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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to electronic publication of legal notice. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Title 10, General Government Code, is amended by |
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adding Chapter 2311 to read as follows: |
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CHAPTER 2311. ELECTRONIC PUBLICATION OF LEGAL NOTICE |
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Sec. 2311.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: |
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(a) "Legal notice" or "notice" means any matter that, |
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pursuant to law or rule, is required to be officially advertised. |
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(b) "Public notice website" means an Internet website that |
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is maintained by a third party under contract with the state, which |
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electronically publishes legal notices. |
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Sec. 2311.002. OFFICE OF COURT ADMINISTRATION AUTHORITY TO |
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CREATE AN ELECTRONIC PUBLIC NOTICE WEBSITE. (a) The Office of |
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Court Administration shall enter into an agreement with a website |
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service provider to maintain a public notice website. |
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(b) Any legal notice that is required to be published may be |
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published on the public notice website. |
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Sec. 2311.003. PERMISSIVE ELECTRONIC PUBLICATION OF LEGAL |
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NOTICE. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law and in |
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addition to other public or legal notice requirements, when public |
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or legal notice is required by law to be posted in a newspaper |
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publication or at a courthouse, notice also may be made in the same |
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form on the Internet through a public notice website meeting the |
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requirements of this act. |
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(b) The submission of the public or legal notice may be made |
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at the courthouse, if possible, or may be made from a private or |
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public access computer terminal. A reasonable fee, not to exceed |
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ten dollars ($10), may be charged for the provision of this service |
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and the maintenance of the public notice website to compensate the |
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provider of the public notice website. The state is not responsible |
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for funding the operation or maintenance of a public notice |
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website. |
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(c) A public notice website provider shall submit a status |
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report twice yearly to the director of the Administrative Office of |
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Courts indicating compliance with statutory requirements governing |
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the posting of public or legal notices as applicable to an |
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Internet-based website. In addition, a public notice website shall |
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submit to a quality review by the Director of the Administrative |
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Office of Courts if, in his or her discretion, he or she finds a |
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quality review necessary. If a quality review is requested, full |
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access to the technical and informational operations of the public |
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notice website provider must be provided. |
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Sec. 2311.004. DUTIES OF AN ELECTRONIC PUBLIC NOTICE |
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WEBSITE PROVIDER. (a) In addition to other requirements contained |
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in this act, a public notice website provider also shall do all of |
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the following: |
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(1) Establish and operate the public notice website at |
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no cost to the Office of Court Administration or other governmental |
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entity. |
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(2) Maintain the public notice website without |
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interruption 24 hours per day, seven days a week, each day of the |
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year; and the public notice website, including all its features, |
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must be fully publicly accessible at all times. |
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(3) Maintain adequate systematic protection, back-up, |
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and contingency planning in the event of power outages, systemic |
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failures, or other unforeseen difficulties. |
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(4) Have the right to hold and use a domain name which |
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is easily recognizable and understandable by the citizens of the |
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state. The domain name should indicate both functionality and |
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geography. The right to use the domain name and Internet location |
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must be maintained at the expense of the public notice website |
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provider. |
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(5) Not infringe on a legally protected right such as a |
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federal provisional patent application, registered patent, or |
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prior invention to operate a website of this nature, and its right |
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to operate without infringement must be clear and without the |
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possibility of causing subsequent interruption to the site by |
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virtue of legal process. |
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(6) Possess appropriate hardware infrastructure and |
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intellectual property for feasible processes to deploy a state and |
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national website with proper methodology for communication with the |
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court systems of the state. |
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(7) Have sufficient minimal capital requirements to |
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ensure its smooth and uninterrupted ongoing operation and shall |
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certify this to the Director of the Office of Court Administration |
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upon request. |
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(8) Provide a reasonable plan for the implementation |
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of the public notice website where public or legal notices may be |
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posted with reasonable ease onto the public notice website directly |
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from the courts of this state and must be ready to reasonably |
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demonstrate and implement the technology necessary at no cost to |
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the state. The public notice website provider shall provide the |
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necessary personnel to ensure ongoing communication with the |
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various courts of the state concerning the smooth flow of data |
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transmission and posting at no cost to the state. |
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(9) Not raise the cost for providing the website |
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without prior reasonable consultation with the Director of the |
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Office of Court Administration and not seek, in any event, to raise |
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the cost of posting a notice for the first two years of operation. |
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(10) Ensure that individual notices shall include at |
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least the same information and are displayed on the public notice |
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website using similar display and print standards as are |
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established for newspaper postings made pursuant to other |
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applicable public notice statutory requirements. |
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(11) Ensure that individual notices are displayed for |
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not less than the length of time requested by the posting entity. |
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At the end of the posting time, the public notice website provider, |
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with prior approval of the person or entity that arranged for the |
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posting and for a reasonable fee, may send a reminder to the entity |
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that the notice is due to expire. |
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(12) Include an archives feature, accessible, free of |
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charge, as a public service at all times and also shall include a |
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function which allows the public to determine which notices have |
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been posted in a given county. |
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(13) Provide that legal notices, both current and |
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archived, are publicly searchable by keyword, by either party to a |
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law suit, by courthouse file number, and by publication area. |
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(14) Not charge a fee to a person accessing, |
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searching, or using a public notice website function, except for |
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the posting of a notice as allowed by this act. |
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(15) Post a bond of reasonable amount sufficient to |
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insure the public interest as may be required by the Office of Court |
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Administration. |
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SECTION 2. This act takes effect September 1, 2007. |