By: Cook (Senate Sponsor - Parker) H.B. No. 1989

(In the Senate - Received from the House April 26, 2023; April 27, 2023, read first time and referred to Committee on Local Government; May 10, 2023, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; May 10, 2023, sent to printer.) Click here to see the committee vote

COMMITTEE VOTE

YeaNayAbsentPNV

BettencourtX

SpringerX

EckhardtX

GutierrezX

HallX

NicholsX

ParkerX

PaxtonX

WestX

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the fees assessed by a district clerk for copies of certain court documents.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 51.318, Government Code, is amended by amending Subsection (e) and adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:

(e) The district clerk may not charge [United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement or United States Citizenship and Immigration Services] a fee for a copy of any document on file or of record in the clerk's office relating to an individual's criminal history, regardless of whether the document is certified, to:

(1) United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement;

(2) United States Citizenship and Immigration Services; or

(3) a criminal justice agency that requests the document for a criminal justice purpose, including a request to determine an individual's eligibility to purchase a firearm.

(f) In this section, "criminal justice agency" and "criminal justice purpose" have the meanings assigned by Section 411.082.

SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only to a fee for a copy of a court document requested on or after the effective date of this Act. A fee for a copy of a court document requested before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect when the copy was requested, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.

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