Senate Bill No. 87

Introduced By jergeson

By Request of the Secretary of State



A Bill for an Act entitled: An Act eliminating the requirement that the secretary of state transfer proprietary funds to the general fund at the end of a fiscal year; requiring that fees for filing and copying services be commensurate with costs; PROVIDING THAT THE FEES BE DEPOSITED INTO a proprietary fund; amending section

2-6-103, MCA; and providing an immediate effective date.



Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Montana:



Section 1.  Section 2-6-103, MCA, is amended to read:

"2-6-103.   Filing and copying fees. (1) The secretary of state, for services performed in the office, shall charge and collect the following fees: commensurate with costs for filing and copying services

(a)  for each copy of any law, resolution, record, or other document or paper on file in his office, except corporate papers, 40 cents per folio or, if the copy is made by any process of reproduction by photographic, photostatic, or similar process, the fee shall be 50 cents per page or fraction of a page;

(b)  for affixing certificate and seal, $2;

(c)  for receiving and recording each official bond, $10;

(d)  for each commission or other document signed by the governor and attested by the secretary of state (pardon, military commissions, and extraditions excepted), $5;

(e)  for issuing each certificate of record, $5;

(f)  for filing and recording miscellaneous papers, records, or other documents, $5;

(g)  for filing and recording any other paper not otherwise provided for, $5;

(h)  for filing and recording any paper, record, or other document or other than a standard form when recommended by the secretary of state, $5;

(i)  when a copy of any law, resolution, record, or other document or paper on file in the office of the secretary of state is presented for comparison and certification, 10 cents per folio must be charged and collected for proofreading the same.

(2)  A member of the legislature or state or county officer may not be charged for any search relative to matters appertaining to the duties of the member's office or for a certified copy of any law or resolution passed by the legislature relative to the member's official duties.

(3)  The secretary of state may not charge a fee, other than the fees authorized in 2-6-110, for providing electronic information.

(4)  Fees must be collected in advance and when collected by the secretary of state are not refundable and must be deposited pursuant to 17-6-105 into a proprietary fund.

(5)  Within 120 days following the end of each fiscal year, the secretary of state shall deposit into the general fund from the proprietary fund any revenue collected in the proprietary fund during the prior fiscal year that is in excess of the amount appropriated from the proprietary fund for the current year."



Section 2.  Effective date. [This act] is effective on passage and approval.

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