By: Bohac (Senate Sponsor - Bettencourt) H.B. No. 1681
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 7, 2015;
May 11, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on
Intergovernmental Relations; May 22, 2015, reported adversely,
with favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 7,
Nays 0; May 22, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 1681 By: Bettencourt
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the authority of a county clerk to require an individual
to present photo identification to file certain documents.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 191, Local Government Code, is amended
by adding Section 191.010 to read as follows:
Sec. 191.010. AUTHORITY TO REQUIRE PHOTO IDENTIFICATION TO
FILE CERTAIN DOCUMENTS. (a) In this section, "photo
identification" means one of the following forms of photo
identification:
(1) a driver's license, election identification
certificate, or personal identification card issued to the person
by any state or territory of the United States that has not expired
or that expired no earlier than 60 days before the date of
presentation;
(2) a United States military identification card that
contains the person's photograph that has not expired or that
expired no earlier than 60 days before the date of presentation;
(3) a United States citizenship certificate issued to
the person that contains the person's photograph;
(4) a United States passport or a passport issued by a
foreign government recognized by the United States issued to the
person that has not expired or that expired no earlier than 60 days
before the date of presentation; or
(5) a license to carry a concealed handgun issued to
the person by the Department of Public Safety that has not expired
or that expired no earlier than 60 days before the date of
presentation.
(b) A county clerk may require a person presenting a
document in person for filing in the real property records of the
county to present a photo identification to the clerk. The clerk
may copy the photo identification or record information from the
photo identification. The clerk may not charge a person a fee to
copy or record the information from a photo identification.
(c) Information copied or recorded from the photo
identification is confidential.
(d) A document filed with a county clerk is not invalid
solely because the county clerk did not copy a photo identification
or record the information from the photo identification.
SECTION 2. 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, 2015.
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