78R1674 KLA-D

By:  Carona                                                       S.B. No. 768



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to additional court filing fees to pay operating expenses 
of the courts of appeals.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 51.207, Government Code, is amended by 
amending Subsections (b), (e), and (g) and adding Subsections (f) 
and (h) to read as follows:
	(b)  The fees are:                                                             
		(1)  for cases appealed to and filed in the court of 
appeals from the district and county courts within its court of 
appeals district $175 [$100]
		(2)  motion for leave to file petition for writ of 
mandamus, prohibition, injunction, and other similar proceedings 
originating in the court of appeals $ 50
		(3)  additional fee if the motion under Subdivision (2) 
is granted $ 75     
		(4)  motion to file or to extend time to file record on 
appeal from district or county court $ 10
	(e)  Except as provided by Subsection (f), the [The] clerk of 
a court of appeals shall pay into the state treasury the fees and 
costs under rules prescribed by the comptroller of public accounts 
and approved by the justices of the clerk's court.  The clerk shall 
make a sworn report to the court not later than January 10 and July 
10 of each year regarding the amount of costs collected in the 
previous six months, the cases in which the costs were collected, 
and the disposition of the costs.  This report shall be filed with 
the financial records of the court.
	(f)  The clerk of a court of appeals shall retain a portion of 
each fee collected under Subsection (b)(1) equal to $50 plus any 
additional amount authorized under Subsection (h) to pay operating 
expenses of the court.  The retained portion may not be used to pay 
salaries for court personnel.
	(g)  One-half of the fees collected under this section and 
paid into the state treasury under Subsection (e) shall be 
deposited to the credit of the judicial fund.
	(h)  The justices of a court of appeals may, by majority 
vote, increase the fee collected under Subsection (b)(1) by an 
amount that is necessary to pay operating expenses of the court, not 
to exceed $75.
	SECTION 2.  Section 56.002, Government Code, is amended to 
read as follows:  
	Sec. 56.002.  FEES COLLECTED BY CLERKS OF COURTS OF APPEALS.  
Fifty percent of the fees collected by the clerks of the courts of 
appeals and paid into the state treasury under Section 51.207(e)
[51.207] shall be deposited in the state treasury in the judicial 
and court personnel training fund for the continuing legal 
education of judges and of court personnel.
	SECTION 3.  (a)  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.                      
	(b)  Sections 51.207 and 56.002, Government Code, as amended 
by this Act, apply only to a filing fee collected for a case 
appealed to and filed in a court of appeals on or after September 1, 
2003.  The filing fee collected for a case appealed to and filed in a 
court of appeals before September 1, 2003, is governed by the law in 
effect on the date the appeal was filed, and the former law is 
continued in effect for that purpose.