LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD Austin, Texas FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session May 15, 2001 TO: Honorable Patricia Gray, Chair, House Committee on Public Health FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board IN RE: SB581 by Duncan (Relating to document preparation costs related to certain mental health proceedings.), Committee Report 2nd House, Substituted ************************************************************************** * No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated. * ************************************************************************** Local Government Impact The bill would amend Section 574.031 (k), Health and Safety Code, to include document preparation costs in the fee assessed by a county for a prosecuting attorney's services in a mental health proceeding held in the county for a resident of another county. The fee would be charged to the patient or proposed patient's county of residence. The fee may not exceed $50. Provisions of the bill would also remove additional charges that had been allowed in Wichita County. Counties that had collected document preparation fees prior to September 1, 2001 would not be required to repay any other person for any portion of a document preparation fee collected prior to the effective date of the bill, which would be September 1, 2001. An analysis by the Comptroller of Public Accounts found that several counties charge document preparation costs to the county of the patient's residence. Wilbarger County charges $475 per case, which includes document preparation charges. Howard County charges between $74 and $225 for document preparation. A representative from Travis County indicated they currently charge the allowed judicial and prosecutor fee only. A representative of Cherokee County said their state hospital prepares all the documents for the county and that if the county had to take on that responsibility, they would have to create an additional full-time position. In counties that have been charging a document preparation fee that is more than the $50 fee for a prosecuting attorney's services, there would be a reduction in revenue collected. The negative impact would vary by county, depending on how much they had been charging and how many hearings for other counties they conduct annually. In counties that have not been charging an extra document preparation fee, there would be no fiscal impact. Source Agencies: 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts LBB Staff: JK, HD, DB