By: Hilderbran H.B. No. 892
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the timely deposit of, and depositories for, certain
county funds and registry funds.
       BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
       SECTION 1.  Section 113.022, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
       Sec. 113.022.  TIME FOR MAKING DEPOSITS. (a) A county
officer who receives funds shall deposit the funds with the county
treasurer on or before the next regular business day after the date
on which the funds are received. If this deadline is not met, the
officer must deposit the funds, without exception, on or before the
seventh business day after the day on which the funds are received.
However, in a county with fewer than 50,000 inhabitants, the
commissioners court may extend the period during which funds must
be deposited with the county treasurer, but the period may not
exceed 30 days after the date the funds are received.
       (b)  A county treasurer shall deposit the funds received
under Subsection (a) in the county depository in accordance with
Section 116.113(a).  In all cases, the treasurer shall deposit the
funds on or before the seventh business day after the date the
treasurer receives the funds.
       SECTION 2.  Sections 116.021(a) and (b), Local Government
Code, are amended to read as follows:
       (a)  The commissioners court of a county [at its May regular
term immediately following each general election for state and
county officers] shall contract with one or more banks in the county
and enter a contract with each selected bank for the deposit of the
county's public funds. The county shall contract with a bank under
this section for a two-year or four-year contract term. On
expiration of a contract under this section, the contract may be
renewed for two years under terms negotiated by the commissioners
court.
       (b)  If the contract is for a four-year term, the contract
shall allow the county [bank] to establish, on the basis of
negotiations with the bank [county], new interest rates and
financial terms of the contract that will take effect during the
final two years of the four-year contract [if:
             [(1)  the new financial terms do not increase the
prices to the county by more than 10 percent; and
             [(2)  the county has the option to choose to use the
initial variable interest rate option or to change to the new fixed
or variable interest rate options proposed by the bank].
       SECTION 3.  Section 116.022(a), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
       (a)  Once each week for at least 20 days before the date of a
meeting of the [May regular term of a] commissioners court at which
the court will make a depository contract, the county judge shall
place over the judge's name in a newspaper published in the county a
notice that the commissioners court intends to make the contract. A
notice shall also be posted at the courthouse door of the county.
       SECTION 4.  Section 116.023(a), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
       (a)  A bank in the county that wants to be a county depository
must deliver its application to the county judge on or before a date
set by the commissioners court [the first day of the term of the
commissioners court at which depositories are to be selected].
       SECTION 5.  Section 116.024(a), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
       (a)  At the meeting [10 a.m. on the first day of each term] at
which banks are to be selected as county depositories, the
commissioners court shall:
             (1)  enter in the minutes of the court all applications
filed with the county judge;
             (2)  consider all applications; and
             (3)  select the qualified applicants that offer the
most favorable terms and conditions for the handling of the county
funds.
       SECTION 6.  Sections 117.021(a) and (c), Local Government
Code, are amended to read as follows:
       (a)  The commissioners court of a county [at its May regular
term after a general election for state and county officers] shall
receive an application from a federally insured bank or banks in the
county to be the depository for a special account held by the county
clerk and the district clerks. The county shall contract with a
federally insured bank or banks under this section and enter a
contract with each selected bank for a two-year or four-year
[contract] term. The contract may, on request by the clerk and
approval of the commissioners court, include a provision that the
funds in a special account earn interest. A request from the clerk
that an account earn interest must be made, in writing, to the
commissioners court not later than the 30th day before the date the
county gives notice under Section 117.022 and shall be entered in
the minutes of the court. On expiration of a contract under this
subsection, the contract may be renewed for two years under terms
negotiated by the commissioners court.
       (c)  A bank must file its application on or before a date set
by the commissioners court [10 a.m. on the first day of the term].
The application must be accompanied by a certified check or
cashier's check for at least one-half of one percent of the average
daily balance of the registry funds held by the county clerk and the
district clerk during the preceding calendar year, as determined by
the county clerk and the district clerk on or before the 10th day
before the date the application is required to be filed. A
certified check or cashier's check that complies with this section
is a good-faith guarantee on the part of the applicant that if its
application is accepted it will execute the bond required under
this subchapter. If the bank selected as depository does not
provide the bond, the county shall retain the amount of the check as
liquidated damages and the county shall select another depository
as provided by this subchapter.
       SECTION 7.  Section 117.023(a), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
       (a)  At the meeting [10 a.m. on the first day of each term] at
which banks are to be selected [the commissioners court is required
to receive applications] to serve as the depository for registry
funds held by the county clerk and the district clerk, the
commissioners court shall enter the applications in the minutes of
the court and select a depository.
       SECTION 8.  Section 117.025(b), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
       (b)  A designation under Subsection (a) is effective until
the designation and qualification of a successor depository or
until April 15 following the expiration of the contract [term in
which a depository must be selected under this subchapter],
whichever is earlier. If the term of a depository ends before the
designation and qualification of a successor, the depository shall
pay to the clerk in whose name the account is carried all registry
funds due or on deposit.
       SECTION 9.  Sections 116.021(c) and 117.021(d), Local
Government Code, are repealed.
       SECTION 10.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2007.