FEES.

(a) The department may collect fees for providing services to the public and performing other activities in connection with maintenance of the vital statistics system, including:

(1) performing searches of birth, death, fetal death, marriage, divorce, annulment, and other records;

(2) preparing and issuing copies and certified copies of birth, death, fetal death, marriage, divorce, annulment, and other records; and

(3) filing a record, amendment, or affidavit under this title.

(b) The executive commissioner by rule may prescribe a schedule of fees for vital statistics services. The aggregate of the amounts of the fees may not exceed the cost of administering the vital statistics system.

(c) The department shall refund to an applicant any fee received for services that the department cannot perform. If the money has been deposited to the credit of the vital statistics account in the general revenue fund, the comptroller shall issue a warrant against the fund for refund of the payment on presentation of a claim signed by the state registrar.

(d) A local registrar or county clerk who issues a certified copy of a birth or death certificate shall collect the same fees as collected by the department, including the additional fee required under Subsection (e), except as provided by Subsections (g) and (h).

(e) In addition to fees charged by the department under Subsection (b), the department shall collect an additional $2 fee for each of the following:

(1) issuing a certified copy of a certificate of birth;

(2) issuing a wallet-sized certification of birth; and

(3) conducting a search for a certificate of birth.

(f) Repealed by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 263, Sec. 5(1), eff. May 30, 2005.

(g) A local registrar or county clerk that on March 31, 1995, was collecting a fee for the issuance of a certified copy of a birth certificate that exceeded the fee collected by the department for the same type of certificate may continue to do so but shall not raise this fee until the fee collected by the department exceeds the fee collected by the local registrar or county clerk. A local registrar or county clerk to which this subsection applies shall collect the additional fee as required under Subsection (e).

(h) In addition to other fees collected under this section, a local registrar or county clerk may collect a fee not to exceed $1 for:

(1) preserving vital statistics records maintained by the registrar or county clerk, including birth, death, fetal death, marriage, divorce, and annulment records;

(2) training registrar or county clerk employees regarding vital statistics records; and

(3) ensuring the safety and security of vital statistics records.

(i) A fee under this section shall be collected by the registrar or county clerk on the issuance of a vital statistics record, including a record issued through a Remote Birth Access site.