OFFKE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL. STATE OF TEXAS 

JOHN CORNYN 

October 11,200O 

The Honorable Tim Curry 

Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney 

Justice Center 

401 West Belknap 

Fort Worth, Texas 76196-0201 

Opinion No. K-0292 

Re: Whether the $1 fee that a county clerk 

charges to issue “a noncertified copy of a page or 

part of a page of a document,” TEX. Lot. GOV’T 

CODE ANN. $5 118.011(a)(4), .0145(a) (Vernon 

1999 & Supp. 2000), includes the cost of locating 

requested information that is no more than fifty 

pages long, and related question (RQ-0249-JC) 

Dear Mr. Curry: 

Sections 118.011 and 118.0145 oftheLoca1 Government Code, which specially regulate the 

noncourt fees that a county clerk may or must collect, require a county clerk to collect $1 “for 

issuing a noncertified copy of each page or part of a page of a document.” TEX. Lot. GOV’T CODE 

ANN. §§ 118.01 l(a)(4), .0145(a) (Vernon 1999 & Supp. 2000). Section 118.011 additionally allows 

a clerk to charge a reasonable fee for “performing other duties prescribed or authorized by statute” 

if no other fee is prescribed. Id. § 118.01 l(c) (Vernon Supp. 2000). Under section 552.261 of the 

Government Code, one of the Public Information Act’s cost provisions, a governmental body may 

charge only photocopying costs in response to a request for public information, if the request is for 

fifty or fewer pages of paper records that are located in one building and that are not located in “a 

remote storage facility.” TEX. GOV’TCODEANN. § 552.261(a) (Vernon Supp. 2000). You raise the 

issue whether, when a county clerk receives a request for noncertified copies of fifty or fewer pages 

of public information that is located in one building (not a remote storage facility), the clerk may 

charge under section 118.011 (c) a reasonable fee for labor costs.’ The clerk may not. The clerk may 

charge only $1 per page or part of a page, as section 118.01 l(a)(4) dictates for noncertified copies. 

See TEX. Lot. GOV’T CODE ANN. 5 118.01 l(a)(4) (Vernon Supp. 2000). 

You specifically ask: “[Wlhich statute takes precedence in the case of searches within one 

building’s records (where the building is not a remote storage facility) which result in production 

of less than fifty pages of public information: Government Code 3 552.261(a), or Local 

Government Code 5 118.01 l(c)?’ See Request Letter, supra note 1, at l-2. Your question appears 

‘Letter from Honorable Tim Curry, Tamant County Criminal District Attorney, to Honorable John Comyn, 

Attorney General (June 13,200O) (on file with opinion Committee) [hereinafter Request Letter]. 
The Honorable Tim Curry - Page 2 (X-0292) 

to mistakenly assume that the $1 fee required by section 118.01 l(a)(4) for issuing noncertified 

copies does not include labor costs that may be incurred in providing the noncertified copies. 

As you ask only about a request for fewer than fifty pages of public information, all of which 

is located in one building or in physically connected buildings (not a remote storage facility), we 

limit our answer to such a request. We further understand you to ask only about the costs that may 

be charged for paper copies. 

Section 118.011 of the Local Government Code sets a county clerk’s noncourt fees. 

Subsection (a)(4) requires a county clerk to “collect for services rendered to any person” $1 “for 

each page or part of a page” of noncertified papers. TEX. Lot. GOV’T CODE ANN. 5 118.011 (a)(4) 

(Vernon Supp. 2000). The subsection also expressly refers to section 118.0145 of the same code, 

which indicates what the noncertified-paper fee is for: “The fee for ‘Noncertified Papers’ under 

Section 118.011 is for issuing a noncertified copy of each page or part of a page of a document.” 

Id. 5 118.0145(a) (Vernon 1999). Subsection (c) of section 118.011 provides the catch-all upon 

which your question relies: “The clerk shall charge reasonable fees for performing other 

duties prescribed or authorized by statute for which a fee is not prescribed by this subchapter.” Id. 

5 118.01 l(c) (Vernon Supp. 2000). 

Your question juxtaposes section 118.011 with a cost provision of the Public Information 

Act, section 552.261 of the Government Code. Section 552.261 precludes a governmental body 

from charging for materials, labor, or overhead associated with fulfilling a request for public 

information if 

. the request is for fifty or fewer pages; 

. the documents are located in one building or in physically connected 

buildings; and 

. the documents are not located in a remote storage facility. 

S~~TE~.GOV’TCODEANN. §552,26l(a)(VemonSupp. 2000); seealso id. $552.261(c) (describing 

physical connection between buildings). 

A prior opinion of this offlice, Letter Opinion 96-082, notes a conflict between section 

118.011 (a)(4) of the Local Government Code and the Public Information Act’s cost provisions. See 

Tex. Att’y Gen. LO-96-082, at 2. Section 552.265 of the Government Code, at the time the letter 

opinion was issued, provided that “[tlhe charge for a copy made in a district or county clerk’s office 

may not be more than the actual cost of copies, as provided by Sections 552.261 and 552.262, unless 

a certified record. is requested.” See TEX. GOV’T CODE ANN. § 552.265, amended by Act of June 

1, 1997,75th Leg., R.S., ch. 1231, 5 4, sec. 552.265, 1997 Tex. Gen. Laws 4697,4699. The letter 

opinion states that section 5,52.265 “directly conflicts with the one-dollar fee mandated by section 

118.01 l(a)(4)” ofthe Local Government Code. Tex. Att’y Gen. LO-96-082, at 2. Because section 

118.01 l(a)(4) was enacted after section 552.265, the opinion concludes, “section 118.011 prevails 

over section 552.265, to the extent the latter statute applies to county clerks.” Id. The language in 
The Honorable Tim Curry - Page 3 (X-0292) 

section 552.265 at issue in Letter Opinion 96-082 is substantially similar to section 552.261 of the 

Government Code, which we are addressing here. 

Consistently with Attorney General Letter Opinion 96-082, we conclude that, at least with 

respect to a request to a county clerk for noncertified copies of filly or fewer pages of paper records 

that are located in one nonremote building or in nonremote physically connected buildings, section 

118.01 l(a)(4) of the Local Government Code prevails over section 552.261(a) of the Government 

Code. 

When two statutes conflict, a special provision “prevails as an exception to the general 

provision” unless the legislature adopted the general provision later and manifestly intended the 

general provision to prevail. See TEX. GOV’T CODE ANN. $3 11.026 (Vernon 1998). The legislature 

amended section 552.261(a) of the Government Code to add the cost provisions relating to fifty or 

fewer copies in 1995. See Act ofMay 29,1995,74th Leg., R.S., ch. 1035,s 16, sec. 552.261,1995 

Tex. Gen. Laws 5 127,5 136. The legislature added the noncertified papers cost provision to section 

118.011 oftheLocalGovermnent Codein 1993. See Act ofMay26,1993,73dLeg., R.S.,ch. 554, 

$ 1, 1993 Tex. Gen. Laws 2061,2061. Thus, section 552.261(a) of the Government Code is the 

later-enacted provision. 

But we conclude that section 118.011 prevails as an exception to the Public Information 

Act’s more general cost provisions. Section 118.011 pertains specifically to a county clerk’s records 

and therefore creates an exception to section 552.261(a) absent a contrary legislative intent. And 

nothing in the 1995 act amending section 552.261 ofthe Government Code indicates that the Public 

Information Act’s cost provisions should prevail over cost provisions that are county-clerk specific. 

Indeed, as it was introduced, the 1995 bill that amended section 552.261 also proposed to amend 

section 118.0145 of the Local Government Code so that the Local Government Code explicitly 

would provide that the Public Information Act’s cost provisions prevail over the county clerk’s cost 

provisions in section 118.011 of the Local Government Code: 

(b) To the extent that the amount of the fee conflicts with the 

amount determined under Section 552.265, Government Code, the 

amount determined under that section controls. 

Tex. H.B. 1718, 74th Leg., R.S. (1995). The House Committee on State Affairs deleted the 

amendment. See HOUSE COMM. ON STATE AFFAIRS, Bill Analysis, Tex. H.B. 1718,74th Leg., R.S. 

(1995). While we cannot say that this deletion indicates a legislative intent that section 118.011 of 

the Local Government Code would prevail over section 552.261 of the Government Code, we 

believe it counters any suggestion that the legislature manifestly intended the 1995 amendments to 

section 552.261 to supersede section 118.011 of the Local Government Code. 

Moreover, the $1 fee provided for noncertified copies in section 118.01 l(a)(4) includes all 

costs associated with locating and producing the copies. Section 118.0145 of the Local Government 

Code states that the $1 fee “is for issuing a noncertified document.” TEX. LOC. GOV’T CODE ANN. 
The Honorable Tim Curry - Page 4 (JC-0292) 

5 118.0145(a) (Vernon 1999); see also id. 5 118.01 l(a)(4) (Vernon Supp. 2000). Thus, we must 

define “issuing” to properly construe section 118.0145. 

This office’s past definitions of the verb “issue” and its derivatives do not resolve whether, 

in this instance, the term includes all costs associated with locating and producing a noncertified 

document. Attorney General Opinion H-552, for example, states that, for the purposes ofthe statute 

establishing costs county clerks were to charge for “issuing” certified documents, the term “means 

somethingmore thanmerelyproviding acopy.” Tex. Att’y Gen. Op. No. H-552 (1975) at 3. Rather, 

with respect to certified documents, the term means a document that the clerk “sends out officially 

as authoritative or binding.” See id. at 4. Letter Opinion 96-082, relying upon the “common 

definition of the term,” states that “when a clerk issues a copy of a document,” he or she will copy 

or obtain a copy of an original and deliver that copy “to the person who requested and paid for it.” 

Tex. Att’y Gen. LO-96-082, at 3. Thus, “the fee prescribed [by statute] for issuing copies of 

documents includes making the copies.” Id. You do not ask about costs ofmaking copies, though; 

you ask about costs preliminary to copying, such as locating requested documents. 

Rather, we define the term “issue” consistently with common usage to encompass clerical 

preparation, such as finding the document to be copied. See id. When construing the words and 

phrases that make up a statute, we apply their common usages, unless the legislature has directed 

otherwise. See TEX. GOV’T CODE ANN. 5 3 11 ,011 (Vernon 1998) (directing construer to read word 

or phrase in context and according to rules of grammar and common usage unless word or phrase 

is term of art). The verb “issue” encompasses “[t]o be sent forth officially or publicly; to be 

published or emitted,” as well as “ to give things out to (a person); to supply (a person) with.” VIII 

OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY 137 (2d ed. 1989). Various cases state that, with respect to the 

issuance of an execution of judgment, “issuance” encompasses not only delivery of the writ of 

execution to an officer who will enforce it but also the writ’s “clerical preparation.” Carpenter v. 

Probst, 247 S.W.2d 460,461 (Tex. Civ. App.-San Antonio 1952, writ ref d); Walker-Smith Co. v. 

Coker, 176 S.W.2d 1002, 1010 (Tex. Civ. App.-Eastland 1943, writ refd w.o.m.); Cotten Y. 

Stanford, 147 S.W.2d 930, 933 (Tex. Civ. App.-Amarillo 1941, no writ); see also Delta County 

LeveeImprovementDist. No. 2~. Leonard, 516 S.W,2d911,913 (Tex. 1974), cert. denied, 423 U.S. 

829 (1975) (stating that, “[i]n allowing execution under the circumstances presented in this case, no 

violence is done to the definition of ‘issuance’ as contemplated by prior decisions”) (citing 

Carpenter). Thus, the $1 fee set in section 118.01 l(a)(4) is the total charge that a county clerk may 

levy for each noncertified page or part of a page requested for paper copies. Cj: Cypress-Fairbanks 

Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Michael F., 93 1 F. Supp. 474,483 (S.D. Tex. 1996) (stating that fifteen cents per 

page is “reasonable copy cost”). 

Similarly, section 118.01 l(c) ofthe Local Government Code does not encompass labor costs 

associated with locating documents sought in a request for no more than fifty noncertified paper 

copies, where the documents are located in one nonremote building or in physically connected 

buildings. Section 118.01 l(c) requires a county clerk to “charge reasonable fees for performing 

other duties prescribed or authorized by statute for which a fee is not prescribed by this subchapter.” 

Permian Report v. Lacy suggests that this language, together with section 118.024 of the Local 
The Honorable Tim Curry - Page 5 (X-0292) 

Government Code, which permits a person to copy documents in a county clerk’s office “without 

paying any charge,“precludes a clerk of court from requiring a party who wishes to copy documents 

to reimburse the clerk “for the cost of a supervisor who will control the reproduction procedure.” 

Permian Report v. Lucy, 817 S.W.2d 175, 177-78 (Tex. App.-El Paso 1991, writ denied). 

Moreover, the phrase “duties prescribed or authorized by statute,” used in section 118.01 l(c), 

denotes sovereign functions the legislature has delegated to a county clerk that are either mandatory 

or discretionary. The phrase does not include administrative or clerical functions that are necessary 

to perform the services for which section 118.01 l(a) enumerates a specific fee. 
The Honorable Tim Curry - Page 6 (X-0292) 

SUMMARY 

With respect to a request for tifiy or fewer copies of public 

information located in one nonremote building or in nonremote, 

physically connected buildings, a county clerk must collect a fee of 

$1 to issue each page or part of a page of requested, noncertified 

copies. See TEX. Lot. GOV’T CODE ANN. 5 118.01 l(a)(4) (Vernon 

Supp. 2000). This $1 fee includes all labor costs associated with 

locating the original documents, and a county clerk may not charge 

an additional fee under section 118.01 l(c) of the Local Government 

Code for locating the original documents. Section 118.011(a)(4) of 

the Local Government Code prevails over section 552.261 of the 

Government Code to the extent the two cost provisions are 

inconsistent. 

Attorney General of Texas 

ANDY TAYLOR 

First Assistant Attorney General 

CLARK KENT ERVIN 

Deputy Attorney General - General Counsel 

SUSAN D. GUSKY 

Chair, Opinion Committee 

Kymberly K. Oltrogge 

Assistant Attorney General - Opinion Committee