1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the fees imposed by certain counties for the
1-3 preservation, restoration, and management of certain county
1-4 records.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. (a) The legislature finds that the deterioration
1-7 of public documents in the offices of the county clerks constitutes
1-8 a threat to the integrity and reliability of the existing system
1-9 for preserving public documents.
1-10 (b) The purpose of this Act is to impose a fee for filing
1-11 public documents in the offices of the county clerks of counties
1-12 adjacent to an international boundary beginning September 1, 2001,
1-13 and ending September 1, 2008, to provide funds that will be used to
1-14 preserve existing public documents filed in the offices of the
1-15 county clerks of counties adjacent to an international boundary.
1-16 SECTION 2. Section 118.011, Local Government Code, is amended
1-17 by adding Subsections (e) and (f) to read as follows:
1-18 (e) The county clerk of a county adjacent to an
1-19 international boundary shall, if the commissioners court of the
1-20 county adopts the fee as part of the county's annual budget,
1-21 collect the following fee from any person:
1-22 Records Archive Fee
1-23 (Sec. 118.025) .................. not more than $5
1-24 (f) This subsection and Subsection (e) expire on September
2-1 1, 2008.
2-2 SECTION 3. Section 118.0216, Local Government Code, is
2-3 amended to read as follows:
2-4 Sec. 118.0216. RECORDS MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION. (a) The
2-5 fee for "Records Management and Preservation" under Section 118.011
2-6 is for the records management and preservation services performed
2-7 by the county clerk after the filing and recording of a document in
2-8 the records of the office of the clerk.
2-9 (b) The fee must be paid at the time of the filing of the
2-10 document.
2-11 (c) In a county that is adjacent to an international
2-12 boundary, the fee shall be deposited in a separate records
2-13 management and preservation account in the general fund of the
2-14 county.
2-15 (d) The fee may be used only to provide funds for specific
2-16 records management and preservation, including for [and] automation
2-17 purposes [projects].
2-18 (e) In a county that is adjacent to an international
2-19 boundary, the county clerk shall prepare an annual written plan for
2-20 funding the automation projects and records management and
2-21 preservation services performed by the clerk. After a public
2-22 hearing, the plan shall be considered for approval by the
2-23 commissioners court. Funds from the records management and
2-24 preservation account may be expended only as provided by the plan.
2-25 All expenditures from the records management and preservation
2-26 account shall comply with Subchapter C, Chapter 262.
2-27 SECTION 4. Subchapter B, Chapter 118, Local Government Code,
3-1 is amended by adding Section 118.025 to read as follows:
3-2 Sec. 118.025. RECORDS ARCHIVE IN BORDER COUNTY. (a) In this
3-3 section:
3-4 (1) "Deterioration" means any naturally occurring
3-5 process or a natural disaster that results in the destruction or
3-6 partial destruction of a public document.
3-7 (2) "Preservation" means any process that:
3-8 (A) suspends or reduces the deterioration of
3-9 public documents; or
3-10 (B) provides public access to the public
3-11 documents in a manner that reduces the risk of deterioration,
3-12 excluding providing public access to public documents indexed
3-13 geographically.
3-14 (3) "Public document" means any instrument, document,
3-15 paper, or other record that the county clerk is authorized to
3-16 accept for filing or maintaining.
3-17 (4) "Records archive" means public documents filed
3-18 with the county clerk before January 1, 1990.
3-19 (5) "Restoration" means any process that permits the
3-20 visual enhancement of a public document, including making the
3-21 document more legible.
3-22 (b) The commissioners court of a county that is adjacent to
3-23 an international boundary may adopt a records archive fee under
3-24 Section 118.011(e) as part of the county's annual budget. The fee
3-25 must be set and itemized in the county's budget as part of the
3-26 budget preparation process. The fee for "Records Archive" under
3-27 Section 118.011(e) is for the preservation and restoration services
4-1 performed by the county clerk in connection with maintaining a
4-2 county clerk's records archive.
4-3 (c) The fee must be paid at the time a person, excluding a
4-4 state agency, presents a public document to the county clerk for
4-5 recording or filing.
4-6 (d) The fee shall be deposited in a separate records archive
4-7 account in the general fund of the county.
4-8 (e) The funds generated from the collection of a fee under
4-9 this section may be expended only for the preservation and
4-10 restoration of the county clerk's records archive.
4-11 (f) The funds may not be used to purchase, lease, or develop
4-12 computer software to geographically index public records, excluding
4-13 indexing public records by lot and block description as provided by
4-14 Section 193.009(b)(4).
4-15 (g) The county clerk shall prepare an annual written plan
4-16 for funding the preservation and restoration of the county clerk's
4-17 records archive. The commissioners court shall publish notice of a
4-18 public hearing on the plan in a newspaper of general circulation in
4-19 the county not later than the 15th day before the date of the
4-20 hearing. After the public hearing, the plan shall be considered
4-21 for approval by the commissioners court. Funds from the records
4-22 archive account may be expended only as provided by the plan. All
4-23 expenditures from the records archive account shall comply with
4-24 Subchapter C, Chapter 262.
4-25 (h) If a county charges a fee under this section, a notice
4-26 shall be posted in a conspicuous place in the county clerk's
4-27 office. The notice must state the amount of the fee in the
5-1 following form: "THE COMMISSIONERS COURT OF _______________ COUNTY
5-2 HAS DETERMINED THAT A RECORDS ARCHIVE FEE OF $________ IS NEEDED TO
5-3 PRESERVE AND RESTORE COUNTY RECORDS."
5-4 (i) The fee is subject to approval by the commissioners
5-5 court in a public meeting.
5-6 (j) Any excess funds generated from the collection of a fee
5-7 under this section remaining after completion of a county records
5-8 archive preservation and restoration project may be expended only
5-9 for the purposes described by Section 118.0216. The commissioners
5-10 court of a county may not order the collection of a fee authorized
5-11 by this section after the county records archive preservation and
5-12 restoration is complete.
5-13 (k) This section expires September 1, 2008.
5-14 SECTION 5. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 2001. The
5-15 change in law made by Section 118.025, Local Government Code, as
5-16 added by this Act, applies only to a public document, as that term
5-17 is defined by Section 118.025, Local Government Code, as added by
5-18 this Act, that is presented for filing on or after September 1,
5-19 2001.
5-20 (b) A public document, as that term is defined by Section
5-21 118.025, Local Government Code, as added by this Act, that is
5-22 presented for filing before September 1, 2001, is governed by the
5-23 law in effect when the document was presented, and the former law
5-24 continues in effect for that purpose.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 370 was passed by the House on May 3,
2001, by a non-record vote.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 370 was passed by the Senate on May
22, 2001, by a viva-voce vote.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________________
Date
__________________________
Governor