SRC-SEW H.B. 1107 77(R)   BILL ANALYSIS


Senate Research Center   H.B. 1107
77R10360 MI-DBy: Hartnett (Cain)
Intergovernmental Relations
5/4/2001
Engrossed


DIGEST AND PURPOSE 

Under current law, commissioners courts are permitted to charge an
additional fee in each civil case filed in a county or district court,
other than a suit for delinquent taxes, to be deposited into a county law
library fund. The fund may be used only for the purposes of establishing
the law library, purchasing or leasing library materials, maintaining the
library, or acquiring furniture, shelving, or equipment for the library.
Counties with 30 or more district courts may have courts located in more
than one facility and providing legal research electronically may be a more
economical alternative to purchasing duplicate volumes of materials to be
used by many judges. H.B. 1107 authorizes counties with 30 or more district
courts to use the county law library fund for the purchase or lease of
library materials or acquiring library equipment, including computers,
software, and subscriptions to electronic research networks.  

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a
state officer, institution, or agency. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Section 323.023, Local Government Code, by amending
Subsection (b), adding a new Subsection (c), and relettering existing
Subsection (c) as Subsection (d), as follows: 
 
(b)  Authorizes the county law library fund to be used only for certain
purposes.  Makes nonsubstantive changes.  

(c)  Prohibits expenditures by a county under Subsection (b)(3) from
exceeding $175,000 each year.  Provides that any unexpended and unobligated
balance allocated by the county for Subsection (b)(3) purposes that remains
at the end of the county's fiscal year remains available for use for
Subsection (b)(3) purposes during subsequent fiscal years. 
 
  (d) Makes a nonsubstantive change.

SECTION 2.  Effective date: September 1, 2001.