LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session
April 30, 2001
TO: Honorable Royce West, Chair, Senate Committee on
Jurisprudence
FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE: HB2300 by Thompson (Relating to certain fees collected
by clerks and to the use of certain of those fees for
salaries of county judges and for services for victims
of family violence.), As Engrossed
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* Estimated Two-year Net Impact to General Revenue Related Funds for *
* HB2300, As Engrossed: positive impact of $948,750 through the *
* biennium ending August 31, 2003. *
* *
* The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal *
* basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions of *
* the bill. *
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General Revenue-Related Funds, Five-Year Impact:
****************************************************
* Fiscal Year Probable Net Positive/(Negative) *
* Impact to General Revenue Related *
* Funds *
* 2002 $453,750 *
* 2003 495,000 *
* 2004 495,000 *
* 2005 495,000 *
* 2006 495,000 *
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All Funds, Five-Year Impact:
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*Fiscal Probable Probable Probable Probable *
* Year Savings/(Cost) Savings/(Cost) Revenue Revenue *
* from General from Judicial Gain/(Loss) Gain/(Loss) *
* Revenue Fund Fund from Judicial from Counties *
* 0001 0573 Fund *
* 0573 *
* 2002 $453,750 $(5,130,950) $1,936,000 $2,343,800 *
* 2003 495,000 (5,597,400) 1,936,000 2,343,800 *
* 2004 495,000 (5,597,400) 1,936,000 2,343,800 *
* 2005 495,000 (5,597,400) 1,936,000 2,343,800 *
* 2006 495,000 (5,597,400) 1,936,000 2,343,800 *
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Fiscal Analysis
The bill would require the state to reimburse counties for the salaries
of 192 statutory county judges at an amount up to $49,700. Additionally
the bill drops the 40 percent judicial function requirement for
constitutional county judges to receive a $10,000 salary supplement.
The bill would require a county commissioners court to set the annual
salary of a statutory county court judge in an amount at least equal to
the amount that is $1,000 less than the total annual salary of a district
judge in the county. Certain counties would be exempt from this salary
provision.
The county commissioners court would have authority to adopt a family
violence prevention fee not to exceed $15 to be used to assist persons
providing shelter or services to victims of family violence. The fee
would be collected by the county's district clerk at the time a suit for
dissolution of a marriage is filed and then deposited in the county
treasury to the credit of the family violence prevention account, a local
government account.
The bill would also require all statutory county courts to collect the
fees and court costs specified in the Government Code, Section 51.702.
The bill would increase the fee for filing a civil suit from $40 to $55.
Of this amount, $5 would remain in county funds. Additionally, local
civil filing fees for original actions other than garnishment would be
increased to $50 from $40 for original actions and to $45 from $30 for
the filing of an action other than the original filing. This bill would
increase to $12 from $4 the civil court fee for document issuance and
additional copies.
The bill would take effect September 1, 2001 if HB 1884, 77th
Legislature, Regular Session, were to be enacted and became law; if not,
the bill would have no effect. The fees provisions of the bill would
take effect September 1, 2001 and only would apply to a civil case filed
or to an offense committed on or after that date. The salary provisions
in the bill would take effect October 1, 2001 and only would apply to a
salary payment made on or after that date.
Methodology
Currently the state reimburses 64 counties an amount of $35,000 annually
for a salary supplement paid to a total of 138 statutory county judges.
Five thousand of this supplement comes from General Revenue. This
estimate raises the level of state reimbursement for each judge to
$49,700 annually for all 192 statutory county judges in the state. This
estimate assumes that all of the salary supplement would come from
Judicial Fund 573. At this time, the state is paying the $10,000
annual salary supplement to 215 constitutional county judges whose
judicial functions are 40 percent of their duties. Five thousand of this
supplement comes from the General Revenue Fund, with the remainder
coming from Fund 573. The bill would remove that standard, and this
estimate assumes that all 254 constitutional county judges would qualify.
Finally, the bill would require all statutory county courts to collect
the fees and court costs specified in the Government Code, Section
51.702. Ten counties of the 74 counties that have statutory county
courts currently do not participate in the fees collection program. The
fee for filing a civil suit under this provision would increase from $40
to $50 for Judicial Fund 573, with an additional $5 for county funds.
This estimate assumes that an additional $1,936,000 per year would accrue
to Judicial Fund No. 573 through increased collections.
This estimate assumes that counties would continue to pay Social Security
and retirement benefits of statutory county judges. Finally, this
estimate assumes that Judicial Fund 573 would have sufficient funds for
the increased payments of $19,700 or $49,700 to each statutory county
judge.
Local Government Impact
All 74 counties with statutory courts would experience a net savings as a
result of the provisions of the bill. The savings would vary by county,
depending on the number of judges and the salary and benefits counties
currently pay. Minimum salary savings per county would be $14,700.
Additionally, all 74 counties would have increased revenue due to the $5
increase in the fee to file a civil suit. It is estimated that the $5
increase in the fee to file a civil suit would generate $494,400 to the
74 counties with statutory courts. This estimate assumes that the new
$15 family violence prevention fee collected in divorce case filings and
other local civil court fees would generate $1,849,800 in additional
revenue for counties each fiscal year. The number of suits for divorces
filed in fiscal year 1999 was over 123,000 in county level courts,
according to the Office of Court Administration's annual report.
Source Agencies: 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts
LBB Staff: JK, TB