LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
 
FISCAL NOTE, 80TH LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION
 
March 13, 2007

TO:
Honorable Jeff Wentworth, Chair, Senate Committee on Jurisprudence
 
FROM:
John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
 
IN RE:
SB699 by Carona (Relating to the use of driver's license and social security numbers in certain court documents.), As Introduced

No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

The bill would amend the Civil Practice and Remedies Code to require in a civil action filed in a district court, county court, statutory county court, or stautory probate court, that each party or their attorney to provide to the court clerk as proof of their identity, their driver's license number and their social security number. The clerk would be required to take appropriate steps to redact all but the last two numbers of the driver's license number and all but the last four digits of the social security number. The court clerk would be required to request the information on or before the 21st day after the date a party files its initial pleading if the proof of the information is not contained in the initial pleading. 

Local Government Impact

County clerks and district clerks that provided the Legislative Budget Board with fiscal data regarding the proposed change in statute indicated the increase in costs that would result from implementing provisions of the bill would be insignificant, with estimated amounts varying by clerk's office, depending on the number of civil actions filed in each.

Cost estimates included $523,100 the first year and $21,100 to $24,100 in the four subsequent years for the Tom Green County District Clerk; $60,000 the first year and no new costs in subsequent years in Harris County; $177,116 the first year in the Tarrant County District Clerk's office, and 165,508 the second year, reaching $177,904 by 2012 (insignificant as part of Tarrant County's overall budget and moderately significant as part of just the clerk's office); and $27,000 the first year of implementation for the Travis County District Clerk's office.

The Comptroller of Public Accounts received similar information in contacting various other counties, including an estimate by the Nueces County/District Clerk of $119,748, not including the cost of redacting technology.



Source Agencies:
304 Comptroller of Public Accounts
LBB Staff:
JOB, MN, DB