1-1 By: Hinojosa (Senate Sponsor - Lucio) H.B. No. 370
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 4, 2001;
1-3 May 7, 2001, read first time and referred to Committee on
1-4 Intergovernmental Relations; May 11, 2001, reported favorably by
1-5 the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 11, 2001, sent to
1-6 printer.)
1-7 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-8 AN ACT
1-9 relating to the fees imposed by certain counties for the
1-10 preservation, restoration, and management of certain county
1-11 records.
1-12 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13 SECTION 1. (a) The legislature finds that the deterioration
1-14 of public documents in the offices of the county clerks constitutes
1-15 a threat to the integrity and reliability of the existing system
1-16 for preserving public documents.
1-17 (b) The purpose of this Act is to impose a fee for filing
1-18 public documents in the offices of the county clerks of counties
1-19 adjacent to an international boundary beginning September 1, 2001,
1-20 and ending September 1, 2008, to provide funds that will be used to
1-21 preserve existing public documents filed in the offices of the
1-22 county clerks of counties adjacent to an international boundary.
1-23 SECTION 2. Section 118.011, Local Government Code, is amended
1-24 by adding Subsections (e) and (f) to read as follows:
1-25 (e) The county clerk of a county adjacent to an
1-26 international boundary shall, if the commissioners court of the
1-27 county adopts the fee as part of the county's annual budget,
1-28 collect the following fee from any person:
1-29 Records Archive Fee
1-30 (Sec. 118.025) .................. not more than $5
1-31 (f) This subsection and Subsection (e) expire on September
1-32 1, 2008.
1-33 SECTION 3. Section 118.0216, Local Government Code, is
1-34 amended to read as follows:
1-35 Sec. 118.0216. RECORDS MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION. (a) The
1-36 fee for "Records Management and Preservation" under Section 118.011
1-37 is for the records management and preservation services performed
1-38 by the county clerk after the filing and recording of a document in
1-39 the records of the office of the clerk.
1-40 (b) The fee must be paid at the time of the filing of the
1-41 document.
1-42 (c) In a county that is adjacent to an international
1-43 boundary, the fee shall be deposited in a separate records
1-44 management and preservation account in the general fund of the
1-45 county.
1-46 (d) The fee may be used only to provide funds for specific
1-47 records management and preservation, including for [and] automation
1-48 purposes [projects].
1-49 (e) In a county that is adjacent to an international
1-50 boundary, the county clerk shall prepare an annual written plan for
1-51 funding the automation projects and records management and
1-52 preservation services performed by the clerk. After a public
1-53 hearing, the plan shall be considered for approval by the
1-54 commissioners court. Funds from the records management and
1-55 preservation account may be expended only as provided by the plan.
1-56 All expenditures from the records management and preservation
1-57 account shall comply with Subchapter C, Chapter 262.
1-58 SECTION 4. Subchapter B, Chapter 118, Local Government Code,
1-59 is amended by adding Section 118.025 to read as follows:
1-60 Sec. 118.025. RECORDS ARCHIVE IN BORDER COUNTY. (a) In this
1-61 section:
1-62 (1) "Deterioration" means any naturally occurring
1-63 process or a natural disaster that results in the destruction or
1-64 partial destruction of a public document.
2-1 (2) "Preservation" means any process that:
2-2 (A) suspends or reduces the deterioration of
2-3 public documents; or
2-4 (B) provides public access to the public
2-5 documents in a manner that reduces the risk of deterioration,
2-6 excluding providing public access to public documents indexed
2-7 geographically.
2-8 (3) "Public document" means any instrument, document,
2-9 paper, or other record that the county clerk is authorized to
2-10 accept for filing or maintaining.
2-11 (4) "Records archive" means public documents filed
2-12 with the county clerk before January 1, 1990.
2-13 (5) "Restoration" means any process that permits the
2-14 visual enhancement of a public document, including making the
2-15 document more legible.
2-16 (b) The commissioners court of a county that is adjacent to
2-17 an international boundary may adopt a records archive fee under
2-18 Section 118.011(e) as part of the county's annual budget. The fee
2-19 must be set and itemized in the county's budget as part of the
2-20 budget preparation process. The fee for "Records Archive" under
2-21 Section 118.011(e) is for the preservation and restoration services
2-22 performed by the county clerk in connection with maintaining a
2-23 county clerk's records archive.
2-24 (c) The fee must be paid at the time a person, excluding a
2-25 state agency, presents a public document to the county clerk for
2-26 recording or filing.
2-27 (d) The fee shall be deposited in a separate records archive
2-28 account in the general fund of the county.
2-29 (e) The funds generated from the collection of a fee under
2-30 this section may be expended only for the preservation and
2-31 restoration of the county clerk's records archive.
2-32 (f) The funds may not be used to purchase, lease, or develop
2-33 computer software to geographically index public records, excluding
2-34 indexing public records by lot and block description as provided by
2-35 Section 193.009(b)(4).
2-36 (g) The county clerk shall prepare an annual written plan
2-37 for funding the preservation and restoration of the county clerk's
2-38 records archive. The commissioners court shall publish notice of a
2-39 public hearing on the plan in a newspaper of general circulation in
2-40 the county not later than the 15th day before the date of the
2-41 hearing. After the public hearing, the plan shall be considered
2-42 for approval by the commissioners court. Funds from the records
2-43 archive account may be expended only as provided by the plan. All
2-44 expenditures from the records archive account shall comply with
2-45 Subchapter C, Chapter 262.
2-46 (h) If a county charges a fee under this section, a notice
2-47 shall be posted in a conspicuous place in the county clerk's
2-48 office. The notice must state the amount of the fee in the
2-49 following form: "THE COMMISSIONERS COURT OF _______________ COUNTY
2-50 HAS DETERMINED THAT A RECORDS ARCHIVE FEE OF $________ IS NEEDED TO
2-51 PRESERVE AND RESTORE COUNTY RECORDS."
2-52 (i) The fee is subject to approval by the commissioners
2-53 court in a public meeting.
2-54 (j) Any excess funds generated from the collection of a fee
2-55 under this section remaining after completion of a county records
2-56 archive preservation and restoration project may be expended only
2-57 for the purposes described by Section 118.0216. The commissioners
2-58 court of a county may not order the collection of a fee authorized
2-59 by this section after the county records archive preservation and
2-60 restoration is complete.
2-61 (k) This section expires September 1, 2008.
2-62 SECTION 5. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 2001. The
2-63 change in law made by Section 118.025, Local Government Code, as
2-64 added by this Act, applies only to a public document, as that term
2-65 is defined by Section 118.025, Local Government Code, as added by
2-66 this Act, that is presented for filing on or after September 1,
2-67 2001.
2-68 (b) A public document, as that term is defined by Section
2-69 118.025, Local Government Code, as added by this Act, that is
3-1 presented for filing before September 1, 2001, is governed by the
3-2 law in effect when the document was presented, and the former law
3-3 continues in effect for that purpose.
3-4 * * * * *