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