BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 3124

By: Lucio III

County Affairs

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

County clerks are currently required to record a wide variety of documents, such as deeds, marriage licenses, cattle brands, probate documents, case documentation, or voter registration lists. Interested parties contend that while the state's court system relies heavily on the county to record these documents, the state does not otherwise designate a specific source of funding for the support and maintenance of the records system. H.B. 3124 seeks to assist a county in supporting and maintaining its records system by authorizing a county commissioners court to impose a records technology and infrastructure fee.

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

H.B. 3124 amends the Local Government Code to authorize a county commissioners court to adopt a $2.00 records technology and infrastructure fee as part of the county's annual budget and requires the fee to be set and itemized in the county's budget as part of the budget preparation process. The bill requires the fee to be paid to and collected by a county clerk or county judge, as applicable, at the time a person pays a fee for records management and preservation when filing any civil case or a records archive fee for probate matters and requires the fee to be deposited in a separate records technology and infrastructure account in the county's general fund. The bill establishes that any interest accrued remains with that account, limits the use of funds generated from the collection of such a fee to technology and infrastructure for the maintenance of county records and the operation of the county records system, and specifies that the fee is subject to approval by the commissioners court in a public meeting during the budget process.

H.B. 3124 amends the Government Code to make conforming changes.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2013.