By: Gooden, Pitts, Jackson H.B. No. 1614
(Senate Sponsor - Deuell)
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 19, 2011;
April 26, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on
Jurisprudence; May 12, 2011, reported favorably by the following
vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 12, 2011, sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to fees for process server certification.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 51, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 51.008 to read as follows:
Sec. 51.008. FEES FOR PROCESS SERVER CERTIFICATION.
(a) The process server review board established by supreme court
order may recommend to the supreme court the fees to be charged for
process server certification and renewal of certification. The
supreme court must approve the fees recommended by the process
server review board before the fees may be collected.
(b) If a certification is issued or renewed for a term that
is less than the certification period provided by supreme court
rule, the fee for the certification shall be prorated so that the
process server pays only that portion of the fee that is allocable
to the period during which the certification is valid. On renewal
of the certification on the new expiration date, the process server
must pay the entire certification renewal fee.
(c) The Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial
System may collect the fees recommended by the process server
review board and approved by the supreme court. Fees collected
under this section shall be sent to the comptroller for deposit to
the credit of the general revenue fund and may be appropriated only
to the office for purposes of this section.
SECTION 2. (a) The fees recommended and approved under
Section 51.008, Government Code, as added by this Act, apply to:
(1) each person who holds a process server
certification on the effective date of this Act; and
(2) each person who applies for process server
certification on or after the effective date of this Act.
(b) The Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial
System shall prorate the process server certification fee so that a
person who holds a process server certification on the effective
date of this Act pays only that portion of the fee that is allocable
to the period during which the certification is valid. On renewal
of the certification on the new expiration date, the entire
certification renewal fee is payable.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
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