82R12075 CAE-D
By: Otto H.B. No. 3648
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to state fiscal matters related to the judiciary.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
ARTICLE 1. REDUCTION OF EXPENDITURES AND IMPOSITION
OF CHARGES GENERALLY
SECTION 1.01. This article applies to any state agency that
receives an appropriation under Article IV of the General
Appropriations Act.
SECTION 1.02. Notwithstanding any other statute of this
state, each state agency to which this article applies is
authorized to reduce or recover expenditures by:
(1) consolidating any reports or publications the
agency is required to make and filing or delivering any of those
reports or publications exclusively by electronic means;
(2) extending the effective period of any license,
permit, or registration the agency grants or administers;
(3) entering into a contract with another governmental
entity or with a private vendor to carry out any of the agency's
duties;
(4) adopting additional eligibility requirements for
persons who receive benefits under any law the agency administers
to ensure that those benefits are received by the most deserving
persons consistent with the purposes for which the benefits are
provided;
(5) providing that any communication between the
agency and another person and any document required to be delivered
to or by the agency, including any application, notice, billing
statement, receipt, or certificate, may be made or delivered by
e-mail or through the Internet; and
(6) adopting and collecting fees or charges to cover
any costs the agency incurs in performing its lawful functions.
ARTICLE 2. REDUCTION IN GENERAL APPROPRIATIONS ACT
SECTION 2.01. An active, former, or retired visiting judge
or justice is not entitled to an amount from the state for expenses,
per diem, travel, or salary that exceeds the amount authorized for
those purposes by the General Appropriations Act.
SECTION 2.02. A local administrative district judge is not
entitled to a salary from the state under Section 659.012(d),
Government Code, that exceeds the amount authorized for that salary
by the General Appropriations Act.
SECTION 2.03. An active district judge is not entitled to
travel expenses under Section 24.019, Government Code, in an amount
that exceeds the amount authorized for those expenses by the
General Appropriations Act.
SECTION 2.04. A judge, justice, or prosecuting attorney is
not entitled to an amount from the state for a salary, a salary
supplement, office expenses or reimbursement of office expenses, or
travel that exceeds the amount authorized for those purposes by the
General Appropriations Act.
SECTION 2.05. (a) A county is not entitled to receive from
the state supplemental salary compensation for county prosecutors
under Section 46.0031, Government Code, or longevity pay
supplements reimbursement under Section 41.255, Government Code,
or any other supplements for prosecutors, in an amount that exceeds
the amount appropriated for those purposes by the General
Appropriations Act.
(b) A county is not entitled to state contributions for
salaries or supplements under Chapter 25 or 26, Government Code, in
an amount that exceeds the amounts appropriated for those purposes
in the General Appropriations Act.
(c) A county is not entitled to reimbursement under Article
11.071, Code of Criminal Procedure, for reimbursement for
compensation of counsel under that article in an amount that
exceeds the amount appropriated for that purpose in the General
Appropriations Act.
SECTION 2.06. A person reimbursed by the state for travel
and expenses for attendance as a witness as provided by Article
35.27, Code of Criminal Procedure, is not entitled to an amount that
exceeds the amount appropriated for that purpose by the General
Appropriations Act.
ARTICLE 3. FISCAL MATTERS REGARDING ASSISTANT PROSECUTORS
SECTION 3.01. Section 41.255(f), Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(f) A county is not required to pay longevity supplements if
the county does not receive funds from the comptroller as provided
by Subsection (d). If sufficient funds are not available to meet
the requests made by counties for funds for payment of assistant
prosecutors qualified for longevity supplements:
(1) [,] the comptroller shall apportion the available
funds to the eligible counties by reducing the amount payable to
each county on an equal percentage basis;
(2) a county is not entitled to receive the balance of
the funds at a later date; and
(3) the longevity pay program under this chapter is
suspended to the extent of the insufficiency. [A county that
receives from the comptroller an amount less than the amount
certified by the county to the comptroller under Subsection (d)
shall apportion the funds received by reducing the amount payable
to eligible assistant prosecutors on an equal percentage basis, but
is not required to use county funds to make up any difference
between the amount certified and the amount received.]
SECTION 3.02. Section 41.255(g), Government Code, is
repealed.
ARTICLE 4. FISCAL MATTERS REGARDING PROCESS SERVERS
SECTION 4.01. 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.
(d) Fees collected under this section may be appropriated to
the Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial System for
the support of regulatory programs for process servers and
guardians.
SECTION 4.02. Subchapter B, Chapter 72, Government Code, is
amended by adding Sections 72.013 and 72.014 to read as follows:
Sec. 72.013. PROCESS SERVER REVIEW BOARD. A person
appointed to the process server review board established by supreme
court order serves without compensation but is entitled to
reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses incurred in
traveling and performing official board duties.
Sec. 72.014. CERTIFICATION DIVISION. The office shall
establish a certification division to oversee the regulatory
programs assigned to the office by law or by the supreme court.
SECTION 4.03. (a) The fees recommended and approved under
Section 51.008, Government Code, as added by this article, 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.
ARTICLE 5. FISCAL MATTERS REGARDING JUDICIAL AND COURT PERSONNEL
TRAINING FUND
SECTION 5.01. Section 56.001, Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 56.001. JUDICIAL AND COURT PERSONNEL TRAINING FUND.
(a) The judicial and court personnel training fund is an account in
the general revenue fund. Money in the judicial and court personnel
training fund may be appropriated only to [created in the state
treasury and shall be administered by] the court of criminal
appeals for the uses authorized in Section 56.003.
(b) [(i)] On requisition of the court of criminal appeals,
the comptroller shall draw a warrant on the fund for the amount
specified in the requisition for a use authorized in Section
56.003. A warrant may not exceed the amount appropriated for any
one fiscal year. [At the end of each state fiscal year, any
unexpended balance in the fund in excess of $500,000 shall be
transferred to the general revenue fund.]
ARTICLE 6. FISCAL MATTERS REGARDING PAYMENT OF JURORS
SECTION 6.01. Section 61.001(a), Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (c), a person who
reports for jury service in response to the process of a court is
entitled to receive as reimbursement for travel and other expenses
an amount:
(1) not less than $6 for the first day or fraction of
the first day the person is in attendance in court in response to
the process and discharges the person's duty for that day; and
(2) not less than the amount provided in the General
Appropriations Act [$40] for each day or fraction of each day the
person is in attendance in court in response to the process after
the first day and discharges the person's duty for that day.
SECTION 6.02. Sections 61.0015(a) and (e), Government Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(a) The state shall reimburse a county the appropriate
amount as provided in the General Appropriations Act [$34 a day] for
the reimbursement paid under Section 61.001 to a person who reports
for jury service in response to the process of a court for each day
or fraction of each day after the first day in attendance in court
in response to the process.
(e) If a payment on a county's claim for reimbursement is
reduced under Subsection (d), or if a county fails to file the claim
for reimbursement in a timely manner, the comptroller may, as
provided by rule, apportion the payment of the balance owed the
county. The comptroller's rules may permit a different rate of
reimbursement for each quarterly payment under Subsection (c)
[shall:
[(1) pay the balance owed to the county when
sufficient money described by Subsection (c) is available; or
[(2) carry forward the balance owed to the county and
pay the balance to the county when the next payment is required].
ARTICLE 7. EFFECTIVE DATE
SECTION 7.01. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.