By Hinojosa H.B. No. 370
77R648 MI-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the fees imposed for the preservation, restoration, and
1-3 management of certain county records.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. (a) The legislature finds that the deterioration
1-6 of public documents in the offices of the county clerks constitutes
1-7 a threat to the integrity and reliability of the existing system
1-8 for preserving public documents.
1-9 (b) The purpose of this Act is to impose a fee for filing
1-10 public documents in the offices of the county clerks beginning
1-11 September 1, 2001, and ending September 1, 2008, to provide funds
1-12 that will be used to preserve existing public documents filed in
1-13 the offices of the county clerks.
1-14 SECTION 2. Section 118.011, Local Government Code, is amended
1-15 by adding Subsections (e) and (f) to read as follows:
1-16 (e) The county clerk shall, if the commissioners court of
1-17 the county adopts an order establishing the amount of the fee,
1-18 collect the following fee from any person:
1-19 Records Archive Fee
1-20 (Sec. 118.025) .................. not more than $5
1-21 (f) This subsection and Subsection (e) expire on September
1-22 1, 2008.
1-23 SECTION 3. Section 118.0216, Local Government Code, is
1-24 amended to read as follows:
2-1 Sec. 118.0216. RECORDS MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION. (a) The
2-2 fee for "Records Management and Preservation" under Section 118.011
2-3 is for the records management and preservation services performed
2-4 by the county clerk after the filing and recording of a document in
2-5 the records of the office of the clerk.
2-6 (b) The fee must be paid at the time of the filing of the
2-7 document.
2-8 (c) The fee shall be deposited in a separate records
2-9 management and preservation account in the general fund of the
2-10 county.
2-11 (d) The fee may be used only to provide funds for specific
2-12 records management and preservation, including [and] automation
2-13 purposes [projects].
2-14 (e) The county clerk shall prepare an annual written plan
2-15 for funding the automation projects and records management and
2-16 preservation services performed by the clerk. After a public
2-17 hearing, the plan shall be considered for approval by the
2-18 commissioners court. Funds from the records management and
2-19 preservation account may be expended only as provided by the plan.
2-20 All expenditures from the records management and preservation
2-21 account shall comply with Subchapter C, Chapter 262.
2-22 SECTION 4. Subchapter B, Chapter 118, Local Government Code,
2-23 is amended by adding Section 118.025 to read as follows:
2-24 Sec. 118.025. RECORDS ARCHIVE. (a) In this section:
2-25 (1) "Deterioration" means any naturally occurring
2-26 process or a natural disaster that results in the destruction or
2-27 partial destruction of a public document.
3-1 (2) "Preservation" means any process that:
3-2 (A) suspends or reduces the deterioration of
3-3 public documents; or
3-4 (B) provides public access to the public
3-5 documents in a manner that reduces the risk of deterioration,
3-6 excluding providing public access to public documents indexed
3-7 geographically.
3-8 (3) "Public document" means any instrument, document,
3-9 paper, or other record that the county clerk is authorized to
3-10 accept for filing or maintaining.
3-11 (4) "Records archive" means public documents filed
3-12 with the county clerk before January 1, 1990.
3-13 (5) "Restoration" means any process that permits the
3-14 visual enhancement of a public document, including making the
3-15 document more legible.
3-16 (b) The commissioners court of a county, by order, may adopt
3-17 a records archive fee under Section 118.011(e). The fee for
3-18 "Records Archive" under Section 118.011(e) is for the preservation
3-19 and restoration services performed by the county clerk in
3-20 connection with maintaining a county clerk's records archive.
3-21 (c) The fee must be paid at the time a person, excluding a
3-22 state agency, presents a public document to the county clerk for
3-23 recording or filing.
3-24 (d) The fee shall be deposited in a separate records archive
3-25 account in the general fund of the county.
3-26 (e) The funds generated from the collection of a fee under
3-27 this section may be expended only for the preservation and
4-1 restoration of the county clerk's records archive.
4-2 (f) The funds may not be used to purchase, lease, or develop
4-3 computer software to geographically index public records, excluding
4-4 indexing public records by lot and block description as provided by
4-5 Section 193.009(b)(4).
4-6 (g) The county clerk shall prepare an annual written plan
4-7 for funding the preservation and restoration of the county clerk's
4-8 records archive. After a public hearing, the plan shall be
4-9 considered for approval by the commissioners court. Funds from the
4-10 records archive account may be expended only as provided by the
4-11 plan. All expenditures from the records archive account shall
4-12 comply with Subchapter C, Chapter 262.
4-13 (h) If a county charges a fee under this section, a notice
4-14 shall be posted in a conspicuous place in the county clerk's
4-15 office. The notice must state the amount of the fee in the
4-16 following form: "THE COMMISSIONERS COURT OF _______________ COUNTY
4-17 HAS DETERMINED THAT A RECORDS ARCHIVE FEE OF $________ IS NEEDED TO
4-18 PRESERVE AND RESTORE COUNTY RECORDS."
4-19 (i) The fee is subject to approval by the commissioners
4-20 court in a public meeting.
4-21 (j) Any excess funds generated from the collection of a fee
4-22 under this section remaining after completion of a county records
4-23 archive preservation and restoration project may be expended only
4-24 for the purposes described by Section 118.0216. The commissioners
4-25 court of a county may not order the collection of a fee authorized
4-26 by this section after the county records archive preservation and
4-27 restoration is complete.
5-1 (k) This section expires September 1, 2008.
5-2 SECTION 5. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 2001. The
5-3 change in law made by Section 118.025, Local Government Code, as
5-4 added by this Act, applies only to a public document, as that term
5-5 is defined by Section 118.025, Local Government Code, as added by
5-6 this Act, that is presented for filing on or after September 1,
5-7 2001.
5-8 (b) A public document, as that term is defined by Section
5-9 118.025, Local Government Code, as added by this Act, that is
5-10 presented for filing before September 1, 2001, is governed by the
5-11 law in effect when the document was presented, and the former law
5-12 continues in effect for that purpose.