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78R12147 QS-D
By: Hartnett H.B. No. 1945
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1945:
By: Hartnett C.S.H.B. No. 1945
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certain fees collected by clerks of county courts and
statutory county courts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 25.0005(a), (b), and (e), Government
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) A statutory county court judge, other than a statutory
county court judge who engages in the private practice of law or a
judge in whose court fees and costs under Sections 51.702(a) and (b)
[Section 51.702] are not collected, shall be paid a total annual
salary set by the commissioners court at an amount that is at least
equal to the amount that is $1,000 less than the total annual salary
received by a district judge in the county on August 31, 1999. A
district judge's or statutory county court judge's total annual
salary includes contributions and supplements, paid by the state or
a county, other than contributions received as compensation under
Section 74.051.
(b) Subject to any salary requirements otherwise imposed by
this chapter for a particular court or county, the commissioners
court sets the salary of each statutory county court judge who
engages in the private practice of law or in whose court fees and
costs under Sections 51.702(a) and (b) [Section 51.702] are not
collected.
(e) A county is not required to meet the salary requirements
of Subsection (a) for a particular court if:
(1) not later than September 1 of the year in which the
county initially begins collecting fees and costs under Sections
51.702(a) and (b) [Section 51.702], the county increases the salary
of each statutory county court judge in the county to an amount that
is at least $28,000 more than the salary the judge was entitled to
on May 1 of the year the county initially begins collecting fees and
costs under Sections 51.702(a) and (b) [Section 51.702];
(2) the county pays at least the salary required by
Subdivision (1);
(3) the county collects the fees and costs as provided
by Sections 51.702(a) and (b) [Section 51.702];
(4) the court has at least the jurisdiction provided
by Section 25.0003; and
(5) except as provided by Subsection (f), the county
uses at least 50 percent of the amount the county receives each
state fiscal year under Section 25.0016 for salaries for the
statutory county court judges.
SECTION 2. Section 25.0015, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 25.0015. STATE CONTRIBUTION. (a) Beginning on the
first day of the state fiscal year, the state shall annually
compensate each county that collects the additional fees and costs
under Sections 51.702(a) and (b) [Section 51.702] in an amount
equal to $35,000 for each statutory county court judge in the county
who:
(1) does not engage in the private practice of law;
(2) presides over a court with at least the
jurisdiction provided by Section 25.0003; and
(3) except as provided by Section 25.0005(d), is not
excluded from the application of Section 25.0003 or Section
25.0005.
(b) For a county that participates under Section 51.702(f)
under a resolution adopted and filed with the comptroller before
September 1, 2003, the [The] amount shall be paid to the county's
salary fund in equal monthly installments, and of [. Of] each
$35,000 paid a county, $30,000 shall be paid from funds
appropriated from the judicial fund, and $5,000 shall be paid from
funds appropriated from the general revenue fund.
(c) For a county that participates under Section 51.702(f)
under a resolution adopted or filed with the comptroller on or after
September 1, 2003, the amount shall be paid to the county's salary
fund in equal monthly installments from funds appropriated from the
judicial fund.
SECTION 3. Section 25.0292(f), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(f) The Commissioners Court of Burnet County shall set the
salary of each judge of a county court at law who engages in the
private practice of law or in whose court fees and costs under
Sections 51.702(a) and (b) [Section 51.702] are not collected.
SECTION 4. Section 51.702, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (d), (f), (g), (i), and (k) and adding
Subsections (l) and (m) to read as follows:
(d) The clerk shall send the fees and costs collected under
Subsections (a) and (b) [this section] to the comptroller at least
as frequently as monthly. The comptroller shall deposit the fees in
the judicial fund.
(f) Subsections (a)-(d) and (g)-(k) apply [This section
applies] only to fees and costs for a 12-month period beginning July
1 in a county in which the commissioners court:
(1) adopts a resolution authorizing the fees and costs
under Subsections (a) and (b) [this section]; and
(2) files the resolution with the comptroller not
later than June 1 immediately preceding the first 12-month period
during which the fees and costs are to be collected.
(g) A resolution under Subsection (f) continues from year to
year allowing the county to collect fees and costs under
Subsections (a) and (b) under the terms of this section until the
resolution is rescinded.
(i) A county that is not eligible to participate under
Subsection (f) on July 1 of a year but is eligible to participate
later in the year may submit a resolution meeting the requirements
of Subsection (f) to the comptroller. The comptroller shall
determine the date the county may begin to collect fees and costs
under Subsections (a) and (b) [this section]. A county that begins
to collect fees and costs under Subsections (a) and (b) [this
section] after July 1 is not eligible for a payment by the
comptroller under Section 25.0015 until the 60th day after the date
the comptroller determines the county may begin to collect fees and
costs under Subsections (a) and (b) [this section].
(k) Money collected under Subsections (a) and (b) [this
section] after a county ceases to participate in the collection of
additional fees and costs under Subsections (a) and (b) [this
section] shall be remitted to the comptroller. The money shall be
deposited in the judicial fund and shall be distributed to counties
currently participating under this section in the manner described
in Section 25.0005.
(l) In a county in which court costs are not collected under
Subsection (b), a person shall pay, in addition to other court
costs, $15 as a court cost on conviction of any criminal offense in
a statutory county court, including cases in which probation or
deferred adjudication is granted. A conviction that arises under
Chapter 521, Transportation Code, or a conviction under Subtitle C,
Title 7, Transportation Code, is included, except that a conviction
arising under any law that regulates pedestrians or the parking of
motor vehicles is not included.
(m) Court costs due under Subsection (l) shall be collected
in the same manner as other fees, fines, and costs are collected in
the case. The clerk shall send the costs to the county treasurer or
other person performing the duties of county treasurer at least as
frequently as monthly. The county treasurer or other person shall
deposit the costs collected in the county treasury.
SECTION 5. Section 51.703, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
(f) A clerk may not collect a fee under this section and
under Section 51.702(a).
SECTION 6. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a civil case filed or court costs imposed on conviction of an
offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. For
purposes of this section, an offense is committed before the
effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs
before that date. A civil case filed or court costs imposed on
conviction of an offense committed before the effective date of
this Act are governed by the law in effect on the date the case was
filed or the offense was committed, and the former law is continued
in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.