A county commissioners court may adopt a records archive fee, but the fee and related spending, notice, deposit, and approval rules must be handled as described here.
Sec. 118.025. COUNTY CLERK'S RECORDS ARCHIVE. (a) In this section: (1) "Deterioration" means any naturally occurring process or a natural disaster that results in the destruction or partial destruction of a public document. (2) "Preservation" means any process that: (A) suspends or reduces the deterioration of public documents; or (B) provides public access to the public documents in a manner that reduces the risk of deterioration, excluding providing public access to public documents indexed geographically. (3) "Public document" means any instrument, document, paper, or other record that the county clerk is authorized to accept for filing or maintaining. (4) Repealed by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 804, Sec. 7, eff. June 17, 2005. (5) "Restoration" means any process that permits the visual enhancement of a public document, including making the document more legible. (b) The commissioners court of a county may adopt a records archive fee under Section 118.011(f) as part of the county's annual budget. The fee must be set and itemized in the county's budget as part of the budget preparation process. The fee for "Records Archive" under Section 118.011(f) is for the preservation and restoration services performed by the county clerk in connection with maintaining a county clerk's records archive. (c) The fee must be paid at the time a person, excluding a state agency, presents a public document to the county clerk for recording or filing. (d) The fee shall be deposited in a separate records archive account in the general fund of the county. Any interest accrued remains with the account. (e) The funds generated from the collection of a fee under this section may be expended only for the preservation and restoration of the county clerk's records archive. The county clerk shall designate the public documents that are part of the records archive for purposes of this section. The designation of public documents by the county clerk under this subsection is subject to approval by the commissioners court in a public meeting during the budget process. (f) The funds may not be used to purchase, lease, or develop computer software to geographically index public records, excluding indexing public records by lot and block description as provided by Section 193.009(b)(4). (g) Before collecting the fee under this section, the county clerk shall prepare an annual written plan for funding the preservation and restoration of the county clerk's records archive. The commissioners court shall publish notice of a public hearing on the plan in a newspaper of general circulation in the county not later than the 15th day before the date of the hearing. After the public hearing, the plan shall be considered for approval by the commissioners court. Funds from the records archive account may be expended only as provided by the plan. All expenditures from the records archive account shall comply with Subchapter C, Chapter 262. The hearing may be held during the budget process. After establishing the fee, the plan may be approved annually during the budget process. (h) If a county charges a fee under this section, a notice shall be posted in a conspicuous place in the county clerk's office. The notice must state the amount of the fee in the following form: "THE COMMISSIONERS COURT OF _______________ COUNTY HAS DETERMINED THAT A RECORDS ARCHIVE FEE OF $________ IS NEEDED TO PRESERVE AND RESTORE COUNTY RECORDS." (i) The fee is subject to approval by the commissioners court in a public meeting during the budget process. (j) Repealed by Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 330, Sec. 3, eff. June 17, 2011. (k) Repealed by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 804, Sec. 7, eff. June 17, 2005. Added by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 794, Sec. 4, eff. Sept. 1, 2001. Amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 974, Sec. 3, eff. Sept. 1, 2003; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1275, Sec. 3(32), eff. Sept. 1, 2003. Amended by: Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 804 (S.B. 526), Sec. 1, eff. June 17, 2005. Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 804 (S.B. 526), Sec. 7, eff. June 17, 2005. Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 330 (H.B. 2716), Sec. 2, eff. June 17, 2011. Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 330 (H.B. 2716), Sec. 3, eff. June 17, 2011.