By:  Duncan                                            S.B. No. 625
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the electronic storage of records by the court of
 1-3     criminal appeals.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 51, Government Code, is
 1-6     amended by adding Section 51.105 to read as follows:
 1-7           Sec. 51.105.  ELECTRONIC STORAGE.  (a)  In the performance of
 1-8     the duties imposed by Section 51.104, the clerk of the court of
 1-9     criminal appeals may maintain writs and other records and documents
1-10     in an electronic storage format.  If the clerk electronically
1-11     stores writs, records, or documents, the clerk may destroy the
1-12     originals or copies of the writs, records, or documents according
1-13     to the retention policy described by Subsection (b).
1-14           (b)  The clerk of the court of criminal appeals shall
1-15     establish a records retention policy.  The retention policy shall
1-16     provide a plan for the storage and retention of writs and other
1-17     documents and shall include a retention period to preserve the
1-18     writs and other records in accordance with state law and applicable
1-19     rules of the court of criminal appeals.
1-20           (c)  For purposes of this section, "electronic storage" means
1-21     the maintenance of data in the form of digital electronic signals
1-22     on a computer hard disk, magnetic tape, optical disk, or similar
1-23     machine-readable medium.
1-24           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.