By Gutierrez H.B. No. 730
77R1117 KSD-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to collection and use of certain filing fees to assist
1-3 persons providing shelter or services to victims of family
1-4 violence.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 51, Government Code, is
1-7 amended by adding Section 51.321 to read as follows:
1-8 Sec. 51.321. FAMILY VIOLENCE PREVENTION FEE. (a) The
1-9 commissioners court of a county may adopt a family violence
1-10 prevention fee in an amount not to exceed $15.
1-11 (b) The district clerk shall collect the family violence
1-12 prevention fee at the time a suit for dissolution of a marriage
1-13 under Chapter 6, Family Code, is filed. The fee is in addition to
1-14 any other fee collected by the district clerk.
1-15 (c) The district clerk shall pay a fee collected under this
1-16 section to the appropriate officer of the county in which the suit
1-17 is filed for deposit in the county treasury to the credit of the
1-18 family violence prevention account. The account may be used by the
1-19 commissioners court of the county only to fund or assist persons
1-20 providing shelter or services to victims of family violence.
1-21 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001, and
1-22 applies only to a filing fee collected for a suit for the
1-23 dissolution of a marriage under Chapter 6, Family Code, on or after
1-24 the effective date of this Act. A filing fee collected for a suit
2-1 for the dissolution of a marriage under Chapter 6, Family Code,
2-2 before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law as it
2-3 existed immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that
2-4 law is continued in effect for that purpose.