1-1     By:  Duncan                                            S.B. No. 625
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed February 9, 2001; February 12, 2001,
 1-3     read first time and referred to Committee on Jurisprudence;
 1-4     March 13, 2001, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 7,
 1-5     Nays 0; March 13, 2001, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to the electronic storage of records by the court of
 1-9     criminal appeals.
1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11           SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 51, Government Code, is
1-12     amended by adding Section 51.105 to read as follows:
1-13           Sec. 51.105.  ELECTRONIC STORAGE.  (a)  In the performance of
1-14     the duties imposed by Section 51.104, the clerk of the court of
1-15     criminal appeals may maintain writs and other records and documents
1-16     in an electronic storage format.  If the clerk electronically
1-17     stores writs, records, or documents, the clerk may destroy the
1-18     originals or copies of the writs, records, or documents according
1-19     to the retention policy described by Subsection (b).
1-20           (b)  The clerk of the court of criminal appeals shall
1-21     establish a records retention policy.  The retention policy shall
1-22     provide a plan for the storage and retention of writs and other
1-23     documents and shall include a retention period to preserve the
1-24     writs and other records in accordance with state law and applicable
1-25     rules of the court of criminal appeals.
1-26           (c)  For purposes of this section, "electronic storage" means
1-27     the maintenance of data in the form of digital electronic signals
1-28     on a computer hard disk, magnetic tape, optical disk, or similar
1-29     machine-readable medium.
1-30           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
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