| 1 | 1 | | 81R3140 EAH-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Paxton H.B. No. 1039 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to the creation of county databases containing information |
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| 8 | 8 | | on county expenditures. |
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| 9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 112, Local Government |
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| 11 | 11 | | Code, is amended by adding Section 112.011 to read as follows: |
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| 12 | 12 | | Sec. 112.011. SEARCHABLE COUNTY EXPENDITURE DATABASE. (a) |
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| 13 | 13 | | This section applies to a county with a population of 20,000 or |
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| 14 | 14 | | more. |
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| 15 | 15 | | (b) The commissioners court of a county shall establish and |
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| 16 | 16 | | post on the Internet a database of county expenditures that is |
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| 17 | 17 | | electronically searchable by the public except as provided by |
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| 18 | 18 | | Subsection (d). The database must include: |
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| 19 | 19 | | (1) the amount, date, payor, and payee of |
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| 20 | 20 | | expenditures; and |
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| 21 | 21 | | (2) a listing of county expenditures by: |
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| 22 | 22 | | (A) object of expense with links to the warrant |
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| 23 | 23 | | or check register level; and |
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| 24 | 24 | | (B) to the extent maintained by county accounting |
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| 25 | 25 | | systems in a reportable format, class and item levels. |
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| 26 | 26 | | (c) To the extent possible, the county shall present |
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| 27 | 27 | | information in the database established under this section in a |
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| 28 | 28 | | manner that is searchable and intuitive to users. The county shall |
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| 29 | 29 | | enhance and organize the presentation of the information through |
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| 30 | 30 | | the use of graphical representations, such as pie charts, as the |
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| 31 | 31 | | county considers appropriate. At a minimum, the database must |
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| 32 | 32 | | allow users to: |
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| 33 | 33 | | (1) search and aggregate county funding by any element |
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| 34 | 34 | | of the information; |
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| 35 | 35 | | (2) ascertain through a single search the total amount |
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| 36 | 36 | | of county funding awarded to a person by the county; and |
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| 37 | 37 | | (3) download information yielded by a search of the |
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| 38 | 38 | | database. |
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| 39 | 39 | | (d) The county may not allow public access under this |
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| 40 | 40 | | section to a payee's address, except that the county may allow |
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| 41 | 41 | | public access under this section to information identifying the |
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| 42 | 42 | | county in which the payee is located. The county may not allow |
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| 43 | 43 | | public access under this section to information that is identified |
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| 44 | 44 | | by the county as excepted from required disclosure under Chapter |
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| 45 | 45 | | 552, Government Code, or as confidential. |
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| 46 | 46 | | (e) The county may not charge a fee to the public to access |
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| 47 | 47 | | the database. |
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| 48 | 48 | | SECTION 2. Section 112.011, Local Government Code, as added |
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| 49 | 49 | | by this Act, applies only to expenditures made on or after the |
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| 50 | 50 | | effective date of this Act. |
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| 51 | 51 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009. |
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