By: Cook (Senate Sponsor - Parker) H.B. No. 1989
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 26, 2023;
April 27, 2023, read first time and referred to Committee on Local
Government; May 10, 2023, reported favorably by the following
vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; May 10, 2023, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE VOTE
YeaNayAbsentPNV
BettencourtX
SpringerX
EckhardtX
GutierrezX
HallX
NicholsX
ParkerX
PaxtonX
WestX
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the fees assessed by a district clerk for copies of
certain court documents.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 51.318, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (e) and adding Subsection (f) to read as
follows:
(e) The district clerk may not charge [United States
Immigration and Customs Enforcement or United States Citizenship
and Immigration Services] a fee for a copy of any document on file
or of record in the clerk's office relating to an individual's
criminal history, regardless of whether the document is certified,
to:
(1) United States Immigration and Customs
Enforcement;
(2) United States Citizenship and Immigration
Services; or
(3) a criminal justice agency that requests the
document for a criminal justice purpose, including a request to
determine an individual's eligibility to purchase a firearm.
(f) In this section, "criminal justice agency" and
"criminal justice purpose" have the meanings assigned by Section
411.082.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a fee for a copy of a court document requested on or after the
effective date of this Act. A fee for a copy of a court document
requested before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
law in effect when the copy was requested, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
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