Sec. 117.021. APPLICATIONS

(a) The commissioners court of a county shall select by the process provided by this subchapter or by Subchapter C, Chapter 262, a federally insured bank or banks in the county to be the depository for a special account held by the county clerk and the district clerks. The county shall enter a contract with the selected federally insured bank or banks for a two-year or four-year term. The original term can be renewed once for an additional two-year term. The contract may, on request by the clerk and approval of the commissioners court, include a provision that the funds in a special account earn interest. A request from the clerk that an account earn interest must be made, in writing, to the commissioners court not later than the 30th day before the date the county gives notice under Section 117.022 and shall be entered in the minutes of the court.

(b) If the contract is for a four-year term, the contract shall allow the county to establish, on the basis of negotiations with the bank, new interest rates and financial terms of the contract that will take effect during the final two years of the four-year contract.

(c) On the renewal of a contract, the county may negotiate new interest rates and terms with the bank for the next two years in the same way and under the same conditions as provided by Subsection (b).

(d) A bank must file its application on or before a date set by the commissioners court. The application must be accompanied by a certified check or cashier's check for at least one-half of one percent of the average daily balance of the registry funds held by the county clerk and the district clerk during the preceding calendar year, as determined by the county clerk and the district clerk on or before the 10th day before the date the application is required to be filed. A certified check or cashier's check that complies with this section is a good-faith guarantee on the part of the applicant that if its application is accepted it will execute the bond required under this subchapter. If the bank selected as depository does not provide the bond, the county shall retain the amount of the check as liquidated damages and the county shall select another depository as provided by this subchapter.

(e) If for any reason a county depository is not selected under Subsection (a), the commissioners court, at any subsequent time after 20 days' notice, may select, by the process described by Section 117.023 or by negotiated bid, one or more depositories in the same manner as at the regular term.

(f) If the commissioners court selects a depository by the process provided by Subchapter C, Chapter 262, the depository may be selected by:

(1) competitive bidding; or

(2) another method under that subchapter that the county is qualified to use.

Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 149, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987. Amended by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 1, Sec. 17(d), eff. Aug. 28, 1989; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 326, Sec. 2, eff. June 5, 1991; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 527, Sec. 8, eff. Sept. 1, 1991; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 65, Sec. 3, eff. Aug. 28, 1995; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 505, Sec. 4, eff. Sept. 1, 1997. Amended by: Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 899 , Sec. 5, eff. June 15, 2007.