Honorable Will Hartnett, Chair, House Committee on Judiciary
FROM:
John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB3548 by Haggerty (Relating to court reporter service fees.), As Introduced
No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would amend Section 51.601 (a) and Section 103.021 of the Government Code to raise the court reporter service fee from $15 to $30. The fee is imposed as a court cost in each civil case filed with the clerk of a court that maintains a court reporter who is available for assignment in the court.
The bill would take effect immediately if it were to receive the required two-thirds vote in each house; otherwise, it would take effect September 1, 2007.
Local Government Impact
The fiscal impact would vary by court, depending on the number of civil cases filed in courts in which an official court reporter is used. According to the Office of Court Administration (OCA), court reporters are appointed in all district courts. OCA relied on information provided for the Texas Judicial System Directory to estimate the number of constitutional county courts, county courts at law, and statutory probate courts that have an official court reporter. For district courts and those county courts assumed to have an official court reporter, the number of new civil cases filed in fiscal year 2006 to which the increased fee would apply totals 566,056. If that same number of applicable cases were to be filed in fiscal year 2008, the courts statewide would collectively experience a revenue increase of approximately $8.5 million.
Source Agencies:
212 Office of Court Administration, Texas Judicial Council, 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts