73R2815 JD-D
By Place H.B. No. 536
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the law governing consent by certain persons to the
1-3 taking of breath or blood samples.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 1, Chapter 434, Acts of the 61st
1-6 Legislature, Regular Session, 1969 (Article 6701l-5, Vernon's Texas
1-7 Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
1-8 Sec. 1. Any person who operates a motor vehicle in <upon the
1-9 public highways or upon> a public place <beach> in this state shall
1-10 be deemed to have given consent, subject to the provisions of this
1-11 Act, to submit to the taking of one or more specimens of his breath
1-12 or blood for the purpose of analysis to determine the alcohol
1-13 concentration or the presence in his body of a controlled substance
1-14 or drug if arrested for any offense arising out of acts alleged to
1-15 have been committed while a person was driving or in actual
1-16 physical control of a motor vehicle while intoxicated. Any person
1-17 so arrested may consent to the giving of any other type of specimen
1-18 to determine his alcohol concentration, but he shall not be deemed,
1-19 solely on the basis of his operation of a motor vehicle in <upon
1-20 the public highways or upon> a public place <beach> in this state,
1-21 to have given consent to give any type of specimen other than a
1-22 specimen of his breath or blood. The specimen, or specimens, shall
1-23 be taken at the request of a peace officer having reasonable
1-24 grounds to believe the person to have been driving or in actual
2-1 physical control of a motor vehicle in <upon the public highways or
2-2 upon> a public place <beach> in this state while intoxicated.
2-3 SECTION 2. Section 2(f), Chapter 434, Acts of the 61st
2-4 Legislature, Regular Session, 1969 (Article 6701l-5, Vernon's Texas
2-5 Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
2-6 (f) When the director receives the report, the director
2-7 shall suspend the person's license, permit, or nonresident
2-8 operating privilege, or shall issue an order prohibiting the person
2-9 from obtaining a license or permit, for 90 days effective 28 days
2-10 after the date the person receives notice by certified mail or 31
2-11 days after the date the director sends notice by certified mail, if
2-12 the person has not accepted delivery of the notice. If, not later
2-13 than the 20th day after the date on which the person receives
2-14 notice by certified mail or the 23rd day after the date the
2-15 director sent notice by certified mail, if the person has not
2-16 accepted delivery of the notice, the department receives a written
2-17 demand that a hearing be held, the department shall, not later than
2-18 the 10th day after the day of receipt of the demand, request a
2-19 court to set the hearing for the earliest possible date. The
2-20 hearing shall be set in the same manner as a hearing under Section
2-21 22(a), Chapter 173, Acts of the 47th Legislature, Regular Session,
2-22 1941, as amended (Article 6687b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes).
2-23 If, upon such hearing the court finds (1) that probable cause
2-24 existed that such person was driving or in actual physical control
2-25 of a motor vehicle in <on the highway or upon> a public place
2-26 <beach> while intoxicated, (2) that the person was placed under
2-27 arrest by the officer and was offered an opportunity to give a
3-1 specimen under the provisions of this Act, and (3) that such person
3-2 refused to give a specimen upon request of the officer, then the
3-3 Director of the Texas Department of Public Safety shall suspend the
3-4 person's license or permit to drive, or any nonresident operating
3-5 privilege for a period of 90 days, as ordered by the court. If the
3-6 person is a resident without a license or permit to operate a motor
3-7 vehicle in this State, the Texas Department of Public Safety shall
3-8 deny to the person the issuance of a license or permit for 90 days.
3-9 SECTION 3. Sections 3(j)(5) and (6), Chapter 434, Acts of
3-10 the 61st Legislature, Regular Session, 1969 (Article 6701l-5,
3-11 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), are repealed.
3-12 SECTION 4. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies
3-13 only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this
3-14 Act. For purposes of this section, an offense was committed before
3-15 the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense
3-16 occurred before the effective date.
3-17 (b) An offense committed before the effective date of this
3-18 Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
3-19 and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
3-20 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
3-21 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
3-22 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-23 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-24 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-25 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.