Clerks, District And County

A court would likely conclude that restitution funds ordered in a criminal judgment by a statutory county court and collected by the county clerk pursuant to article 42.037, Code of Criminal Procedure, are not funds "belonging to the county" and thus are not required to be deposited with the county treasurer or in the county treasury pursuant to Local Government Code section 113.021

Longevity pay, a commissioners court order granting, to certain qualified employees and allowing employees to transfer the longevity pay to another county department if they are hired there, does not continue in effect for an individual who later becomes a county officer|Salary grievance, a county officer who does not challenge the officer's proposed salary in accordance with the procedure and deadline specified by subsection 152.016(a) of the Local Government Code in any given year has effectively waived any, for the upcoming fiscal year

Access to clerk's records, criminal history record information subject to a nondisclosure order

District clerk has no legal obligation to accept grand jury reports documenting investigations and findings that do not constitute criminal violations reportable by indictment|Grand Jury has no statutory authority to issue reports documenting its investigations and findings that do not constitute criminal violations reportable by indictment

Court registry account, county treasurer does not have administrative authority over|Court registry account, county commissioners court's authority over

County clerks and commissioners court have concurrent authority to collect certain payables under Code of Criminal Procedure article 103.003|Commissioners court authority to establish and supervise county collections department and delegate collection of money to private collections firm|Contract between commissioners court and private collections firm to collect money owed to the county

County Clerk duties on accepting and filing electronic and paper documents|Filing requirements of real property documents with county clerk

County payment of expenses for contracted workers in specific circumstances|Filing requirements of real property documents with county clerk

Marriage license, clerk may issue to two absent applicants|Marriage license, county clerk may issue to two absent applicants

Preservation|Project|Purposes|Management|Specific|Records management and preservation fees, commissioners court and county clerk together must determine what specific records management and preservation purposes may be paid with|Records management and preservation fees, clerk and commissioners court together must determine specific records management and preservation purposes for which may be used, which may include salaries of clerk's office employees

Open meeting notices, county clerk is authorized to charge a reasonable fee to a water district or other district or political subdivision to receive and post|Open meetings notices, county clerk may not charge a fee to governmental bodies to retain|Open meetings notices, county clerk is authorized to charge a reasonable fee a water district or other district or political subdivision to receive and post|Open meetings notices, county clerk is authorized to charge a reasonable fee to a water district or other district or political subdivision to receive and post

Corporate bail bond sureties must apply for separate licenses and deposit separate security for each agent in a county|County clerk may not refuse to accept for filing an instrument concerning real property, including an affidavit of adverse possession, if the affidavit meets the recording requirements of Property Code section 12.001(a)

Social Security numbers, board of county court at law judges has no authority to order the county clerk to redact social security numbers from electronic copies of case-related documents available on the clerk's website|Social Security numbers, board of county court at law judges have no authority to order clerk to redact social security numbers from the electronic documents available on the clerk's website|Social Security numbers, board of county court at law judges has no authority to order county clerk to redact social security numbers from electronic cases of case-related documents

Appointment of a district clerk, district judges must unanimously assent to the

Victim's name, address, or other identifying information appearing both in a felony judgment and a victim impact statement, Act makes such information in the judgment confidential and not subject to disclosure|Victim's name, address, or other identifying information appearing both in felony judgment and a victim impact statement, Public Information Act makes such information in the judgment confidential and not subject to disclosure|Judgment contents, a felony judgment must contain the information specified in article 42.01, section 1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure|Victim's name, address, or other identifying information appearing both in a felony judgment and a victim impact statement, Public Information Act makes such information in the judgment confidential and not subject to disclosure

Electronically generated real estate filings, a clerk has no authority to accept or paper copies thereof and cannot be liable for civil penalty for refusing|Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (the "E-Sign Act") does not require a county clerk to accept electronically generated real estate filings or paper copies thereof|Electronically generated real estate filings, a county clerk has no authority to accept or paper copies thereof and cannot be liable for civil penalty for refusing

Provisions of the Hidalgo County civil service plan, Hidalgo County deputy district clerks are not subject to the plan and the Commissioners Court cannot amend the civil service plan to include deputy district clerks

Tape of executive session, commissioners court is proper custodian of|Executive session, release to county clerk of tape of, would not make tape public|Executive session, commissioners court has discretion as to whether to admit county clerk to its|Executive sessions, commissioners court has discretion as to whether to admit county clerk to its

Statutes regulating the manner of holding an election are directory and a departure from their provisions will not ordinarily invalidate an election, unless each departure affects or changes the result of the election|Statutory enactments concerning elections must be liberally construed in order to ascertain and effectuate the will of the voters|Submission of election predict returns to the Secretary of State, whether county's timely submission constitutes certification of election results within Texas Racing Act is fact question for the Commission|Certification of local option election results to Secretary of State within ten days, statute requiring is directory|Results of a local option election on pari-mutuel wagering propositions must be certified to the Secretary of State before the Texas Racing Commission may accept or act on a license application|Certification of election results is ministerial task

Collections department under authority of county treasurer for collection of criminal fines and fees, article 103.0031 of the Code of Criminal Procedure does not authorize commissioners court to establish|Criminal fines and fees, county treasurer is not authorized to collect by article 103.0031, Code of Criminal Procedure|Clerk of county or statutory county court, judge of county or statutory county court is not authorized to appoint

Honoraria, payment by private association of county and district clerks to its immediate past president as prohibited honoraria or gift to public servant|Public servant, payment by private association of public officials to its immediate past president as prohibited honoraria or gift

Court reporter service fee under section 51.601 of the Government Code, county clerk may not collect if the county court has not appointed an official court reporter

Copying of real property plats, clerk who wishes to regulate should promulgate rules, but validity of any particular rule is a question of fact

Clerk's certificate, county clerk has discretion to place seal component of clerk's certification on each page of a document by means other than raising it on each page of the document

Confidentiality of petit jury lists, clerk's duty to maintain|Confidentiality of grand jury lists, clerk's duty to maintain|Confidentiality of petit jury lists, judge's duty to maintain|Confidentiality of grand jury lists, judge's duty to maintain|Confidentiality of petit jury lists, judge's or clerk's duty to maintain|Confidentiality of grand jury lists, judge's or clerk's duty to maintain

Funds deposited as a cash bail bond, clerk is required to charge administrative fee for the return of

Common-law copyright, a county clerk has no authority to file and record

School trustee not barred from simultaneously holding office of county clerk|County clerk, school trustee not barred from simultaneously holding office of

Forfeiture of bail bond is not subject to fee collected on the filing of a civil suit or fee collected on conviction of criminal offense|Bail bond forfeiture proceedings, filing fees are not collected|Bail bond forfeiture is substantively a criminal matter|Judgement nisi|Scire facias

Nonlawyer employee, supervising lawyer responsible for ensuring that nonlawyer's conduct is compatible with lawyer's professional obligations|Deputy district clerk, who may perform official acts of district clerk in name of district clerk, does not hold a civil office of emolument|Private attorney who files cases with district clerk does not hold a civil office of emolument and is not barred by article XVI, section 40 from serving as deputy district clerk|Deputy district clerk is not barred by from employment with private attorney who files cases with district clerk|Civil office

Filing fees, district clerk must collect under both sections 133.151 and 133.152 of the Local Government Code|District clerk must collect filing fees under both sections 133.151 and 133.152 of the Local Government Code

Social security number, the Public Information Act provides for the confidentiality of social security numbers of living persons, exempts such SSNs from disclosure requirements under the Act, and authorizes a clerk to redact such numbers from public information to be disclosed under the Act without seeking an attorney general decision.|Records, confidentiality of social security number in clerk records; redaction; certification|Internet, publishing clerk records on the Internet\r\n|Social security number, the Public Information Act provides for the confidentiality of social security numbers of living persons, exempts such SSNs from disclosure requirements under the Act, and authorizes a clerk to redact such numbers from public information to be disclosed under the Act without seeking an attorney general decision.\r\n|Records, confidentiality of social security number in clerk records; redaction; certification\r\n|Internet, publishing clerk records on the Internet\r\n\r\n

Original archival records, county clerk may not purchase with funds from records management and preservation fee\r\n

Internet database for information from court case documents held by district and county clerks, authority of commissioners court to authorize and to provide remote online access under contract|Internet database for information from court case documents held by district and county clerks|Internet database for information from court case documents, access online in clerk's office must be free of charge but remote online access is subject to fee established by commissioners court under contract|Criminal case information compiled in a computerized database is not confidential criminal history information

Records management and preservation fee collected under Local Government Code sections 118.011 and 118.0216 and article 102.005(f) of Code of Criminal Procedure|Records management and preservation fee collected under article 102.005(f) of Code of Criminal Procedure, allocation to district clerk's recrods management and preservation fund|Records management and preservation fund, a county clerk may not expend money from the clerk's fund with the commissioners court's approval|Records management and preservation fund, a county clerk may not expend money from the fund without the commissioners court's approval|County clerk's records management and preservation fund, the treasurer may not pay a request by the county clerk to expend money from the fund unless the commissioner court has approved the expenditure|Records management and preservation fee collected under Local Government Code sections 118.011 and 118.0216 and article 102.005(f) of Code of Criminal Procedure, use and distribution of

Indexing of certain real property instruments accepted for recording under Property Code section 12.011(b)(2)|Instrument accepted for recording under Property Code section 12.011(b)(2), indexing of

Cash bail bond, authority of district clerk to accept assignment of to pay fines and costs

Employees, clerk’s implied authority to set the working conditions for and dismiss early because of a thunderstorm and resulting power outage in the county courthouse|Commissioners court may amend the budget to reduce the salaries of county clerk’s employees, but may not do so to recoup payment to employees for the time period that the clerk dismissed them because of a thunderstorm and resulting power outage in the county courthouse

Access and copy records maintained by county clerks, under Texas law the public has a right to|Public\\'s right to access and copy records maintained by county clerk, Texas courts have held that this right is subject to a county clerk’s reasonable rules and regulations|Statutes providing for access to and copying of records, county clerk’s rules regarding the public’s access to and copying of records would be valid if the rules did not go beyond the|We cannot determine whether the Atascosa County Clerk must allow the use of a sheet-feed scanner or whether its rules regarding the public’s access to and copying of records is reasonable because there is no controlling legal authority directly addressing the issues that those questions raise

Government Code section 51.851 authorizes the clerk of certain courts to collect a $20 fee on the filing, including electronic filing, of any civil action or proceeding requiring a filing fee, including an appeal and certain other filings|The fee amounts mandated by Government Code section 51.851 apply to fees that became payable on or after September 1, 2013

Government Code subsection 51.607(a)directs the Comptroller to identify laws \\"that impose[] or change[] the amount of a court cost or fee.\\"|Government Code subsection 51.607(a) provides an illustrative list of the types of court costs or fees applicable under the subsection.|Under Government Code subsection 51.607(a), the phrase \\"fee or charge for services or to cover the expenses of a public official or agency\\" is not a separate category unto itself.|Government Code subsection 51.607 as a whole describes costs or fees that are judicial in nature.|Local Government Code section 118.011 sets out a county clerk\\'s fee schedule for several non-court-related fees. It permits a clerk to set and collect the Records Management Preservation Fee (RMP).|When implementing an official\\'s interpretation conflicts with the statute\\'s plain language, we cannot defer to the official\\'s view and must advise that the plain language be enforced.|Including|court cost or fee

Fee in condemnation proceedings, clerk of court may assess | Clerk of court may assess fee in condemnation proceedings

Prospective jurors, statutory duties of district clerk with respect to selection of cannot be delegated by commissioners court or district judge to bailiff or jury administrator

Release of judgment, clerk may not charge filing fee for services in connection with execution and preparation of

Limited power of attorney filed by obligee authorizing corporation to receive payments, clerk must remit payments to person designated in existing child support order or that portion of divorce decree providing for child support regardless of|Child support payments, clerk must pay to person designated in existing child support order or that portion of divorce decree providing for child support until order is modified|Limited power of attorney filed by obligee authorizing corporation to receive payments, district clerk must remit payments to person designated in existing child support order or that portion of divorce decree providing for child support regardless of|Court order, child support obligee may not modify existing child support order without obtaining new

Cash paid in lieu of bail bond, clerk of district court may deposit in account separate from general account of county if so ordered by court or other authority|Interest on cash paid in lieu of bail bond is property of bailee|Inmates' money, sheriff may decide where to place for safekeeping subject to regulation by county auditor|Sheriff may decide where to place inmates' money for safekeeping subject to regulation by county auditor

Security fee, county and district court clerks' collection of (Modified by Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. DM-371 (1995))|Security fee, commissioners court's authority to adopt (Modified by Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. DM-371 (1995))|Probate court clerk, authority to collect courthouse security fee (Modified by Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. DM-371 (1995))|Discharge record, county clerk may charge courthouse security fee upon filing if commissioners court has authorized collection (Modified by Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. DM-371 (1995))

Habeas corpus|Habeas corpus application, filing fee for suit or action does not apply to|Habeas corpus proceeding, clerk may charge reasonable fee for services rendered|Writ of habeas corpus, clerk may not refuse to issue for failure to pay fee

Child support order, authority to honor child support obligee's change of address request to child support collection agency without court order modifying original order|Obligee's change of address request to child support collection agency, authority of district clerk to honor without court order modifying original order

Protective order in family violence cases, complete affidavit of indigency required when applicant unable to pay filing fee and fee limited to $36 irrespective of number of respondents or number of times service attempted|Protective order in family violence cases, fee limited to $36 irrespective of number of respondents or number of times service attempted

County and district clerks required to deliver abandoned funds to comptroller without further court order, statute does not violate separation of powers|Abandoned funds, statute requiring clerks to report and deliver to comptroller constitutional|Abandoned property

Filing fees payable by Railroad Commission when filing notice for well-plugging|Notice for well-plugging, filing fees payable by Railroad Commission when filing|Notice for well-plugging, filing fees payable by Commission when filing

Security fee, whether county clerk may collect at time of filing birth, death, or fetal death record|County clerk as registrar, whether entitled to collect security fee when filing birth, death, or fetal death records

Service of process, collection|Service of process, collection of fees for|Service of process, permissibility of taxing fees as costs|Lending of credit, deferred collection of fees for service of process as|Lending credit|Loan of credit|Taxation of costs

Judgments or other documents based upon existence of courts not named in constitution or statutes, clerk should not accept for filing

Fees, costs, and fines received from convicted defendant placed on community supervision, trial judge's authority to allocate|Community supervision, trial judge's authority to allocate money convicted defendant must pay as fees, costs, and fines|Fees, costs, and fines received from convicted defendant placed on community supervision, clerk must allocate as trial judge orders

County records management and preservation fund, expenditure for records management and preservation services performed by county clerk|Records management and preservation fund, expenditure for records management and preservation services performed by county clerk|Records management and preservation fund, commissioners court and county clerk must agree on use of|Records management and preservation fund, expenditure for microfilming records in county clerk's office

Deputy county clerk is an employee, not an officer|County seat, at least one deputy county clerk must reside at if county clerk does not|Deputy county clerk is an employee, not an officer\r\n|Residency requirement of article XVI, section 14 of the Texas Constitution, deputy county clerk is an employee, not an officer, and therefore not subject to\r\n\r\n\r\n

Court fees collected by district clerk, whether they constitute county funds that must be deposited in county treasury pursuant to statutory timetable is determined on fee by fee basis|District clerk court fees, whether they constitute county funds that must be deposited in county treasury pursuant to statutory timetable is determined on fee by fee basis

Habeas corpus, prosecutor may waive service by certified mail, return receipt requested, of copy of application for writ of

Inmate divorce petition, authority of clerk to refuse to file where county residency based on time served in prison|Divorce petition, authority of clerk to refuse to file where county residency based on time served in prison

Fees and costs authorized by county commissioners court pursuant to section 51.702 of the Government Code, statutory county court may collect although collection may be declared unconstitutional by different district court or appellate court|Collection of fees and costs by statutory county courts under section 51.702 of the Government Code, county commissioner's court may authorize in accordance with decision of state district court, although collection may be declared unconstitutional by dif

Mental health proceedings, court may delegate collection of reimbursements for costs to appropriate county officer (Clarified by Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. JC-0222 (2000))|Mental health proceedings, no statutory duty to collect reimbursements to which county may be entitled for costs paid by county (Clarified by Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. JC-0222 (2000))|Mental health proceedings, reimbursements to which county may be entitled for costs paid by county not court costs (Clarified by Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. JC-0222 (2000))

Declaration of domestic partnership|Declaration of domestic partnership, clerk is not required to file|Same-sex couples may not marry in Texas; declaration of domestic partnership does not have effect of creating quasi-marital relation

Cash bail bond, section 117.055 of the Local Government Code authorizes county or district clerk to withhold administrative fee from return of funds deposited with clerk as cash bail bond|Fee may be withheld from return of funds deposited with clerk as cash bail bond

Juror reimbursement, county treasurer is proper officer to deliver check to payee|Juror reimbursement checks, district clerk may not deliver

Proceedings for court-ordered mental health services conducted in Travis County, collection of costs where another county is responsible for them (Clarifies Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. JC-0102 (1999))|Mental health services proceeding in Travis County probate court, county clerk has duty to collect the costs listed in section 571.018 of the Health and Safety Code from the responsible county (Clarifies Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. JC-0102 (1999))

Security interest, county clerk may not file purported UCC financing statement that names same person as both debtor and secured party|Financing statement that names same person as both debtor and secured party, clerk may not file purported UCC

Judgment in criminal case, court clerk may not prepare without supervision of an attorney

Noncertified copies, $1 fee specified by statute for issuing includes costs associated with locating originals and producing copies|County clerk must collect $1 fee specified by Local Government Code to issue each page or part of a page of noncertified copies rather than costs as specified by Open Records Act|Duties prescribed or authorized by law|Issue, issuing

Time-payment fee collected under section 51.921(a) of Government Code, the phrase "judicial officer who collected the fees" in section 51.921(d) refers to the clerk of the court|Officer of the court, a court clerk is an|Judicial officer

File stamp serves as evidence of date and time instrument filed with county clerk|Mail, instruments delivered by mail to county clerk for filing must be "file stamped" and deemed recorded immediately upon receipt and acceptance|File stamp instrument, county clerk is not statutorily required to immediately file stamp instrument upon receiving but should do so for evidentiary purposes|Close office to the public to permit employees to work uninterrupted, county clerk may not without approval of county court|Office hours, county clerk may not alter without approval of county court|File stamp

Costs of court may be included in income-withholding order if costs necessarily incurred to enforce existing child support obligation|Income withholding, statute constitutionally may permit court to include attorney's fees in income-withholding order if fees necessarily incurred to enforce existing child support obligation|Common meaning, we must construe words used consistently with their|Income withholding order, statute may permit court to include attorney's fees, court costs, and other costs necessarily incurred to enforce existing child support order

General election, there is no provision in Texas Constitution or Texas statutes for election of district or county clerk other than at|Term of office to which elected, regardless of recognition of United States Census of Population a "joint clerk" who performs duties of both district clerk and county clerk is entitled to complete|Office of "joint clerk" who performs duties of both district clerk and county clerk, such office is to be separated, should census figures require it, at expiration of term of office to which incumbent was elected rather than on date United States Census |Joint clerk

Personal information regarding jurors who have served in criminal proceeding is confidential and may not be released to anyone without order from trial court|Juror personal information in civil cases is confidential with respect to third parties but may be released to litigants in action|Jurors who have served in a criminal proceeding, statute rendering personal information confidential does not preclude provision of such information to counsel for purpose of jury selection|Jury list, clerk may not provide list to one party and withhold from other party|Jury list, in both civil and criminal actions jury list must be disclosed to parties when they announce ready for trial|Jury list, subject to direction of presiding judge the clerk may release to parties any time after list has been delivered to sheriff to summon jurors|Jury list, subject to direction of presiding judge the clerk may release list to parties any time after list has been delivered to sheriff to summon jurors

Uniform Commercial Code - Secured Transactions, office in which financing statement terminating pre-effective-date finance statement must be filed under section 9.707(e) of Business and Commerce Code

Uniform Commercial Code - Secured Transactions, office in which financing statement amending, continuing, or terminating pre-effective-date financing statement covering consumer goods must be filed|Uniform Commercial Code - Secured Transactions, office in which financing statement filings to perfect security interests in "as-extracted collateral or timber to be cut" or fixture filings must be made

Trust funds held by clerk until final disposition by court, funds affected, clerk's duty to invest or segregate, clerk's authority to charge administrative costs

Commitment proceedings, sheriff or constable may not collect fee from patient for transportation to and from|Chemically dependent or mentally ill persons, costs of clerk's services with regard to emergency detention and court-ordered treatment of are county's responsibility|Chemically dependent or mentally ill persons, county may seek reimbursement for costs of county clerk's services with regard to emergency detention and court ordered treatment of|Emergency detention and court-ordered treatment of chemically dependent or mentally ill persons, county may seek reimbursement of costs of clerk's services with regard to

The Texas Code of Criminal Procedure governs access to a search warrant, warrant return, and property inventory, and a court would likely conclude that these documents are subject to public disclosure by a district clerk.

Concluding that refunds of court costs under Health and Safety Code subsection 571.018(j) are not limited by subsection 571.018(h) to costs associated with hearings and proceedings involving commitment.

The Mental Health Code assigns responsibility for costs associated with court-ordered mental health services. Pursuant to Health and Safety Code subsections 571.018(a) and (b), counties generally are responsible for paying filing fees for an application for court-ordered mental health services. However, subsection 571.018(i) authorizes a county to require that “a person” pay filing fees if the county first determines the fees relate to services from a private mental hospital. Under the Mental Health Code, a “person” does not include governmental entities. Accordingly, where services relate to a private mental hospital, a county may require medical facilities that are not governmental entities to pay application filing fees. 

Where a county is responsible for paying filing fees for an application for court-ordered mental health services, it need not pay such fees at the time the application is filed. However, where a county instead requires payment from a “person” pursuant to subsection 571.018(i)(1), that person must pay the fees at the time of filing.

Responsibility for preparation of an abstract of judgment rendered by an appellate court under certain circumstances

Authority of a district clerk to reject an electronically filed document in a criminal case