1-1     By:  Harris                                           S.B. No. 1366
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 11, 1999; March 15, 1999, read
 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on Jurisprudence;
 1-4     April 15, 1999, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
 1-5     Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 4, Nays 0; April 15, 1999,
 1-6     sent to printer.)
 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1366                  By:  Harris
 1-8                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-9                                   AN ACT
1-10     relating to court reporting.
1-11           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-12           SECTION 1.  Section 52.021, Government Code, is amended by
1-13     amending the heading and Subsections (b), (h), and (i) and adding
1-14     Subsection (j) to read as follows:
1-15           Sec. 52.021.  CERTIFICATION; ENFORCEMENT.
1-16           (b)  Except as provided by Subsection (d), a [A] person may
1-17     not engage in shorthand reporting in this state unless the person
1-18     is certified as a shorthand reporter by the supreme court and is:
1-19                 (1)  an official court reporter or deputy court
1-20     reporter of a court in this state;
1-21                 (2)  a self-employed freelance shorthand reporter; or
1-22                 (3)  an independent contractor for or employed by a
1-23     court reporting firm in which a majority of the ownership of the
1-24     firm is held by one or more persons who are:
1-25                       (A)  certified as shorthand reporters by the
1-26     supreme court; or
1-27                       (B)  related within the first degree of
1-28     consanguinity or affinity as determined under Subchapter B, Chapter
1-29     573, to a person who is certified as a shorthand reporter by the
1-30     supreme court.
1-31           (h)  A court reporting firm shall register with the board by:
1-32                 (1)  completing an application in a form adopted by the
1-33     board; and
1-34                 (2)  paying a reasonable fee as set by the board.
1-35           (i)  Rules applicable to a court reporter are also applicable
1-36     to a court reporting firm.
1-37           (j)  The board may enforce this chapter [subsection] by
1-38     assessing a [reasonable] fee not to exceed $5,000 against a court
1-39     reporter or a court reporting firm.
1-40           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
1-41           SECTION 3.  Subsection (j), Section 52.021, Government Code,
1-42     as added by this Act, applies only to a violation of Chapter 52,
1-43     Government Code, that occurs on or after September 1, 1999.  A
1-44     violation of Chapter 52, Government Code, that occurred before
1-45     September 1, 1999, is governed by the law in effect on the date the
1-46     violation occurred, and the former law is continued in effect for
1-47     that purpose.
1-48           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
1-49     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-50     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-51     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-52     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
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