78R2763 YDB-F

By:  Farrar                                                       H.B. No. 1905



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the records management and preservation fee collected 
by a district clerk.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 51.317, Government Code, is amended by 
amending Subsections (b) and (c) and adding Subsection (d) to read 
as follows:
	(b)  The fees are:                                                             
		(1)  for filing a suit, including an appeal from an 
inferior court and for filing a petition for preconviction writ of 
habeas corpus ............................................... $45
		(2)  for filing a cross-action, counterclaim, 
intervention, contempt action, motion for new trial, or third-party 
petition ................................................... $15
		(3)  for issuing a citation or other writ or process not 
otherwise provided for, including one copy, when requested at the 
time a suit or action is filed ................................ $8
		(4)  for [the] records management and preservation 
[fund] ...................................................... $5.
	(c)  The records management and preservation [district 
clerk, after collecting a] fee collected under Subsection (b)(4) is 
for [, shall pay the fee to the county treasurer, or to an official 
who discharges the duties commonly delegated to the county 
treasurer, for deposit in] the records management and preservation 
services performed by the district clerk after the filing and 
recording of a document in the records of the office of the clerk
[fund].
	(d)  The fee required by Subsection (b)(4) may be used only 
to provide funds for specific records management and preservation, 
including for automation purposes.
	SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003, and 
applies to a fee that becomes payable under Section 51.317, 
Government Code, as amended by this Act, on or after that date.  A 
fee that became payable before the effective date of this Act is 
governed by the law in effect when the fee became payable and that 
law is continued in effect for that purpose.