By: Madla S.B. No. 1655
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the efficient administration of county government.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 81.033, Local Government Code, is added
to read as follows:
Sec. 81.033. COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR. (a) A commissioners
court may appoint a county administrator with duties and
responsibilities set by the commissioners court.
(b) The county administrator may require any district,
county or precinct officer of the county to provide any information
necessary for the administrator to perform the administrator's
duties. This provision does not apply to information made
confidential by law.
SECTION 2. Sections 81.003(b) and (c), Local Government
Code, are amended as follows:
(b) The court shall require the clerk to record [in suitable
books] the proceedings of each term of the court. This record may
be paper or electronic. After each term [the county judge or the
presiding member of the court shall read and sign and] the clerk
shall attest to the accuracy of this record.
(c) The clerk shall record the court's authorized
proceedings between terms. This record may be paper or electronic.
[On the first day of the first term after these proceedings, the
county judge or the presiding member of the court shall read and
sign this record] The clerk shall attest to the accuracy of the
record.
The clerk shall attest to the accuracy of the record.
SECTION 3. Section 111.014, Local Government Code, is added
to read as follows:
Sec. 111.014. RESERVE FUND. Notwithstanding any other
provision of this subchapter, a county may establish in the budget a
reserve or contingency fund. The fund must be included in the
itemized budget as the same manner as projects under Section
111.004.
SECTION 4. Section 111.045, Local Government Code, is added
to read as follows:
Sec. 111.045. RESERVE FUND. Notwithstanding any other
provision of this subchapter, a county may establish in the budget a
reserve or contingency fund. The fund must be included in the
itemized budget as the same manner as projects under Section
111.034.
SECTION 5. Section 111.075, Local Government Code, is added
to read as follows:
Sec. 111.075. RESERVE FUND. Notwithstanding any other
provision of this subchapter, a county may establish in the budget a
reserve or contingency fund. The fund must be included in the
itemized budget as the same manner as projects under Section
111.063.
SECTION 6. Section 116.003, Local Government Code, is added
to read as follows:
Sec. 116.003. COLLECTION OF COUNTY FUNDS BY VENDORS.
(a) With the consent of the commissioners court, a county official
or a vendor providing services for the county may collect funds owed
to the county and deposit those funds in a financial institution,
other than the county depository, approved by the commissioners
court. Sec. (b) An account into which funds are deposited under
subsection (a) shall be restricted so that withdrawals may only be
initiated by the county auditor or other county official as
determined by the commissioners court.
(c) Funds belonging to a county under subsection (a) shall
be transmitted to the county depository not later than the third
working day after the date of the initial deposit.
(d) Interest earned on deposits of county funds in financial
institutions other than the county depository must be paid to the
county.
SECTION 7. Section 155.001(a), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The commissioners court, on the request of a county
employee, may authorize a payroll deduction to be made from the
employee's wages or salary for:
(1) payment to a credit union;
(2) payment of membership dues in a labor union or a
bona fide employees association;
(3) payment of fees for parking in a county-owned
facility; [or]
(4) payment to a charitable organization; or
(5) any other purpose requested by the employee.
SECTION 8. Section 155.003(a), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) Public funds may not be used to pay the administrative
costs of making a deduction, except for a deduction relating to the
payment of parking fees in a county-owned facility, or other fees
owed to the county.
SECTION 9. Section 41.008, Government Code, is amended as
follows:
(a) Each district or county attorney shall keep a [register
of all his official acts and reports,] record of all actions or
demands prosecuted or defended by him as district or county
attorney, and all proceedings held in relation to his official
acts.
(b) [A district or county attorney shall keep the register
in proper books obtained by him for that purpose at his own expense]
The record required by subsection (a) may be paper, electronic, or
both. The requirement of subsection (a) is satisfied if the county
maintains a computer record of the actions, demands and
proceedings.
(c) The [register] record shall be available at all times
for inspection by any person appointed to examine it by the governor
or by the commissioners court of a county.
(d) Each district and county attorney shall deliver [the
books that comprise the register] any portion of the record under
the attorney's control to his successor in office.
SECTION 10. Section 270.007, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) A county may sell or license a computer software
application or software system developed by the county for use by
the county. A county may sell or license a computer software
application or software system developed for the county by a person
under contract unless the contract specifically prohibits the
county from selling or licensing the application or system.
(a-1) A county may acquire, apply for, register, secure,
hold, protect, and renew under the laws of the State of Texas, the
United States, any state in the United States, or any nation:
(1) a patent for the invention, discovery, or
improvement of any new and useful process, machine, manufacture,
composition of matter, art, or method, including any new use of a
known process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, art or
method;
(2) a copyright for an original work of authorship
fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later
developed, from which it can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise
communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or
device;
(3) a trademark, service mark, collective mark, or
certification mark for a word, name, symbol, device, or slogan that
the county uses to identify and distinguish its goods and services
from other goods and services; or
(4) other evidence of protection or exclusivity issued
for intellectual property.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsections (f) and
(g), a county may exclusively contract with a person to market the
application or system. A contract under this subsection shall be
awarded only in compliance with Section 262.030, Local Government
Code, concerning the alternative competitive procedure for
insurance or high technology items.
(c) The provisions of the open records law, Chapter 552,
Government Code, governing the cost of making copies of public
records do not apply to a software application or software system
subject to this section.
(d) In this section, "computer software application or
software system" includes documentation of the application or
system, and does not include any hardware or equipment associated
with the application or system.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section,
the provisions of this section apply only to (1) the sale or
licensure of a software application or software system by a county
or (2) a request under Chapter 552, Government Code, for a computer
software application or software system itself, and do not apply to
the cost of production for public inspection or copying of
information collected, assembled, or maintained through the use of
such software, including on-line instructions on computer searches
or information necessary to obtain records from county computer
systems, which cost shall be governed by Subchapter F, Chapter 552,
Government Code, without regard to the cost of developing the
software. Nothing in this section shall preclude header or record
information, necessary for conversion and interpretation of
electronic images, being made available for electronic images of
public records.
(f) Except as provided by Subsection (b), upon request of
any person, a county shall sell or license software under this
section for a price negotiated between the county and the person,
not to exceed the developmental cost to the county. Developmental
cost shall only include costs incurred under a contract to procure
the software or direct employee costs incurred to develop the
software. This subsection does not apply to any county software
that protects county computer systems from unauthorized use or
access.
[(g) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a county shall
sell or license software under Subsection (f) to any person for the
same consideration that the county has sold or licensed the
software to another person.]
[(h)] The provisions of this section shall not authorize the
development by a county of any software application or software
system not otherwise authorized by law.
[(i)] (h) A county may not develop a computer application or
software system for the sole purpose of selling, licensing, or
marketing the software application or software system.
SECTION 11. Section 791.003(4), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(4) "Local government" means a:
(A) county, municipality, special district,
local government corporation, political subdivision corporation,
or other political subdivision of this state or another state; or
(B) combination of two or more of those entities.
SECTION 12. Section 791.013, Government Code, is amended by
adding subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) The agency may acquire, apply for, register, secure,
hold, protect, and renew under the laws of the State of Texas, the
United States, any state in the United States, or any nation:
(1) a patent for the invention, discovery, or
improvement of any new and useful process, machine, manufacture,
composition of matter, art, or method, including any new use of a
known process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, art, or
method;
(2) a copyright for an original work of authorship
fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later
developed, from which it can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise
communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or
device;
(3) a trademark, service mark, collective mark, or
certification mark for a word, name, symbol, device, or slogan that
the agency uses to identify and distinguish its goods and services
from other goods and services; or
(4) other evidence of protection or exclusivity issued
for intellectual property.
SECTION 13. Section 791.025, Government Code, is amended by
adding subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) The parties to the interlocal agreement may create an
administrative agency under Section 791.013.
SECTION 14. Section 114.042, 114.045, 151.902, and 151.903,
Local Government Code, are repealed.
SECTION 15. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003