Texas 2013 - 83rd Regular

Texas House Bill HB1728 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Ashby (Senate Sponsor - Seliger) H.B. No. 1728
2	2	(In the Senate - Received from the House April 29, 2013;
3	3	April 30, 2013, read first time and referred to Committee on
4	4	Jurisprudence; May 16, 2013, reported favorably by the following
5	5	vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 16, 2013, sent to printer.)
6	6
7	7
8	8	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
9	9	AN ACT
10	10	relating to the use of an unsworn declaration, the disposition of
11	11	certain court exhibits, and the seal of a constitutional county
12	12	court or county clerk.
13	13	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
14	14	SECTION 1. Section 132.001(b), Civil Practice and Remedies
15	15	Code, is amended to read as follows:
16	16	(b) This section does not apply to a lien required to be
17	17	filed with a county clerk, an instrument concerning real or
18	18	personal property required to be filed with a county clerk, or an
19	19	oath of office or an oath required to be taken before a specified
20	20	official other than a notary public.
21	21	SECTION 2. Article 2.21(e), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
22	22	amended to read as follows:
23	23	(e) An eligible exhibit may be disposed of as provided by
24	24	this article:
25	25	(1) on or after the first anniversary of the date on
26	26	which a conviction becomes final in the case, if the case is a
27	27	misdemeanor or a felony for which the sentence imposed by the court
28	28	is five years or less; [or]
29	29	(2) on or after the second anniversary of the date on
30	30	which a conviction becomes final in the case, if the case is a
31	31	non-capital felony for which the sentence imposed by the court is
32	32	greater than five years;
33	33	(3) on or after the first anniversary of the date of
34	34	the acquittal of a defendant; or
35	35	(4) on or after the first anniversary of the date of
36	36	the death of a defendant.
37	37	SECTION 3. Section 26.005, Government Code, is amended by
38	38	amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (c) and (d) to read
39	39	as follows:
40	40	(b) The [impress of the] seal shall be impressed on
41	41	[attached to] all process other than subpoenas issued out of the
42	42	court and shall be used to authenticate the official acts of the
43	43	county clerk and county judge. The seal may be created using
44	44	electronic means, including by using an optical disk or another
45	45	electronic reproduction technique, if the means by which the seal
46	46	is impressed on an original document created using the same type of
47	47	electronic means does not allow for changes, additions, or
48	48	deletions to be made to the document.
49	49	(c) The signature of the county clerk may be affixed on an
50	50	original document using electronic means, provided those means meet
51	51	the requirements described by Subsection (b).
52	52	(d) A seal impressed or a signature affixed by electronic
53	53	means may be delivered or transmitted electronically.
54	54	SECTION 4. Section 191.001(b), Local Government Code, is
55	55	amended to read as follows:
56	56	(b) The county clerk shall use the county court seal to
57	57	authenticate all of the clerk's official acts as county recorder.
58	58	The clerk may affix the seal on an original document by stamp,
59	59	electronic means, facsimile, or other means that legibly reproduces
60	60	all of the required elements of the seal for the purposes of
61	61	reproduction.
62	62	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
63	63	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
64	64	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
65	65	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
66	66	Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
67	67	* * * * *