By: Carriker S.B. No. 1274
73R4906 MLR-D
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 or other peace officer, as defined under Article
1-15 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, in managing the wildlife
1-16 resources in this state. A person operating a motor vehicle on a
1-17 public highway is considered to have consented to inspection at a
1-18 checkpoint in return for the privilege of operating the motor
1-19 vehicle on a public highway.
1-20 (b) A person who encounters a checkpoint shall stop and
1-21 produce all licenses and all wildlife resources in that person's
1-22 possession if the person is directed to stop by a game warden or
1-23 other peace officer.
1-24 (c) In this section, "public highway" has the meaning
2-1 assigned the term "highway" by the Uniform Act Regulating Traffic
2-2 on Highways (Article 6701d, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes).
2-3 Sec. 12.1036. APPROVAL OF AND PROCEDURES FOR CHECKPOINTS.
2-4 (a) A department supervisor must approve the operation of a
2-5 checkpoint and the procedures to be used in the operation of the
2-6 checkpoint before the checkpoint begins operation.
2-7 (b) The approving supervisor must record in writing the
2-8 procedures used in selecting the site for the checkpoint and the
2-9 procedures to be used in the operation of the checkpoint.
2-10 (c) The procedures governing the operation of a checkpoint
2-11 must provide for motor vehicles to be stopped according to a
2-12 reasonably predictable and objectively applied system, such as
2-13 requiring every vehicle or every other vehicle entering the
2-14 checkpoint, from one or both directions, to be stopped.
2-15 (d) The approving supervisor shall establish the location,
2-16 time, and layout of the checkpoint with due regard for the safety
2-17 of the public entering the checkpoint and the game wardens or other
2-18 peace officers operating the checkpoint. The game wardens or other
2-19 peace officers operating the checkpoint shall make reasonable
2-20 efforts to place signs or other devices that advise oncoming
2-21 drivers of the purpose of the checkpoint, to demarcate access to
2-22 the checkpoint with flares, flags, or traffic cones, and to
2-23 illuminate the checkpoint as necessary.
2-24 (e) Each game warden or other peace officer operating a
2-25 checkpoint shall wear a uniform.
2-26 (f) The approving supervisor shall establish procedures
2-27 governing the encounter between the driver of a motor vehicle
3-1 stopped and the game warden or other peace officer operating the
3-2 checkpoint that ensure that any intrusion on the driver is
3-3 minimized and that the inquiries made are reasonably related to the
3-4 purpose of the checkpoint. A game warden or other peace officer at
3-5 a checkpoint may not direct a driver or a passenger in a motor
3-6 vehicle to leave the vehicle or move the vehicle off the roadway
3-7 unless the game warden or other peace officer has reasonable
3-8 suspicion or probable cause to believe that the person has
3-9 committed or is committing an offense. A game warden or other
3-10 peace officer may, however, require that each motor vehicle passing
3-11 through a checkpoint be diverted to a location immediately adjacent
3-12 to the roadway, as desirable, to ensure safety. Unless a game
3-13 warden or other peace officer has reasonable suspicion or probable
3-14 cause to detain a driver or a passenger for an offense, the time
3-15 during which a game warden or other peace officer operating the
3-16 checkpoint makes an inquiry of a driver or passenger should not
3-17 exceed two minutes, and the total time during which the driver must
3-18 wait to pass through the checkpoint should not exceed 10 minutes.
3-19 The department supervisor and the game wardens or other peace
3-20 officers at the checkpoint shall make reasonable efforts to reduce
3-21 these periods to not more than one and five minutes, respectively.
3-22 (g) The department shall make reasonable efforts to
3-23 publicize that it will operate a checkpoint but is not required to
3-24 disclose the precise date, time, location, purpose, and duration of
3-25 a particular checkpoint.
3-26 (h) The department may not operate a checkpoint at one
3-27 location for more than four consecutive hours. A checkpoint may
4-1 not be operated at the same location more than twice in a seven-day
4-2 period. For the purposes of this subsection, checkpoints located
4-3 within one-half mile of each other are considered to be at the same
4-4 location.
4-5 (i) The department shall keep a record of the operation of a
4-6 checkpoint. The record must contain:
4-7 (1) the date, time, location, purpose, and duration of
4-8 the checkpoint;
4-9 (2) the number of motor vehicles stopped at the
4-10 checkpoint and the number and nature of arrests made or citations
4-11 issued at the checkpoint; and
4-12 (3) the identity of each game warden or other peace
4-13 officer operating the checkpoint.
4-14 (j) In this section, "public highway" has the meaning
4-15 assigned by Section 12.1035(c) of this code.
4-16 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993, and
4-17 applies only to the procedures used in the operation of public
4-18 highway checkpoints operated on or after that date. This Act does
4-19 not invalidate public highway checkpoints operated before the
4-20 effective date of this Act.
4-21 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
4-22 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-23 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-24 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-25 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.