HBA-CBW, KDB C.S.H.B. 1884 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 1884 By: Thompson Judicial Affairs 3/23/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE While costs associated with running a district clerk's office have risen considerably in the last decade, basic filing fees, which provide some of the funding for the district clerk's office, have not. The legislature has increased and created new filing fees over the past ten years, but these fees have been primarily for dedicated purposes and not for the support of district clerk's offices. During the 76th Legislative interim, the Office of Court Administration studied the costs to district clerk's offices associated with multiple plaintiff lawsuits and recommended that the filing fees for multiple plaintiff lawsuits be increased to help cover the added expenses associated with these cases. C.S.H.B. 1884 increases the filing fees for lawsuits, other claims, and actions, and increases from $40 to $50 the additional filing fee to be used for courtrelated purposes for the support of the judiciary, and creates a sliding scale fee for lawsuits involving 11 or more plaintiffs. 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. ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 1884 amends the Government Code to increase from $45 to $55 the fees for filing a suit, including an appeal from an inferior court. The bill removes the provision that refers to the fee for a filing a petition for preconviction writ of habeas corpus. The bill increases from $15 to $45 the filing fee for a cross-action, counterclaim, intervention, contempt action, motion for new trial, or third-party petition. The bill also increases from $8 to $12 the fee for issuing a citation or other writ or process. The bill provides that the fees for filing a suit, including an appeal from an inferior court, are: _$70, for a suit with at least 11 but not more than 25 plaintiffs; _$95, for a suit with at least 26 but not more than 100 plaintiffs; _$120, for a suit with at least 101 but not more than 500 plaintiffs; _$145, for a suit with at least 501 but not more than 1,000 plaintiffs; and _$170, for a suit with more than 1,000 plaintiffs. The bill requires a district clerk, in addition to collecting fees for filing suit, to collect at the time a person joins or intervenes in a pending suit as a plaintiff a fee in an amount equal to the difference between the amount of the fee for filing suit if each plaintiff in the pending suit, including each person who joins or intervenes in the suit as a plaintiff, was named as a plaintiff at the time the suit was filed, and the amount of the fee for filing suit at the time the suit was filed. The bill increases from $40 to $50 the additional filing fee a district clerk is required to collect for courtrelated purposes for the support of the judiciary. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 1884 modifies the original bill by increasing from $45 to $55, rather than from $45 to $60, the fee for filing a suit, including an appeal from an inferior court. The substitute also increases the fees for filing of other actions, petitions, claims, motions, interventions, and citations or other writ or process. The substitute decreases from $75 to $70 the filing fee for a suit with at least 11 but not more than 25 plaintiffs, from $100 to $95 the filing fee for a suit with at least 26 but not more than 100 plaintiffs, from $125 to $120 the filing fee for a suit with at least 101 but not more than 500 plaintiffs, from $150 to $145 the filing fee for a suit with at least 501 but not more than 1,000 plaintiffs, and from $175 to $170 the filing fee for a suit with more than 1,000 plaintiffs. The substitute adds new language to require a district clerk, in addition to collecting fees for filing a suit or action, to collect at the time a person joins or intervenes in a pending suit as a plaintiff a fee in an amount equal to the difference between the amount of the fee that would have been collected if each plaintiff in the pending suit, including each person who joins or intervenes in the suit as a plaintiff, was named as a plaintiff at the time the suit was filed, and the amount of the fee for filing suit at the time the suit was filed. The substitute differs from the original by increasing from $40 to $50 the additional filing fee a district clerk is required to collect for court-related purposes for the support of the judiciary.