73R10880 E
By Carriker S.B. No. 1274
Substitute the following for S.B. No. 1274:
By Cuellar of Hidalgo C.S.S.B. No. 1274
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the authority of the Parks and Wildlife Department to
1-3 establish a checkpoint on a public highway to determine whether a
1-4 person possesses a wildlife resource in violation of the Parks and
1-5 Wildlife Code.
1-6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-7 SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 12, Parks and Wildlife
1-8 Code, is amended by adding Sections 12.1035 and 12.1036 to read as
1-9 follows:
1-10 Sec. 12.1035. AUTHORIZATION FOR CHECKPOINTS; OBLIGATION TO
1-11 STOP. (a) The department may establish a temporary checkpoint on
1-12 a public highway to determine whether a person possesses a wildlife
1-13 resource in violation of this code. A checkpoint is designed to
1-14 aid a game warden in managing the wildlife resources in this state.
1-15 (b) A person who encounters a checkpoint shall stop and
1-16 produce all Texas Parks and Wildlife Department required licenses
1-17 and all wildlife resources in that person's possession if the
1-18 person is directed to stop by a game warden.
1-19 (c) In this section, "public highway" has the meaning
1-20 assigned the term "highway" by the Uniform Act Regulating Traffic
1-21 on Highways (Article 6701d, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes).
1-22 Sec. 12.1036. APPROVAL OF AND PROCEDURES FOR CHECKPOINTS.
1-23 (a) A department supervisor must approve the operation of a
1-24 checkpoint and the procedures to be used in the operation of the
2-1 checkpoint before the checkpoint begins operation.
2-2 (b) The approving supervisor must record in writing the
2-3 procedures used in selecting the site for the checkpoint and the
2-4 procedures to be used in the operation of the checkpoint.
2-5 (c) The procedures governing the operation of a checkpoint
2-6 must provide for motor vehicles to be stopped according to a
2-7 reasonably predictable and objectively applied system, such as
2-8 requiring every vehicle or every other vehicle entering the
2-9 checkpoint, from one or both directions, to be stopped.
2-10 (d) The approving supervisor shall establish the location,
2-11 time, and layout of the checkpoint with due regard for the safety
2-12 of the public entering the checkpoint and the game wardens
2-13 operating the checkpoint. The game wardens operating the
2-14 checkpoint shall make reasonable efforts to place signs or other
2-15 devices that advise oncoming drivers of the purpose of the
2-16 checkpoint, to demarcate access to the checkpoint with flares,
2-17 flags, or traffic cones, and to illuminate the checkpoint as
2-18 necessary.
2-19 (e) Each game warden operating a checkpoint shall wear a
2-20 uniform.
2-21 (f) The approving supervisor shall establish procedures
2-22 governing the encounter between the driver of a motor vehicle
2-23 stopped and the game warden operating the checkpoint that ensure
2-24 that any intrusion on the driver is minimized and that the
2-25 inquiries made are reasonably related to the purpose of the
2-26 checkpoint. A game warden may require that each motor vehicle
2-27 passing through a checkpoint be diverted to a location immediately
3-1 adjacent to the roadway, as desirable, to ensure safety. Unless a
3-2 game warden has reasonable suspicion or probable cause to detain a
3-3 driver or a passenger for an offense, the time during which a game
3-4 warden operating the checkpoint makes an inquiry of a driver or
3-5 passenger should not exceed two minutes, and the total time during
3-6 which the driver must wait to pass through the checkpoint should
3-7 not exceed 10 minutes. The department supervisor and the game
3-8 wardens at the checkpoint shall make reasonable efforts to reduce
3-9 these periods to not more than one and five minutes, respectively.
3-10 (g) The department shall make reasonable efforts to
3-11 publicize that it will operate a checkpoint but is not required to
3-12 disclose the precise date, time, location, purpose, and duration of
3-13 a particular checkpoint.
3-14 (h) A checkpoint may not be operated at the same location
3-15 more than twice in a seven-day period. For the purposes of this
3-16 subsection, checkpoints located within one-half mile of each other
3-17 are considered to be at the same location.
3-18 (i) The department shall keep a record of the operation of a
3-19 checkpoint. The record must contain:
3-20 (1) the date, time, location, purpose, and duration of
3-21 the checkpoint;
3-22 (2) the number of motor vehicles stopped at the
3-23 checkpoint and the number and nature of arrests made or citations
3-24 issued at the checkpoint; and
3-25 (3) the identity of each game warden operating the
3-26 checkpoint.
3-27 (j) In this section, "public highway" has the meaning
4-1 assigned by Section 12.1035(c) of this code.
4-2 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993, and
4-3 applies only to the procedures used in the operation of public
4-4 highway checkpoints operated on or after that date. This Act does
4-5 not invalidate public highway checkpoints operated before the
4-6 effective date of this Act.
4-7 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
4-8 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-9 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-10 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-11 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.