By Lucio S.B. No. 1507
77R6056 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 and county courthouses.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. (a) The legislature finds that:
1-6 (1) the deterioration of public documents in the
1-7 offices of the county clerks constitutes a threat to the integrity
1-8 and reliability of the existing system for preserving public
1-9 documents; and
1-10 (2) the deterioration of county courthouses threatens
1-11 the loss of or irreparable injury to an invaluable aspect of Texas
1-12 history, and the preservation of these courthouses is necessary.
1-13 (b) The purpose of this Act is to impose a fee for filing
1-14 public documents in the offices of the county clerks beginning
1-15 September 1, 2001, and ending September 1, 2008, to provide funds
1-16 that will be used to preserve and restore county courthouses and
1-17 existing public documents filed in the offices of the county
1-18 clerks.
1-19 SECTION 2. Section 118.011, Local Government Code, is
1-20 amended by adding Subsections (e), (f), and (g) to read as follows:
1-21 (e) The county clerk shall, if the commissioners court of
1-22 the county adopts an order establishing the amount of the fee,
1-23 collect the following fee from any person:
1-24 (1) Records Archive Fee
2-1 (Sec. 118.025) .................. not more than $5
2-2 (2) County Courthouse Restoration Fee
2-3 (Sec. 118.026) .................. not more than $5
2-4 (f) The commissioners court of a county may not adopt an
2-5 order that establishes fees authorized under Subsection (e) that in
2-6 the aggregate are more than $7.50.
2-7 (g) This subsection and Subsections (e) and (f) expire on
2-8 September 1, 2008.
2-9 SECTION 3. Section 118.0216, Local Government Code, is
2-10 amended to read as follows:
2-11 Sec. 118.0216. RECORDS MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION. (a)
2-12 The fee for "Records Management and Preservation" under Section
2-13 118.011 is for the records management and preservation services
2-14 performed by the county clerk after the filing and recording of a
2-15 document in the records of the office of the clerk.
2-16 (b) The fee must be paid at the time of the filing of the
2-17 document.
2-18 (c) The fee shall be deposited in a separate records
2-19 management and preservation account in the general fund of the
2-20 county.
2-21 (d) The fee may be used only to provide funds for specific
2-22 records management and preservation, including [and] automation
2-23 projects.
2-24 (e) The county clerk shall prepare an annual written plan
2-25 for funding the automation projects and records management and
2-26 preservation services performed by the clerk. After a public
2-27 hearing, the plan shall be considered for approval by the
3-1 commissioners court. Money from the records management and
3-2 preservation account may be spent only as provided by the plan.
3-3 All expenditures from the records management and preservation
3-4 account shall comply with Subchapter C, Chapter 262.
3-5 SECTION 4. Subchapter B, Chapter 118, Local Government Code,
3-6 is amended by adding Sections 118.025 and 118.026 to read as
3-7 follows:
3-8 Sec. 118.025. RECORDS ARCHIVE. (a) In this section:
3-9 (1) "Deterioration" means any naturally occurring
3-10 process or a natural disaster that results in the destruction or
3-11 partial destruction of a public document.
3-12 (2) "Preservation" means any process that:
3-13 (A) suspends or reduces the deterioration of
3-14 public documents; or
3-15 (B) provides public access to the public
3-16 documents in a manner that reduces the risk of deterioration,
3-17 excluding providing public access to public documents indexed
3-18 geographically.
3-19 (3) "Public document" means any instrument, document,
3-20 paper, or other record that the county clerk is authorized to
3-21 accept for filing or maintaining.
3-22 (4) "Records archive" means public documents filed
3-23 with the county clerk before January 1, 1990.
3-24 (5) "Restoration" means any process that permits the
3-25 visual enhancement of a public document, including making the
3-26 document more legible.
3-27 (b) The commissioners court of a county, by order, may adopt
4-1 a records archive fee under Section 118.011(e). The fee for
4-2 "Records Archive" under Section 118.011(e) is for the preservation
4-3 and restoration services performed by the county clerk in
4-4 connection with maintaining the county clerk's records archive.
4-5 (c) The fee must be paid at the time a person, excluding a
4-6 state agency, presents a public document to the county clerk for
4-7 recording or filing.
4-8 (d) The fee shall be deposited in a separate records archive
4-9 account in the general fund of the county.
4-10 (e) Fees collected under this section may be spent only for
4-11 the preservation and restoration of the county clerk's records
4-12 archive.
4-13 (f) The money may not be used to purchase, lease, or develop
4-14 computer software to geographically index public records, excluding
4-15 indexing public records by lot and block description as provided by
4-16 Section 193.009(b)(4).
4-17 (g) The county clerk shall prepare an annual written plan
4-18 for funding the preservation and restoration of the county clerk's
4-19 records archive. After a public hearing, the plan shall be
4-20 considered for approval by the commissioners court. Money from the
4-21 records archive account may be spent only as provided by the plan.
4-22 All expenditures from the records archive account shall comply with
4-23 Subchapter C, Chapter 262.
4-24 (h) If a county charges a fee under this section, a notice
4-25 shall be posted in a conspicuous place in the county clerk's
4-26 office. The notice must state the amount of the fee in the
4-27 following form: "THE COMMISSIONERS COURT OF _______________ COUNTY
5-1 HAS DETERMINED THAT A RECORDS ARCHIVE FEE OF $________ IS NEEDED TO
5-2 PRESERVE AND RESTORE COUNTY RECORDS."
5-3 (i) The fee is subject to approval by the commissioners
5-4 court in a public meeting.
5-5 (j) Any excess money generated from the collection of a fee
5-6 under this section remaining after completion of a county records
5-7 archive preservation and restoration project may be spent only for
5-8 the purposes described by Section 118.0216. The commissioners
5-9 court of a county may not order the collection of a fee authorized
5-10 by this section after the county records archive preservation and
5-11 restoration is complete.
5-12 (k) This section expires September 1, 2008.
5-13 Sec. 118.026. COUNTY COURTHOUSE PRESERVATION AND
5-14 RESTORATION. (a) The commissioners court of a county, by order,
5-15 may adopt a county courthouse restoration fee under Section
5-16 118.011(e). The fee for "County Courthouse Restoration" under
5-17 Section 118.011(e) is for the preservation and restoration of the
5-18 county courthouse of the county in which the fee is collected.
5-19 (b) The fee must be paid at the time a person, excluding a
5-20 state agency, presents a public document, as defined in Section
5-21 118.025, to the county clerk for recording or filing.
5-22 (c) The fee shall be deposited in a separate county
5-23 courthouse restoration account in the general fund of the county.
5-24 (d) Fees collected under this section may be spent only for
5-25 the preservation and restoration of the county courthouse.
5-26 (e) The commissioners court shall prepare an annual written
5-27 plan for funding the preservation and restoration of the county
6-1 courthouse. After a public hearing, the plan shall be considered
6-2 for approval by the commissioners court. Money from the county
6-3 courthouse restoration account may be spent only as provided by the
6-4 plan. All expenditures from the county courthouse restoration
6-5 account shall comply with Subchapter C, Chapter 262.
6-6 (f) If a county charges a fee under this section, a notice
6-7 shall be posted in a conspicuous place in the county clerk's
6-8 office. The notice must state the amount of the fee in the
6-9 following form: "THE COMMISSIONERS COURT OF _______________ COUNTY
6-10 HAS DETERMINED THAT A COUNTY COURTHOUSE RESTORATION FEE OF
6-11 $________ IS NEEDED TO PRESERVE AND RESTORE THE COUNTY COURTHOUSE."
6-12 (g) The fee is subject to approval by the commissioners
6-13 court in a public meeting.
6-14 (h) This section expires September 1, 2008.
6-15 SECTION 5. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
6-16 (b) The change in law made by this Act by the addition of
6-17 Section 118.025, Local Government Code, applies only to a public
6-18 document, as that term is defined by Section 118.025, Local
6-19 Government Code, as added by this Act, that is presented for filing
6-20 on or after September 1, 2001.
6-21 (c) A public document, as that term is defined by Section
6-22 118.025, Local Government Code, as added by this Act, that is
6-23 presented for filing before September 1, 2001, is governed by the
6-24 law in effect when the document was presented, and the former law
6-25 continues in effect for that purpose.