HBA-TBM H.B. 2873 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2873
By: Uher
County Affairs
77/19/2001
Enrolled



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Under current law, a county or district clerk is authorized to charge a fee
of $1 per page for copies of public records maintained in a paper format or
reproduced in a paper format.  Prior to the 77th Legislature, the law did
not establish a clear fee for non-paper copies of records maintained in
non-paper format, such as microfilm or an electronic format, since these
documents may or may not consist of a number of pages. Many county and
district clerks store or record public records in non-paper formats and are
asked to produce copies of these records in various forms.  For these
reasons fees for copies of public records vary throughout the state.  House
Bill 2873 standardizes the fees charged for copies of public records
produced in paper or other formats.   

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

House Bill 2873 amends the Government Code to provide that the charge for
providing a paper copy made by a district or county clerk's office is
required to be the fee provided by existing law governing fees charged by
county officers, county clerks, or other applicable law.  The bill requires
a county clerk who provides a copy in a format other than paper of a record
maintained by the clerk to provide the copy and charge a fee in accordance
with applicable General Service Commission rules.   

EFFECTIVE DATE

June 15, 2001.