88R3920 JTZ-D
By: Harless H.B. No. 1182
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to judicial statistics and other pertinent information
gathered by the Texas Judicial Council and certain populous
counties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 71.035, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (a-1), (a-2), and
(a-3) to read as follows:
(a) The council shall uniformly gather judicial statistics
and other pertinent information, including case-level information
on the amount and character of the civil and criminal business
transacted by each district court, statutory county court, county
court, municipal court, and justice court, from [the several state]
judges, justices, court clerks, and other court officials of this
state.
(a-1) The [In addition, the] council shall implement a
monthly tracking system to ensure accountability for counties and
courts which participate in the statewide integrated system for
child support, medical support, and dental support enforcement
established under Section 231.0011, Family Code. As a duty of
office, the district clerks and county clerks serving the affected
courts shall report monthly such information as may be required by
the council, including, at a minimum, the time required to enforce
cases from date of delinquency, from date of filing, and from date
of service until date of disposition. Such information as is
necessary to complete the report and not directly within the
control of the district or county clerk, such as date of
delinquency, shall be provided to the clerk by the child support
registry or by the enforcement agency providing Title IV-D
enforcement services in the court.
(a-2) A [The] monthly report required by Subsection (a) or
(a-1) must [shall] be transmitted to the Office of Court
Administration of the Texas Judicial System no later than the 20th
day of the month following the month reported, in the [such] form
and manner [as may be] prescribed by the office [Office of Court
Administration], which may include electronic data transfer. The
office shall publish the information for each court on the office's
public Internet website in a searchable format.
(a-3) In a county with a population greater than one
million, a court official for each court in the county shall submit
to the appropriate county official for publication on the county's
public Internet website a copy of each monthly report required
under Subsections (a) and (a-1) within the time required by
Subsection (a-2). The county shall publish the information for
each court on the county's Internet website in a searchable format
[Copies of such reports shall be maintained in the office of the
appropriate district or county clerk for a period of at least two
years and shall be available to the public for inspection and
reproduction].
SECTION 2. As soon as practicable after the effective date
of this Act, the Texas Judicial Council shall adopt any rules
necessary to implement the changes in law made by this Act.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.