SB1547

Local Government Code §118.011(a)(4)(C) previously listed $1 per noncertified electronic document up to 10 pages and $0.10 per page or part of a page for a document over 10 pages, without a real-property exception. SB1547 adds “except for real property records” to that electronic-copy-of-an-electronic-document category. It also adds “including real property records” to subsection (e), which requires nonpaper copies and their fees to comply with Government Code §§552.231 and 552.262. Final law; Prior county-clerk fee schedule.

The incorporated framework is not a new flat price. Section 552.262 uses attorney-general cost rules, generally prohibits excessive charges or charges above actual production cost, and allows specified local variations and approved exemptions. Section 552.231 addresses requests needing programming or data manipulation: when its conditions apply, the agency must give a written explanation of available format, required work, estimated cost and time. The requester then has choices under that procedure. This bill does not itself set a universal per-page price for every electronic property-record request. Public-information charge rules; Programming and data-request procedure; Final law.

The act does not change the listed filing fees, the certified-paper fee schedule, the paper-copy rate or the text of the paper-to-electronic conversion rate. The new explicit carve-out is in the noncertified electronic-copy-of-an-electronic-document category; the broader nonpaper-copy cross-reference must also be read. This is not a blanket repeal of county-clerk charges. Final law.

The Senate substitute made drafting and formatting corrections without changing the introduced fee policy. The Senate-passed, House committee and final operative texts match the substitute. No floor amendments are indexed. Introduced; Senate substitute; Senate-passed; House committee; Version index; Amendment index.

Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.

People and businesses requesting electronic property records gain a clearer statutory route for how charges are calculated, while county clerks must apply the relevant cost framework. The amount depends on the request, format and applicable rules; this review does not claim that every requester pays less or that a particular county’s invoice is lawful. Final law; Cost framework.

The March 14 introduced-version and March 20 Senate-substitute fiscal notes anticipate no state fiscal implication and no significant local-government fiscal implication. Neither quantifies private savings or a county-by-county revenue change. The act makes no appropriation. Original fiscal note; Senate-substitute fiscal note; Final law.