GOVERNMENT CODE TITLE 4. EXECUTIVE BRANCH SUBTITLE A. EXECUTIVE OFFICERS CHAPTER 405. SECRETARY OF STATE SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS Sec. 405.001. OFFICE. The secretary of state shall keep the office of secretary of state in Austin or if a session of the legislature is held in another place, in that place. Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 147, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987. Sec. 405.004. DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE. (a) The secretary of state shall appoint a deputy secretary of state who shall: (1) perform the duties prescribed by law for the secretary of state when the secretary of state is absent or unable to act; and (2) perform other duties required by the secretary of state. (b) The deputy secretary of state serves at the pleasure of the secretary of state. Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 147, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987. Amended by: Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 41, Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2005. Sec. 405.005. ACCEPTANCE OF GIFTS, GRANTS, AND DONATIONS. (a) The secretary of state may accept or solicit gifts, grants, and donations of money or property on behalf of the state for any lawful public purpose related to the office or duties of the secretary of state. (b) The secretary of state may decline to accept a gift, grant, or donation that is made for a specific purpose if the secretary of state determines the gift may not be used reasonably or economically for the designated purpose. Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 365, Sec. 1, eff. May 27, 1997. SUBCHAPTER B. DUTIES Sec. 405.011. OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. (a) The secretary of state shall arrange and preserve books, maps, parchments, records, documents, and papers properly deposited in the secretary of state's office and sealed with the state seal. (b) A copy of an original deposited under this section is as legal and conclusive in evidence in a state court as the original. (c) On request of the governor, the legislature, or a house of the legislature, the secretary of state shall furnish a copy of an original deposited under this section. Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 147, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987. Amended by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 297, Sec. 3, eff. Aug. 28, 1989. Sec. 405.012. EXCHANGES. (a) The secretary of state shall send, as the secretary of state considers appropriate, copies of laws and judicial reports printed and published by order of the legislature at the expense of the state to: (1) the librarian of congress; (2) the United States secretary of state; (3) the United States secretary of the treasury; (4) the executive department of each state; and (5) each foreign librarian or government with whom a system of library exchange is established. (b) Subject to the requirements of Subsection (c), the secretary of state, for the benefit of The University of Texas law library, shall exchange the reports of the supreme court, court of criminal appeals, and courts of appeals, state session laws and revised statutes, and other state publications and state department reports for similar material of the United States, other states, or foreign countries. (c) The secretary of state shall keep on hand a sufficient number of copies of state publications to meet the reasonable demands of the state. Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 147, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987. Sec. 405.013. COURT REPORTS. (a) The secretary of state shall receive the printed and bound volumes of the Supreme Court Reports and the Reports of the Court of Criminal Appeals from the supreme court reporter. (b) The secretary of state may sell single copies of these reports for a price equal to the contract price for printing, excluding postage or express charges, and, after receiving the price for a volume, may send advance sheets of the volume as publishing progresses. (c) The secretary of state shall deliver money received from sales under this section to the comptroller and shall make a full statement of the sales in the secretary of state's biennial report. (d) The secretary of state shall deliver one copy of these reports to: (1) the governor; (2) the attorney general; (3) each appellate and district judge; (4) each county judge, for the use of the county; (5) each law professor of The University of Texas; and (6) the librarian of The University of Texas. (e) The secretary of state shall deliver to each United States district judge for Texas one copy of these reports for each branch of the judge's court. (f) The secretary of state may not send more than one copy of a report to a person under Subsection (d) or (e) unless it is proved, as evidenced by certificate of the person requesting the additional copy, that the first copy of the report has been destroyed by fire or rendered valueless by long use. Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 147, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987. Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1423, Sec. 8.11, eff. Sept. 1, 1997. Sec. 405.014. ACTS OF THE LEGISLATURE. At each session of the legislature the secretary of state shall obtain the bills that have become law. Immediately after the closing of each session of the legislature, the secretary of state shall bind all enrolled bills and resolutions in volumes on which the date of the session is placed. Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 147, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987. Amended by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 297, Sec. 4, eff. Aug. 28, 1989; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., 2nd C.S., ch. 8, Sec. 2.48, eff. Sept. 1, 1991. Sec. 405.015. RECEIVING OFFICER. When an officer receives a copy of a report, statute, digest, or journal, the officer shall give a receipt to the distributing officer, who shall file the receipt in his office. This material is the property of the receiving officer's office and is open to inspection by the public at all reasonable hours. An officer who does not deliver the material to the successor to the office is liable to the successor for the cost of replacing the material. Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 147, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987. Sec. 405.016. COMMISSION. The secretary of state is not required to send copies of laws to or attest the authority of a state officer who does not take out the officer's commission. Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 147, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987. Sec. 405.017. MISCELLANEOUS DUTIES. The secretary of state shall: (1) affix the state seal to all official documents issued from the secretary of state's office; (2) unless provided otherwise by law, commission state officers; (3) keep in a separate suitable book a register of all state officers; (4) immediately on receipt, deliver to the person in charge of the state library all books, maps, charts, printed volumes of the laws of a nation, territory, or another state, or other political or miscellaneous publications received in the secretary of state's office; (5) immediately on receipt, deliver to the supreme court librarian reports of courts of a nation, territory, or another state received in the secretary of state's office; and (6) perform such other and further duties as may be directed by the governor. Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 147, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987. Amended by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 297, Sec. 5, eff. Aug. 28, 1989; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 961, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995. Sec. 405.018. COMPUTER INFORMATION. (a) The secretary of state may establish a system to provide access by electronic data transmittal processes to information that is: (1) stored in state computer record banks maintained by the secretary of state; (2) not classified as confidential under a statute or court decision; and (3) not maintained by the secretary of state under: (A) Chapter 572; (B) Title 15, Election Code; or (C) Chapter 305, Government Code. (b) The secretary of state may: (1) develop computer software to facilitate the discharge of the constitutional and statutory duties of the office; and (2) enter agreements to transfer the software on the terms and conditions specified in the agreements. (c) Computer software developed under Subsection (b) shall be reviewed and certified by the Automated Information and Telecommunications Council. (d) The secretary of state shall set and charge a fee for access to information under Subsection (a) in an amount reasonable and necessary to cover the costs of establishing and administering the system under that subsection. The secretary of state may assess a reasonable fee for a transfer of software under Subsection (b). (e) The secretary of state may set and charge a fee for access to public information through telephone information banks in an amount reasonable and necessary to cover the costs of providing the information. The secretary of state may contract with a third party to provide the telephone service and to bill the users of the service. Added by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 4, Sec. 2.12(a), eff. Sept. 1, 1989. Amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., 1st C.S., ch. 5, Sec. 3.01(a), eff. Sept. 1, 1991; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 5.95(40), eff. Sept. 1, 1995. Sec. 405.019. LIST OF STATES REQUIRING AN OFFICIAL SEAL FOR CERTAIN DOCUMENTS. (a) The secretary of state annually shall compile a list of those states or territories within the United States that require a notary public to validate a certificate of an acknowledgement, proof of a written instrument, or a jurat by attaching an official seal. (b) The secretary of state shall send the list to each of the county clerks of this state before January 1 of each year. (c) The secretary of state shall amend the list and immediately send the amended list to the county clerks of this state if the secretary learns that a state or territory has changed its requirements relating to a notary public in a manner that requires it to be added to or deleted from the list. Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 603, Sec. 3, eff. June 14, 1995. Sec. 405.020. PUBLIC RECORDS. (a) The secretary of state shall permanently maintain as a public record any instrument, or the information included in any instrument, that is filed with the secretary of state evidencing the organization of, or otherwise in connection with, any entity formed under the laws of this state. (b) The secretary of state shall maintain the records required under Subsection (a) in any form the secretary of state considers appropriate. Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 572, Sec. 22, eff. Sept. 1, 2003. Sec. 405.021. REPORT ON STATE-FUNDED PROJECTS SERVING COLONIAS. (a) In this section, "colonia" means a geographic area that: (1) is an economically distressed area as defined by Section 17.921, Water Code; (2) is located in a county any part of which is within 62 miles of an international border; and (3) consists of 11 or more dwellings that are located in close proximity to each other in an area that may be described as a community or neighborhood. (b) Based on information provided under Subsections (c) and (d), the secretary of state shall establish and maintain a classification system that allows the secretary of state to track the progress of state-funded projects in providing water or wastewater services, paved roads, and other assistance to colonias. (c) The secretary of state shall compile information received from the Office of Rural Community Affairs, the Texas Water Development Board, the Texas Transportation Commission, the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, the Department of State Health Services, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the Health and Human Services Commission, the Texas Cooperative Extension, councils of governments, an institution of higher education that receives funding from the state for projects that provide assistance to colonias, and any other agency considered appropriate by the secretary of state for purposes of the classification system. (d) The secretary of state shall compile information on colonias that is received from the colonia ombudspersons under Section 775.004. (e) The secretary of state shall: (1) with the assistance of the office of the attorney general, prepare a report on the progress of state-funded projects in providing water or wastewater services, paved roads, and other assistance to colonias; and (2) submit the report to the presiding officer of each house of the legislature not later than: (A) December 1 of each even-numbered year, if funds are appropriated specifically for the purpose of preparing and submitting the report; or (B) if funds are not appropriated as described by Paragraph (A), December 1, 2010, and December 1 of every fourth year following that date. (f) The report to the legislature must include a list of colonias with the highest health risk to colonia residents, based on factors identified by the secretary of state. (g) In conjunction with the establishment of the classification system required by this section, the secretary of state shall establish and maintain a statewide system for identifying colonias. (h) The secretary of state may contract with a third party to develop the classification system or the identification system or to compile or maintain the relevant information required by this section. Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 828, Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2005. Amended by: Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 341, Sec. 1, eff. June 15, 2007. |
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