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Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.
2003 SESSION
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 17.1-279 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 17.1-279. (Expires July 1, 2004) Additional fee to be assessed by circuit court clerks for information technology.
A. In addition to the fees otherwise authorized by this chapter, the clerk of
each circuit court shall assess a three-dollar $3 fee, known as the "Technology
Trust Fund Fee," in each law and chancery action, upon each instrument to be
recorded in the deed books, and upon each judgment to be docketed in the
judgment lien docket book. Such fee shall be deposited by the State Treasurer
into a trust fund. The State Treasurer shall maintain a record of such
deposits.
B. Two dollars of every three-dollar $3 fee shall be allocated by the
Compensation Board from the trust fund for the purposes of: (i) obtaining office automation and
information technology equipment, including software and conversion services;
(ii) preserving, maintaining and enhancing court records, including, but not
limited to, the costs of repairs, maintenance, service contracts and system
upgrades which may include, but not necessarily be limited to, a digital
imaging system; and (iii) improving public access to court records. The
Compensation Board in consultation with the circuit court clerks and other
users of court records shall develop policies governing the allocation of funds
for these purposes. In allocating funds, the Compensation Board may consider
the current automation of the clerks' offices and the recommendations made in
the 1996 report by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC)
regarding automation of the circuit court clerks' offices. Except for
improvements as provided in subsection E, such policies shall require a clerk
to submit to the Compensation Board a written certification from the Department
of Technology Planning that the clerk's proposed technology improvements will
be compatible with a system to provide statewide remote access to land records
in accordance with the recommendations of JLARC and the Task Force on Land
Records Management (the Task Force) established by the Department of Technology
Planning.
The annual budget submitted by each circuit court clerk pursuant to § 15.2-1636.7 may include a request for technology improvements in the upcoming fiscal year to be allocated by the Compensation Board from the trust fund. Such request shall not exceed the deposits into the trust fund credited to that locality. The Compensation Board shall allocate the funds requested by the clerks in an amount not to exceed the deposits into the trust fund credited to their respective localities.
C. The remaining one dollar $1 of each such fee may be allocated by the
Compensation Board from the trust fund for the purposes of (i) funding studies to develop and update
individual land-records automation plans for individual circuit court clerks' offices and (ii)
implementing the plan to modernize land records in individual circuit court
clerk's offices and provide remote access to land records throughout the
Commonwealth. Remote access to land records shall be by paid subscription
service through individual circuit court clerk's offices pursuant to §
17.1-276, or through designated application service providers.
D. Such fee shall not be assessed to any instrument to be recorded in the deed books nor any judgment to be docketed in the judgment lien docket books tendered by any federal, state or local government.
E. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, each circuit court
clerk may apply to the Compensation Board for an allocation from the Technology
Trust Fund for automation and technology improvements for any one or more of
the following: (i) equipment and services to convert paper, microfilm, or
similar documents to a digital image format, (ii) the conversion of information
into a format which will accommodate remote access, and (iii) the law and
chancery division of his office. However, allocations for (iii) above shall not
exceed the pro rata share of the collections of the three-dollar $3 fee
relative to the chancery and law actions filed in the jurisdiction as provided in this section. If a
clerk has implemented the technology plan approved by the Department of
Technology Planning referred to in subsection B, and such plan has been amended
to reflect the clerk's automation progress and has been submitted to the
Department of Technology Planning at least biennially beginning July 1, 2002,
the Compensation Board may approve an application for an allocation that
exceeds the pro rata share of collections of the three-dollar $3 fee relative
to the chancery and law actions filed in that jurisdiction. The Compensation Board in approval of
such application shall consider what local funds have been spent by the
jurisdiction to accelerate the implementation of the technology plan approved
by the Department of Technology Planning.
F. Information regarding the technology programs adopted by the circuit court clerks shall be shared with the Department of Information Technology, The Library of Virginia, and the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court.
G. Nothing in this section shall be construed to diminish the duty of local governing bodies to furnish supplies and equipment to the clerks of the circuit courts pursuant to § 15.2-1656. Revenue raised as a result of this section shall in no way supplant current funding to circuit court clerks' offices by local governing bodies.
H. The provisions of this section shall expire on July 1, 2004.