Sec. 51.302. BOND; OATH; INSURANCE

(a) Except as provided by Subsection (g), before beginning the duties of office, each district clerk must give a bond with two or more sufficient sureties or with a surety company authorized to do business in this state as a surety. The bond must:

(1) be payable to the governor;

(2) be conditioned on the faithful performance of the duties of the office;

(3) be approved by the commissioners court; and

(4) be in an amount equal to not less than 20 percent of the maximum amount of fees collected in any year during the term of office immediately preceding the term of office for which the bond is given, except that the bond may not be in an amount less than $5,000 nor more than $100,000.

(b) The district clerk must take and sign the oath prescribed for officers of this state, which must be endorsed on the bond, if a bond is required, and the bond and oath, or oath, must be filed and recorded in the office of the county clerk.

(c) Each district clerk shall obtain an insurance policy or similar coverage from a governmental pool operating under Chapter 119, Local Government Code, or from a self-insurance fund or risk retention group created by one or more governmental units under Chapter 1084, Acts of the 70th Legislature, Regular Session, 1987 (Article 715c, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), to cover the district clerk and any deputy clerk against liabilities incurred through errors or omissions in the performance of official duties. The amount of the policy or other coverage document must be equal to the maximum amount of fees collected in any year during the term of office immediately preceding the term for which the insurance is obtained, except that the amount of the policy or other coverage document must be at least $20,000 but not more than $700,000. If the policy or other coverage document provides coverage for other county officials, the amount of the policy must be at least $1 million.

(d) Each district clerk shall obtain an insurance policy or similar coverage from a governmental pool operating under Chapter 119, Local Government Code, or from a self-insurance fund or risk retention group created by one or more governmental units under Chapter 1084, Acts of the 70th Legislature, Regular Session, 1987 (Article 715c, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), to cover losses from burglary, theft, robbery, counterfeit currency, or destruction. The amount of the policy or other coverage document must be at least $20,000 but not more than $700,000.

(e) The commissioners court may establish a contingency fund to provide the coverage required by Subsection (c) or (d) if it is determined by the district clerk that insurance coverage is unavailable at a reasonable cost. The commissioners court may set an additional filing fee in an amount not to exceed $5 for each suit filed to be collected by the district clerk. The fee shall be paid into the fund. When the contingency fund reaches an amount equal to that required by Subsection (c) or (d), the clerk shall stop collecting the additional fee.

(f) The commissioners court shall pay the premiums on the bonds and insurance policies or other similar coverage required under this section from the county general fund.

(g) In lieu of the bond required by Subsection (a), the county may self-insure against losses that would have been covered by the bond.

Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 480, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1985. Amended by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 71, Sec. 3, 4, eff. May 7, 1987; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 561, Sec. 2, eff. Aug. 30, 1993; Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1062, Sec. 1, eff. June 18, 1999.