BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Research Center S.B. 1524
By: Zaffirini
AUTHOR'S/SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT
Current law permits a local registrar to assess and collect a $1 fee for the preservation of certain vital statistics records, which include birth, death, and fetal death records. County clerks who are not certified as the local registrar are not able to assess and collect these fees, which leads to inconsistent fee assessments.
S.B. 1524 allows county clerks to assess a fee of $1 for the preservation of certain vital statistics records and clarifies that the fee applies to birth records kept through the Remote Birth Access site. It creates uniformity in fees regardless of the county from which the information is requested.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS
SECTION 1. Amends Sections 191.0045(d), (g), and (h), Health and Safety Code, as follows:
(d) Requires a local registrar or county clerk who issues a certified copy of birth or death certificate to charge the same fees as charged by the bureau of vital statistics, including the additional fee required under Subsection (e), except as provided by Subsections (g) and (h).
(g) Makes conforming changes.
(h) Requires that a fee under this section to be collected by the registrar or county clerk on the issuance of vital statistics record, including a record issued through a Remote Birth Access site. Makes conforming changes.
SECTION 2. Makes application of this Act prospective.
SECTION 3. Effective date: September 1, 2005.