By:  Harris                                           S.B. No. 1366
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
                                       AN ACT
 1-1     relating to court reporting.
 1-2           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-3           SECTION 1.  Section 52.021, Government Code, is amended by
 1-4     amending the heading and Subsections (b), (h), and (i) and adding
 1-5     Subsection (j) to read as follows:
 1-6           Sec. 52.021.  CERTIFICATION; ENFORCEMENT.
 1-7           (b)(1)  Except as provided by Subsection (d), a [A] person
 1-8     may not engage in shorthand reporting in this state unless the
 1-9     person is certified as a shorthand reporter by the supreme court
1-10     and is:
1-11                       (A)  an official court reporter or deputy court
1-12     reporter of a court in this state;
1-13                       (B)  a self-employed freelance shorthand
1-14     reporter;
1-15                       (C)  an independent contractor for or employed by
1-16     a court reporting firm in which a majority of the ownership of the
1-17     firm is held by one or more persons who are:
1-18                             (i)  certified as shorthand reporters by
1-19     the supreme court; or
1-20                             (ii)  related within the first degree of
1-21     consanguinity or affinity as determined under Subchapter B, Chapter
1-22     573, to a person who is certified as a shorthand reporter by the
1-23     supreme court; or
1-24                       (D)  An independent contractor for or is employed
 2-1     by a court reporting firm owned by an attorney licensed in this
 2-2     state who is a member in good standing of the State Bar of Texas.
 2-3                 (2)  Subdivision (1)(C) does not apply to a court
 2-4     reporting firm the current owner of which is not a certified
 2-5     shorthand reporter and has continuously owned that firm as an
 2-6     ongoing court reporting business in Texas for five years or more at
 2-7     the time this Act takes effect.
 2-8           (h)  A court reporting firm shall register with the board by:
 2-9                 (1)  completing an application in a form adopted by the
2-10     board; and
2-11                 (2)  paying a reasonable fee as set by the board.
2-12           (i)  Rules applicable to a court reporter are also applicable
2-13     to a court reporting firm.
2-14           (j)  The board may enforce this chapter [subsection] by
2-15     assessing a [reasonable] fee not to exceed $5,000 against a court
2-16     reporter or a court reporting firm.
2-17           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-18           SECTION 3.  Subsection (j), Section 52.021, Government Code,
2-19     as added by this Act, applies only to a violation of Chapter 52,
2-20     Government Code, that occurs on or after September 1, 1999.  A
2-21     violation of Chapter 52, Government Code, that occurred before
2-22     September 1, 1999, is governed by the law in effect on the date the
2-23     violation occurred, and the former law is continued in effect for
2-24     that purpose.
2-25           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-26     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
 3-1     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
 3-2     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
 3-3     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.