HBA-KMH H.B. 3664 76(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 3664
By: Wise
Judicial Affairs
4/23/1999
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Currently, the Court Reporters Certification Board has authority to only
issue reprimands, additional continuing education requirements, or
suspensions against court reporters.  However, fees can only be assessed
against court reporting firms, not individuals.  The transcript and
evidence must be persevered for appeals.  In the past, there have been
situations where court reporters have been very difficult to locate and
they possessed the only existing court transcripts required to resolve
certain legal cases. H.B. 3664 provides a criminal penalty for violation of
certain duties of an official court reporter. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Section 52.046, Government Code, by adding Subsection
(e), as follows: 

(e) Provide that it is a Class B misdemeanor if an official court reporter
recklessly violates Subsection (a)(4) or knowingly violates Subsection
(a)(5).  Subsection (a)(4) requires a court reporter to preserve the notes
for future reference for three years from the date on which they were
taken.  Subsection (a)(5) requires a court reporter to furnish a transcript
of the reported evidence or other proceedings, in whole or in part, as
provided by this chapter. 

SECTION 2.  Effective date: September 1, 1999.

SECTION 3.  Emergency clause.