By:  Sibley                                             S.B. No. 51
       73R958 DWS-F
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to possession of alcoholic beverages in motor vehicles.
    1-3        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-4        SECTION 1.  Section 107E, Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on
    1-5  Highways (Article 6701d, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended
    1-6  to read as follows:
    1-7        Sec. 107E.  POSSESSION <CONSUMPTION> OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE
    1-8  WHILE DRIVING.  (a)  In this section, "alcoholic beverage" has the
    1-9  meaning assigned by Subdivision (1), Section 1.04, Alcoholic
   1-10  Beverage Code.
   1-11        (b)  A person commits an offense if the person possesses
   1-12  <consumes> an alcoholic beverage while operating a motor vehicle in
   1-13  a public place<, as defined by Section 1.07(a)(29), Penal Code, and
   1-14  is observed doing so by a police officer>.
   1-15        (c)  For the purposes of this section, a person:
   1-16              (1)  possesses an alcoholic beverage if the person
   1-17  holds a bottle, can, or other receptacle that contains an alcoholic
   1-18  beverage; and
   1-19              (2)  is presumed to possess an alcoholic beverage if
   1-20  the person is alone in the vehicle and a bottle, can, or other
   1-21  receptacle that contains an alcoholic beverage and that has been
   1-22  opened or has a seal broken is present in the passenger portion of
   1-23  the vehicle.
   1-24        (d)  A person charged with a violation of this section may
    2-1  rebut the presumption under Subsection (c)(2) by establishing that
    2-2  the person had no knowledge that the alcoholic beverage was present
    2-3  in the passenger portion of the vehicle.
    2-4        (e)  Subsection (c) of this section does not apply if the
    2-5  alcoholic beverage is in the possession of a minister, priest,
    2-6  rabbi, accredited Christian Science practitioner, or other similar
    2-7  functionary of a religious organization who is carrying it for
    2-8  religious purposes.
    2-9        (f)  An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.
   2-10        SECTION 2.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies
   2-11  only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this
   2-12  Act.  For purposes of this section, an offense is committed before
   2-13  the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurs
   2-14  before that date.
   2-15        (b)  An offense committed before the effective date of this
   2-16  Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed,
   2-17  and the former law is continued in effect for this purpose.
   2-18        SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
   2-19        SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
   2-20  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   2-21  emergency   and   an   imperative   public   necessity   that   the
   2-22  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   2-23  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.