HBA-CBW H.B. 3586 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 3586
By: Hartnett
Judicial Affairs
4/4/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

During the summer of 2000, a "blue ribbon" committee was established, which
was composed of representatives from the Dallas Bar Association, the Dallas
County Commissioners Court, and the county and district judges, to consider
the needs for present and future civil courtrooms in Dallas County.  The
committee's recommendation was to remodel the George Allen Courthouse and
build a judicial tower on the adjacent lot.  House Bill 3586 requires the
clerk of a Dallas County civil court to collect a filing fee of not more
than $40 in each civil case filed in the court to be used for the
construction and renovation of the facilities that house the Dallas County
civil courts. 

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 3586 amends the Government Code to require the clerk of a Dallas
County civil court (court), in addition to all other fees, to collect a
filing fee of not more than $40 in each civil case filed in the court to be
used for the construction and renovation of the facilities that house the
courts and requires that the fee be collected in the same manner as other
fees, fines, or costs. 

The bill requires the clerk to send the fees collected to the county
treasurer at least monthly and requires the treasurer to deposit the fees
in a special account in the county treasury dedicated to the construction
and renovation of the facilities that house the courts. These provisions
apply only to fees for a 12-month period beginning July 1, if the
commissioners court  adopts a resolution authorizing a fee of no more than
$40, adopts a resolution requiring the county to deposit one dollar in
addition to each dollar that the county treasurer deposits in the fund, and
files the resolutions by a specified date. 

The bill establishes that the adopted resolution continues from year to
year until July 1, 2011, allowing the county to collect fees until the
resolution is rescinded. The bill authorizes the commissioners court to
rescind a resolution by adopting a resolution rescinding the resolution and
submitting the rescission resolution to the county treasurer not later than
June 1 preceding the beginning of the first day of the county fiscal year.
The bill authorizes the commissioners court to adopt an additional
resolution in the same manner prescribed by the aforementioned provisions
after rescinding a previous resolution. The bill sets forth provisions
regarding the abolition of a fee. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act
takes effect September 1, 2001.