BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 4529

By: Chavez

Border & Intergovernmental Affairs

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Current law requires the clerk of each court that has an official court reporter to collect a court reporter fee of $15.  This fee is to finance court reporter services and to assist in the payment of court-reporter-related services.  These may include maintaining an adequate number of court reporters to provide services to the courts, obtaining court reporter transcription services, closed-caption transcription machines, Braille transcription services, or other transcription services to comply with state or federal laws.  Increasing the court reporter service fee, which has not changed since 1985, from $15 to $30 would allow counties to cover more of the cost of providing court reporting services. 

C.S.H.B. 4529 increases the court reporter service fee in certain counties from $15 to $30. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 4529 amends the Government Code to require the clerk of each court that has an official court reporter and that serves a county located on the Texas-Mexico border that contains a municipality with a population of 500,000 or more to collect a court reporter service fee of $30 as a court cost in each civil case filed with the clerk to maintain a court reporter who is available for assignment in the court and to make a conforming change.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the act does not receive the necessary vote, the act takes effect September 1, 2009.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 4529 differs from the original by requiring the clerk of each court that serves a county located on the Texas-Mexico border that contains a municipality with a population of 500,000 or more, rather than a county with a population of 600,000 or more that is located on the international border, as in the original, to collect the increased court reporter service fee.