SRC-SEW H.B. 2873 77(R)   BILL ANALYSIS


Senate Research Center   H.B. 2873
77R7100 SMJ-DBy: Uher (Armbrister)
Intergovernmental Relations
5/4/2001
Engrossed


DIGEST AND PURPOSE 

Under current law, a county or district clerk is authorized to charge a fee
of $1 per page for copies of public records maintained in a paper format or
reproduced in a paper format. The law does not establish a clear fee for
non-paper copies of records maintained in non-paper format, such as
microfilm or an electronic format, since these documents may or may not
consist of a number of pages. Many county and district clerks store or
record public records in non-paper formats and are asked to produce copies
of these records in various forms. For these reasons fees for copies of
public records vary throughout the state. H.B. 2873 standardizes the fees
charged for copies of public records produced in paper or other formats.  

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 552.265, Government Code, as follows:
 
Sec. 552.265.  New heading:  CHARGE FOR PAPER COPY PROVIDED BY DISTRICT OR
COUNTY CLERK.  Requires the charge for providing a paper copy made by a
district or county clerk's office to be the charge provided by Chapter 51
(Clerks) of this code, Chapter 118 (Fees Charged by County Officers), Local
Government Code, or other applicable law. 

SECTION 2.  Amends Section 118.011, Local Government Code, by adding
Subsection (e), to require a county clerk who provides a copy in a format
other than paper of a record maintained by the clerk to provide the copy
and charge a fee in accordance with Sections 552.231 (Responding to
Requests for Information That Require Programming or Manipulation of Data)
and 552.262 (Rules of the General Services Commission), Government Code. 

SECTION 3.  Effective date: upon passage or September 1, 2001.