37 for funding the preservation and restoration of the county clerk's
2-38 records archive. After a public hearing, the plan shall be
2-39 considered for approval by the commissioners court. Funds from the
2-40 records archive account may be expended only as provided by the
2-41 plan. All expenditures from the records archive account shall
2-42 comply with the provisions of Subchapter C, Chapter 262.
2-43 (h) If a county charges a fee under this section, a notice
2-44 shall be posted in a conspicuous place in the county clerk's
2-45 office. The notice must state the amount of the fee in the
2-46 following form: "THE COMMISSIONERS COURT OF _______________ COUNTY
2-47 HAS DETERMINED THAT A RECORDS ARCHIVE FEE OF $________ IS NEEDED TO
2-48 PRESERVE AND RESTORE COUNTY RECORDS."
2-49 (i) The fee is subject to approval by the commissioners
2-50 court in a public meeting.
2-51 (j) Any excess funds generated from the collection of a fee
2-52 under this section remaining after completion of a county records
2-53 archive preservation and restoration project may be expended only
2-54 for the purposes described by Section 118.0216. The commissioners
2-55 court of a county may not order the collection of a fee authorized
2-56 by this section after the county records archive preservation and
2-57 restoration is complete.
2-58 (k) This section expires September 1, 2006.
2-59 Sec. 118.0218. COUNTY COURTHOUSE RESTORATION. (a) The
2-60 commissioners court of a county, by order, may adopt a county
2-61 courthouse restoration fee under Section 118.011(e). The fee for
2-62 "County Courthouse Restoration" under Section 118.011(e) is for the
2-63 preservation and restoration of the county courthouse of the county
2-64 in which the fee is collected.
2-65 (b) The fee must be paid at the time a person, excluding a
2-66 state agency, presents a public document, as defined in Section
2-67 118.0217, to the county clerk for recording or filing.
2-68 (c) The fee shall be deposited in a separate county
2-69 courthouse restoration account in the general fund of the county.
3-1 (d) The funds generated from the collection of a fee under
3-2 this section may be expended only for the preservation and
3-3 restoration of the county courthouse.
3-4 (e) The commissioners court shall prepare an annual written
3-5 plan for funding the preservation and restoration of the county
3-6 courthouse. After a public hearing, the plan shall be considered
3-7 for approval by the commissioners court. Funds from the county
3-8 courthouse restoration account may be expended only as provided by
3-9 the plan. All expenditures from the county courthouse restoration
3-10 account shall comply with the provisions of Subchapter C, Chapter
3-11 262.
3-12 (f) If a county charges a fee under this section, a notice
3-13 shall be posted in a conspicuous place in the county clerk's
3-14 office. The notice must state the amount of the fee in the
3-15 following form: "THE COMMISSIONERS COURT OF _______________ COUNTY
3-16 HAS DETERMINED THAT A COUNTY COURTHOUSE RESTORATION FEE OF
3-17 $________ IS NEEDED TO PRESERVE AND RESTORE THE COUNTY COURTHOUSE."
3-18 (g) The fee is subject to approval by the commissioners
3-19 court in a public meeting.
3-20 (h) This section expires September 1, 2006.
3-21 SECTION 5. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
3-22 The change in law made by this Act applies only to a public
3-23 document, as that term is defined by Section 118.0217, Local
3-24 Government Code, as added by this Act, that is presented for filing
3-25 on or after September 1, 1999.
3-26 (b) A public document, as that term is defined by Section
3-27 118.0217, Local Government Code, as added by this Act, that is
3-28 presented for filing before September 1, 1999, is governed by the
3-29 law in effect when the document was presented, and the former law
3-30 continues in effect for that purpose.
3-31 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
3-32 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-33 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-34 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-35 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
3-36 * * * * *