78R9086 QS-F
By: Ellis S.B. No. 1623
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the collection of a fee from certain nonresident
attorneys requesting permission to participate in proceedings in a
Texas court.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 82, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 82.0361 to read as follows:
Sec. 82.0361. NONRESIDENT ATTORNEY FEE. (a) In this
section, "nonresident attorney" means a person who resides in and
is licensed to practice law in another state but who is not a member
of the State Bar of Texas.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (e), a nonresident
attorney requesting permission to participate in proceedings in a
court in this state shall pay a fee of $250 for each case in which
the attorney is requesting to participate. The attorney shall pay
the fee to the Board of Law Examiners before filing with the
applicable court a motion requesting permission to participate in
proceedings in that court as provided by rules adopted by the
supreme court.
(c) Fees under this section shall be collected in the same
manner as other fees collected by the Board of Law Examiners. The
board shall remit the fees collected under this section to the
comptroller not later than the 10th day after the end of each
calendar quarter.
(d) The comptroller shall deposit the fees received under
this section to the credit of the basic civil legal services account
of the judicial fund for use in programs approved by the supreme
court that provide basic civil legal services to the indigent.
(e) The supreme court may adopt rules to waive or reduce the
fee required by this section for a nonresident attorney who seeks to
represent an indigent person in proceedings in a court in this
state.
(f) A nonresident attorney who files a motion requesting
permission to participate in proceedings in a court in this state
shall provide to that court proof of payment of the fee required by
this section. The supreme court by rule shall prescribe the method
of proof.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a nonresident attorney who files a motion to participate in a
proceeding in a Texas court on or after the effective date of this
Act. A nonresident attorney who filed a motion to participate in a
proceeding before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
law in effect on the date the motion was filed, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.