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78R2988 KSD-D


By:  Gutierrez, Lewis, Quintanilla                                H.B. No. 813



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the collection and use of certain filing fees to fund 
nonprofit organizations that provide shelter or services to victims 
of family violence.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.   Subchapter D, Chapter 51, Government Code, is 
amended by adding Section 51.321 to read as follows:
	Sec. 51.321.  FAMILY VIOLENCE PREVENTION FEE.  (a)  The 
commissioners court of a county may adopt a family violence 
prevention fee in an amount not to exceed $15.
	(b)  Except as provided by Subsection (c), the district clerk 
shall collect the family violence prevention fee at the time a suit 
for dissolution of a marriage under Chapter 6, Family Code, is 
filed.  The fee is in addition to any other fee collected by the 
district clerk.
	(c)  The clerk may not collect a fee under this section from a 
person who is protected by an order issued under:
		(1)  Subtitle B, Title 4, Family Code; or                              
		(2)  Article 17.292, Code of Criminal Procedure.                       
	(d)  The district clerk shall pay a fee collected under this 
section to the appropriate officer of the county in which the suit 
is filed for deposit in the county treasury to the credit of the 
family violence prevention account. The account may be used by the 
commissioners court of the county only to fund public or private 
nonprofit organizations providing shelter or services, including 
civil legal services, to victims of family violence.  In this 
subsection, "family violence" has the meaning assigned by Section 
71.004, Family Code.
	SECTION 2.   This Act takes effect September 1, 2003, and 
applies only to a filing fee collected for a suit for the 
dissolution of a marriage under Chapter 6, Family Code, on or after 
the effective date of this Act.  A filing fee collected  for a suit 
for the dissolution of a marriage under Chapter 6, Family Code, 
before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law as it 
existed immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that 
law is continued in effect for that purpose.