Texas 2011 - 82nd Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1607 Compare Versions

The same version is selected twice. Please select two different versions to compare.

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Carona S.B. No. 1607
2	2	(In the Senate - Filed March 11, 2011; March 23, 2011, read
3	3	first time and referred to Committee on Jurisprudence;
4	4	April 6, 2011, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 6,
5	5	Nays 0; April 6, 2011, sent to printer.)
6	6
7	7
8	8	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
9	9	AN ACT
10	10	relating to the duties and responsibilities of certain county
11	11	officials and the functions of county government.
12	12	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. Subsection (b), Section 51.305, Government Code,
14	14	is amended to read as follows:
15	15	(b) The commissioners court of a county may adopt a district
16	16	court records archive fee of not more than $5 for the filing of a
17	17	suit, including an appeal from an inferior court, or a
18	18	cross-action, counterclaim, intervention, contempt action, motion
19	19	for new trial, or third-party petition, in a district court or
20	20	statutory county court, if the court exercises concurrent
21	21	jurisdiction over the suit with a district court, in the county as
22	22	part of the county's annual budget. The fee must be set and
23	23	itemized in the county's budget as part of the budget preparation
24	24	process and must be approved in a public meeting. The fee is for
25	25	preservation and restoration services performed in connection with
26	26	maintaining a district court records archive.
27	27	SECTION 2. Subsection (c), Section 51.605, Government Code,
28	28	is amended to read as follows:
29	29	(c) A clerk must each year [annually] complete 20 hours of
30	30	continuing education courses including at least one hour of
31	31	continuing education courses regarding registry funds handled
32	32	under Chapter 117, Local Government Code, in the performance of the
33	33	duties of office. The 20 hours of required continuing education
34	34	courses must include at least one hour of continuing education
35	35	regarding fraudulent court documents and fraudulent document
36	36	filings.
37	37	SECTION 3. Subsection (a), Section 62.106, Government Code,
38	38	is amended to read as follows:
39	39	(a) A person qualified to serve as a petit juror may
40	40	establish an exemption from jury service if the person:
41	41	(1) is over 70 years of age;
42	42	(2) has legal custody of a child younger than 12 [15]
43	43	years of age and the person's service on the jury requires leaving
44	44	the child without adequate supervision;
45	45	(3) is a student of a public or private secondary
46	46	school;
47	47	(4) is a person enrolled and in actual attendance at an
48	48	institution of higher education;
49	49	(5) is an officer or an employee of the senate, the
50	50	house of representatives, or any department, commission, board,
51	51	office, or other agency in the legislative branch of state
52	52	government;
53	53	(6) is summoned for service in a county with a
54	54	population of at least 200,000, unless that county uses a jury plan
55	55	under Section 62.011 and the period authorized under Section
56	56	62.011(b)(5) exceeds two years, and the person has served as a petit
57	57	juror in the county during the 24-month period preceding the date
58	58	the person is to appear for jury service;
59	59	(7) is the primary caretaker of a person who is an
60	60	invalid unable to care for himself;
61	61	(8) except as provided by Subsection (b), is summoned
62	62	for service in a county with a population of at least 250,000 and
63	63	the person has served as a petit juror in the county during the
64	64	three-year period preceding the date the person is to appear for
65	65	jury service; or
66	66	(9) is a member of the United States military forces
67	67	serving on active duty and deployed to a location away from the
68	68	person's home station and out of the person's county of residence.
69	69	SECTION 4. Subchapter E, Chapter 101, Government Code, is
70	70	amended by adding Section 101.08118 to read as follows:
71	71	Sec. 101.08118. ADDITIONAL STATUTORY COUNTY COURT FEES:
72	72	LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE. The clerk of a statutory county court shall
73	73	collect a district court records archive fee of not more than $5
74	74	under Section 118.068, Local Government Code, if adopted by the
75	75	county commissioners court.
76	76	SECTION 5. Subchapter F, Chapter 101, Government Code, is
77	77	amended by adding Section 101.10117 to read as follows:
78	78	Sec. 101.10117. ADDITIONAL STATUTORY PROBATE COURT FEES:
79	79	LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE. The clerk of a statutory probate court shall
80	80	collect a district court records archive fee of not more than $5
81	81	under Section 118.068, Local Government Code, if adopted by the
82	82	county commissioners court.
83	83	SECTION 6. Section 191.0045, Health and Safety Code, is
84	84	amended by amending Subsection (h) and adding Subsection (i) to
85	85	read as follows:
86	86	(h) In addition to other fees collected under this section,
87	87	a local registrar or county clerk may collect a fee not to exceed $1
88	88	for:
89	89	(1) preserving [the preservation of] vital statistics
90	90	records maintained by the registrar or county clerk, including
91	91	birth, death, fetal death, marriage, divorce, and annulment
92	92	records;
93	93	(2) training registrar or county clerk employees
94	94	regarding vital statistics records; and
95	95	(3) ensuring the safety and security of vital
96	96	statistics records.
97	97	(i) A fee under this section shall be collected by the
98	98	registrar or county clerk on the issuance of a vital statistics
99	99	record, including a record issued through a Remote Birth Access
100	100	site.
101	101	SECTION 7. Section 118.051, Local Government Code, is
102	102	amended to read as follows:
103	103	Sec. 118.051. CLERICAL DUTIES. Except as provided by
104	104	Sections [Section] 118.067 and 118.068, the fees listed in this
105	105	subchapter for county civil court dockets under Section 118.052(1)
106	106	and county probate court dockets under Section 118.052(2) are fees
107	107	for all clerical duties performed in connection with the docket,
108	108	including:
109	109	(1) filing, registering or recording, docketing, and
110	110	taxing costs for an application, will, complaint, petition, return,
111	111	document, or proceeding;
112	112	(2) issuing and recording the return of a citation,
113	113	notice, subpoena, commission to take depositions, execution while
114	114	the docket is still open (civil docket), garnishment before
115	115	judgment (civil docket), order, writ, process, or any other
116	116	document authorized or required to be issued by the clerk on which a
117	117	return must be recorded;
118	118	(3) attendances in court as clerk of the court;
119	119	(4) impaneling a jury (civil docket);
120	120	(5) swearing witnesses;
121	121	(6) approving bonds involved in court action; and
122	122	(7) administering oaths.
123	123	SECTION 8. Section 118.052, Local Government Code, is
124	124	amended to read as follows:
125	125	Sec. 118.052. FEE SCHEDULE. Each clerk of a county court
126	126	shall collect the following fees for services rendered to any
127	127	person:
128	128	(1) CIVIL COURT ACTIONS
129	129	(A) Filing of Original Action (Sec. 118.053):
130	130	(i) Garnishment after judgment . . . $15.00
131	131	(ii) All others . . . $40.00
132	132	(B) Filing of Action Other than Original (Sec.
133	133	118.054) . . . $30.00
134	134	(C) Services Rendered After Judgment in Original
135	135	Action (Sec. 118.0545):
136	136	(i) Abstract of judgment . . . $5.00
137	137	(ii) Execution, order of sale, writ, or
138	138	other process . . . $5.00
139	139	(2) PROBATE COURT ACTIONS
140	140	(A) Probate Original Action (Sec. 118.055):
141	141	(i) Probate of a will with independent
142	142	executor, administration with will attached, administration of an
143	143	estate, guardianship or receivership of an estate, or muniment of
144	144	title . . . $40.00
145	145	(ii) Community survivors . . . $40.00
146	146	(iii) Small estates . . . $40.00
147	147	(iv) Declarations of heirship . . . $40.00
148	148	(v) Mental health or chemical dependency
149	149	services . . . $40.00
150	150	(vi) Additional, special fee (Sec. 118.064)
151	151	. . . $5.00
152	152	(B) Services in Pending Probate Action (Sec.
153	153	118.056):
154	154	(i) Filing an inventory and appraisement as
155	155	provided by Section 118.056(d) . . . $25.00
156	156	(ii) Approving and recording bond . . .
157	157	$3.00
158	158	(iii) Administering oath . . . $2.00
159	159	(iv) Filing annual or final account of
160	160	estate . . . $25.00
161	161	(v) Filing application for sale of real or
162	162	personal property . . . $25.00
163	163	(vi) Filing annual or final report of
164	164	guardian of a person . . . $10.00
165	165	(vii) Filing a document not listed under
166	166	this paragraph after the filing of an order approving the inventory
167	167	and appraisement or after the 120th day after the date of the
168	168	initial filing of the action, whichever occurs first, if more than
169	169	25 pages . . . $25.00
170	170	(C) Adverse Probate Action (Sec. 118.057) . . .
171	171	$40.00
172	172	(D) Claim Against Estate (Sec. 118.058) . . .
173	173	$2.00
174	174	(E) Supplemental Court-Initiated Guardianship
175	175	Fee in Probate Original Actions and Adverse Probate Actions (Sec.
176	176	118.067) . . . $20.00
177	177	(3) OTHER FEES
178	178	(A) Issuing Document (Sec. 118.059):
179	179	original document and one copy . . . $4.00
180	180	each additional set of an original and one copy
181	181	. . . $4.00
182	182	(B) Certified Papers (Sec. 118.060):
183	183	for the clerk's certificate . . . $5.00
184	184	plus a fee per page or part of a page of . . . $1.00
185	185	(C) Noncertified Papers (Sec. 118.0605):
186	186	for each page or part of a page . . . $1.00
187	187	(D) Letters Testamentary, Letter of
188	188	Guardianship, Letter of Administration, or Abstract of Judgment
189	189	(Sec. 118.061) . . . $2.00
190	190	(E) Safekeeping of Wills (Sec. 118.062) . . .
191	191	$5.00
192	192	(F) Mail Service of Process (Sec. 118.063) . . .
193	193	same as sheriff
194	194	(G) Records Management and Preservation Fee
195	195	. . . $5.00
196	196	(H) District Court Records Archive Fee . . .
197	197	$5.00
198	198	SECTION 9. Subchapter C, Chapter 118, Local Government
199	199	Code, is amended by adding Section 118.068 to read as follows:
200	200	Sec. 118.068. DISTRICT COURT RECORDS ARCHIVE FEE. (a) If
201	201	adopted by the commissioners court, the clerk of a county court
202	202	shall collect a district court records archive fee of not more than
203	203	$5 when a person files a suit in a statutory county court for which
204	204	the court exercises concurrent jurisdiction with a district court,
205	205	including an appeal from an inferior court, or a cross-action,
206	206	counterclaim, intervention, contempt action, motion for new trial,
207	207	or third-party petition.
208	208	(b) The fee imposed under this section does not apply to a
209	209	filing by a state agency.
210	210	(c) The county clerk, after collecting a fee under this
211	211	section, shall pay the fee to the county treasurer, or to an
212	212	official who discharges the duties commonly delegated to the county
213	213	treasurer, for deposit to the district court records technology
214	214	fund established under Section 51.305, Government Code.
215	215	SECTION 10. Subsection (a), Section 132.002, Local
216	216	Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
217	217	(a) The commissioners court of a county may authorize a
218	218	county or precinct officer who collects fees, fines, court costs,
219	219	or other charges on behalf of the county or the state to accept
220	220	payment by credit card or check verified electronically of a fee,
221	221	fine, court costs, or other charge. The commissioners court may
222	222	also authorize a county or precinct officer to collect and retain a
223	223	fee for processing the payment by credit card or check verified
224	224	electronically.
225	225	SECTION 11. Section 191.030, Health and Safety Code, is
226	226	repealed.
227	227	SECTION 12. (a) Section 51.607, Government Code, does not
228	228	apply to a fee imposed under Section 118.068, Local Government
229	229	Code, as added by this Act, or Section 101.08118 or 101.10117,
230	230	Government Code, as added by this Act.
231	231	(b) The change in law made by this Act applies only to the
232	232	imposition of a fee on a filing in a civil action or proceeding made
233	233	on or after the effective date of an order of a commissioners court
234	234	authorizing imposition of the fee. The imposition of a fee on a
235	235	filing made before that date is governed by the law in effect on the
236	236	date the filing was made, and the former law is continued in effect
237	237	for that purpose.
238	238	SECTION 13. This Act takes effect immediately if it
239	239	receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each
240	240	house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.
241	241	If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate
242	242	effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
243	243	* * * * *