Honorable Jeff Leach, Chair, House Committee on Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence
FROM:
John McGeady, Assistant Director Sarah Keyton, Assistant Director Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB1380 by Murr (Relating to the jurisdiction of certain courts and fees collected by a justice court; increasing a fee.), As Introduced
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would amend the Government Code to expand the justification of constitutional county courts and justice courts by raising the jurisdictional cap in civil cases. The bill would amend the Local Government Code to increase the filing fee for cases filed in justice courts and eliminate references to small claims courts.
Based on the analysis of the Office of Court Administration (OCA), duties and responsibilities associated with implementing the provisions of the bill could be accomplished using existing resources.
The bill would take effect September 1, 2019.
Local Government Impact
According to the OCA, although the bill would expand civil jurisdiction, it does not create any new causes of action or impose new obligations on the courts and any increase in workload associated with implementing the provisions of the bill could be handled using existing resources. OCA anticipates the fee increase will double the revenue from justice court filing fees to the justice courts and counties; however, due to volume differences, this impact will vary from county to county.
Source Agencies:
212 Office of Court Administration, Texas Judicial Council