Bill Text: TX HB663 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the ownership and disposition of official court reporter notes and transcripts; authorizing fees.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-02-27 - Referred to Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence [HB663 Detail]

Download: Texas-2017-HB663-Introduced.html

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85R5266 SRS-D
By: Canales H.B. No. 663

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the ownership and disposition of official court
reporter notes and transcripts; authorizing fees.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 52.046, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (e) to read as
follows:
(a) On request, an official court reporter shall:
(1) attend all sessions of the court;
(2) take full shorthand notes of oral testimony
offered before the court, including objections made to the
admissibility of evidence, court rulings and remarks on the
objections, and exceptions to the rulings;
(3) take full shorthand notes of closing arguments if
requested to do so by the attorney of a party to the case, including
objections to the arguments, court rulings and remarks on the
objections, and exceptions to the rulings;
(4) deliver the shorthand notes to the clerk of the
court [preserve the notes for future reference for three years from
the date on which they were taken]; and
(5) furnish a transcript of the reported evidence or
other proceedings, in whole or in part, as provided by this chapter.
(e) Shorthand notes of oral testimony and closing arguments
are property of the court. The clerk of the court shall preserve
the notes, and transcripts based on the notes, until the third
anniversary of the date of the documented proceeding.
SECTION 2. Section 52.047, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), and (g) and adding
Subsection (h) to read as follows:
(b) The clerk of the court shall establish the transcription
fee [If an objection is made to the amount of the transcript fee,
the judge shall determine a reasonable fee, taking into
consideration the difficulty and technicality of the material to be
transcribed and any time constraints imposed by the person
requesting the transcript].
(c) On payment of the fee, or as provided by Rule 20
[40(a)(3) or 53(j)], Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, the person
requesting the transcript is entitled to the original and one copy
of the transcript. The person may purchase additional copies for a
fee per page that does not exceed one-third of the original cost per
page. The court may require that the official court reporter
deliver a copy of the transcript to the clerk at no cost to the
court.
(d) A [An official] court [reporter] may charge an
additional fee for:
(1) postage or express charges;
(2) photostating, blueprinting, or other reproduction
of exhibits;
(3) indexing; and
(4) preparation for filing and special binding of
original exhibits.
(e) [If an objection is made to the amount of these
additional fees, the judge shall set a reasonable fee.] If the
person applying for the transcript is entitled to a transcript
without charge under Rule 20 [40(a)(3) or 53(j)], Texas Rules of
Appellate Procedure, the court [reporter] may not charge any
additional fees under Subsection (d).
(f) The court shall compensate the court reporter a
reasonable amount for transcribing shorthand notes, taking into
consideration the difficulty and technicality of the material to be
transcribed and any time constraints imposed by the person
requesting the transcript [If the official court reporter charges
an amount that exceeds a fee set by the judge, the reporter shall
refund the excess to the person to whom it is due on demand filed
with the court].
(g) Notwithstanding Rule 20.2 [53(j)], Texas Rules of
Appellate Procedure, an official court reporter who is required to
prepare a transcript in a criminal case for which a transcription
fee is prohibited [without charging a fee] is not entitled to
payment for the transcript [from the state or county] if the county
paid a substitute court reporter to perform the official court
reporter's regular duties while the transcript was being prepared,
and a court may not charge a fee for the preparation of the
transcript.
(h) To the extent that this section [subsection] conflicts
with the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, this section
[subsection] controls. Notwithstanding Sections 22.004 and
22.108(b), the supreme court or the court of criminal appeals may
not amend or adopt rules in conflict with this section
[subsection].
SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
shorthand notes or transcripts that document a proceeding that
begins on or after the effective date of this Act. The disposition
of shorthand notes or transcripts that document a proceeding that
begins before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law
in effect on the date the proceeding begins, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.