By: Carter H.B. No. 1054
73R4215 NSC-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the authority of the Department of Public Safety to
1-3 establish a checkpoint on a public highway to determine whether
1-4 persons are driving while intoxicated or whether persons possess
1-5 controlled substances in violation of the Texas Controlled
1-6 Substances Act.
1-7 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-8 SECTION 1. Part 1, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended by
1-9 adding Chapter 61 to read as follows:
1-10 CHAPTER 61. PUBLIC HIGHWAY CHECKPOINTS
1-11 Art. 61.01. AUTHORIZATION FOR CHECKPOINTS. The Department
1-12 of Public Safety may establish a temporary checkpoint on a public
1-13 highway for the purpose of determining whether persons operating
1-14 motor vehicles are intoxicated in violation of Article 6701l-1,
1-15 Revised Statutes, or for the purpose of determining whether persons
1-16 possess a controlled substance in violation of Chapter 481, Health
1-17 and Safety Code. The department may not operate a checkpoint for
1-18 more than one purpose. A person operating a motor vehicle on a
1-19 public highway is considered to have consented to inspection at a
1-20 checkpoint in return for the privilege of operating the motor
1-21 vehicle on a public highway.
1-22 Art. 61.02. APPROVAL OF AND PROCEDURES FOR CHECKPOINTS. (a)
1-23 A peace officer of the department of at least the rank of
1-24 lieutenant must approve the operation of a checkpoint and the
2-1 procedures to be used in the operation of the checkpoint before the
2-2 checkpoint begins operation.
2-3 (b) The approving officer must record in writing the
2-4 procedures used in selecting the site for the checkpoint and the
2-5 procedures to be used in the operation of the checkpoint.
2-6 (c) Procedures governing the operation of a checkpoint must
2-7 ensure that motor vehicles are stopped on a reasonably predictable,
2-8 nonarbitrary basis, such as by requiring that every vehicle or
2-9 every other vehicle entering the checkpoint, from one or both
2-10 directions, be stopped.
2-11 (d) The approving officer shall establish the location,
2-12 time, and layout of the checkpoint with due regard for the safety
2-13 of the public entering the checkpoint and the peace officers
2-14 operating the checkpoint. The peace officers operating the
2-15 checkpoint shall make reasonable efforts to place signs or other
2-16 devices that will advise oncoming drivers of the purpose of the
2-17 checkpoint, to demarcate the checkpoint with flares, flags, or
2-18 traffic cones, and to otherwise illuminate the checkpoint if
2-19 necessary.
2-20 (e) Peace officers operating the checkpoint must be in
2-21 uniform.
2-22 (f) The approving officer shall establish procedures
2-23 governing the encounter between the driver and the peace officers
2-24 operating the checkpoint that ensure that any intrusion on the
2-25 driver is minimized and that the inquiries made are reasonably
2-26 related to the purpose of the checkpoint. This subsection does not
2-27 prohibit the officer at the checkpoint from requesting the driver
3-1 to show that the driver possesses a driver's license or evidence of
3-2 financial responsibility as required by law. A peace officer at
3-3 the checkpoint may not direct a driver or a passenger in a motor
3-4 vehicle to leave the vehicle or move the vehicle off the roadway
3-5 unless the officer has reasonable suspicion or probable cause to
3-6 believe that the person has committed or is committing an offense.
3-7 However, a peace officer may require that each motor vehicle
3-8 passing through the checkpoint be diverted to a location
3-9 immediately adjacent to the roadway, if desirable, to ensure
3-10 safety. An officer may not require a driver to perform a sobriety
3-11 test unless the officer has reasonable suspicion or probable cause
3-12 to believe that the driver is violating Article 6701l-1, Revised
3-13 Statutes. If a peace officer requires or requests a driver to
3-14 provide a specimen of breath, blood, or urine, the officer must
3-15 comply with the provisions of Chapter 434, Acts of the 61st
3-16 Legislature, Regular Session, 1969 (Article 6701l-5, Vernon's Texas
3-17 Civil Statutes). An officer may not search a driver's motor
3-18 vehicle unless the officer has reasonable suspicion or probable
3-19 cause to believe that the driver possesses a controlled substance
3-20 in violation of Chapter 481, Health and Safety Code. Unless an
3-21 officer has reasonable suspicion or probable cause to detain a
3-22 driver or a passenger for a criminal offense, the time during which
3-23 an officer operating the checkpoint makes an inquiry of a driver or
3-24 passenger should not exceed two minutes, and the total time during
3-25 which the driver must wait to pass through the checkpoint should
3-26 not exceed 10 minutes. The approving officer and the officers at
3-27 the checkpoint shall make reasonable efforts to reduce these
4-1 periods to not more than one and five minutes, respectively.
4-2 (g) The department shall make reasonable efforts to
4-3 publicize that it will operate a checkpoint but is not required to
4-4 disclose the precise date, time, location, purpose, and duration of
4-5 a particular checkpoint.
4-6 (h) The department may not operate a checkpoint at one
4-7 location for more than four consecutive hours. A checkpoint may
4-8 not be operated at a location more than twice in a seven-day
4-9 period. For the purposes of this subsection, checkpoints located
4-10 within one-half mile of each other are considered to be at the same
4-11 location.
4-12 (i) The department shall keep a record of the operation of a
4-13 checkpoint that contains:
4-14 (1) the date, time, location, purpose, and duration of
4-15 the checkpoint;
4-16 (2) the number of motor vehicles stopped at the
4-17 checkpoint and the number and nature of arrests made or citations
4-18 issued at the checkpoint; and
4-19 (3) the identity of the peace officers operating the
4-20 checkpoint.
4-21 Art. 61.03. DEFINITION. In this chapter, "public highway"
4-22 has the meaning assigned the term "highway" by the Uniform Act
4-23 Regulating Traffic on Highways (Article 6701d, Vernon's Texas Civil
4-24 Statutes).
4-25 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993, and
4-26 applies only to the procedures used in the operation of public
4-27 highway checkpoints operated on or after that date. This Act does
5-1 not invalidate public highway checkpoints operated before the
5-2 effective date of this Act.
5-3 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
5-4 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-5 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-6 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-7 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.