By Hartnett, Allen, Talton H.B. No. 263
74R370 JD-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the authority of the police department in certain
1-3 municipalities to establish a checkpoint on a street or highway to
1-4 determine whether persons are driving while intoxicated.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Title 116, Revised Statutes, is amended by adding
1-7 Article 6701l-8 to read as follows:
1-8 Art. 6701l-8. SOBRIETY CHECKPOINTS
1-9 Sec. 1. AUTHORIZATION FOR SOBRIETY CHECKPOINTS. In a
1-10 municipality with a population of 250,000 or more, the police
1-11 department of the municipality may establish a temporary checkpoint
1-12 on a street or highway in the municipality to determine whether
1-13 persons driving or operating motor vehicles on the street or
1-14 highway are intoxicated and in violation of Section 49.04, Penal
1-15 Code, if the governing body of the municipality has by ordinance
1-16 authorized the department to establish sobriety checkpoints in the
1-17 municipality.
1-18 Sec. 2. APPROVAL OF AND PROCEDURES FOR SOBRIETY CHECKPOINTS.
1-19 (a) A peace officer of at least the rank of lieutenant in the
1-20 police department must approve the operation of a checkpoint by
1-21 peace officers of the department and the procedures to be used in
1-22 the operation of the checkpoint before the checkpoint begins
1-23 operation.
1-24 (b) The police department must record in writing the
2-1 procedures used in selecting the site for the checkpoint and the
2-2 procedures to be used in the operation of the checkpoint.
2-3 (c) Procedures governing the operation of a checkpoint must
2-4 ensure that motor vehicles are stopped on a reasonably predictable,
2-5 nonarbitrary basis, such as by requiring that every vehicle or
2-6 every other vehicle entering the checkpoint, from one or both
2-7 directions, be stopped.
2-8 (d) The police department shall establish the location,
2-9 time, and layout of a checkpoint with regard for the safety of the
2-10 public entering the checkpoint and the peace officers operating the
2-11 checkpoint. The police department shall make reasonable efforts
2-12 to place signs or other devices to advise oncoming drivers of the
2-13 checkpoint and the purpose of the checkpoint, to demarcate the
2-14 checkpoint with flares, flags, or traffic cones, and to otherwise
2-15 illuminate the checkpoint if necessary.
2-16 (e) The peace officer who makes the initial contact with the
2-17 driver of a vehicle at the checkpoint must be in uniform.
2-18 (f) The police department shall establish procedures
2-19 governing the encounters between drivers and the peace officers to
2-20 ensure that any intrusion on the drivers is minimized and that
2-21 inquiries made are reasonably related to determining whether the
2-22 drivers are intoxicated and in violation of Section 49.04, Penal
2-23 Code. This subsection does not prohibit a peace officer from
2-24 requesting a driver to display the person's driver's license or to
2-25 furnish evidence of financial responsibility as required by law. A
2-26 peace officer may not direct a driver or a passenger in a motor
2-27 vehicle to leave the vehicle or move the vehicle off the street or
3-1 highway unless the officer has reasonable suspicion or probable
3-2 cause to believe that the person has committed or is committing an
3-3 offense. However, a peace officer may require that each motor
3-4 vehicle passing through the checkpoint be diverted to a location
3-5 immediately adjacent to the street or highway, if desirable, to
3-6 ensure safety. A peace officer may not require a driver to perform
3-7 a sobriety test unless the officer has reasonable suspicion or
3-8 probable cause to believe that the driver is violating Section
3-9 49.04, Penal Code. A peace officer who requires or requests a
3-10 driver to provide a specimen of breath, blood, or urine must comply
3-11 with Chapter 434, Acts of the 61st Legislature, Regular Session,
3-12 1969 (Article 6701l-5, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes). Unless a
3-13 peace officer has reasonable suspicion or probable cause to detain
3-14 a driver or a passenger for a criminal offense, the time during
3-15 which an officer makes an inquiry of a driver or passenger should
3-16 not exceed two minutes, and the total time during which the driver
3-17 must wait to pass through the checkpoint should not exceed 10
3-18 minutes. The police department shall make reasonable efforts to
3-19 reduce these time periods to not more than one and five minutes,
3-20 respectively.
3-21 (g) The police department shall make reasonable efforts to
3-22 publicize that it will conduct a checkpoint, but the police
3-23 department is not required to disclose the precise date, time,
3-24 purpose, or location of the checkpoint.
3-25 (h) In the absence of exigent circumstances, a police
3-26 department may not operate a checkpoint at one location for more
3-27 than four hours. In the absence of exigent circumstances, a
4-1 checkpoint may not be operated at a location more than twice in a
4-2 seven-day period. For the purposes of this subsection, checkpoints
4-3 located within one-half mile of each other are considered to be at
4-4 the same location.
4-5 (i) A police department shall keep a record of the operation
4-6 of a checkpoint that contains:
4-7 (1) the date, time, location, and duration of the
4-8 checkpoint;
4-9 (2) the number of motor vehicles stopped at the
4-10 checkpoint and the number and nature of arrests made and citations
4-11 issued at the checkpoint; and
4-12 (3) the identities of the peace officers operating the
4-13 checkpoint.
4-14 Sec. 3. DEFINITION. In this article, "street or highway"
4-15 has the meaning assigned by Section 13(a), Uniform Act Regulating
4-16 Traffic on Highways (Article 6701d, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes).
4-17 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995, and
4-18 applies only to the procedures used in the operation of public
4-19 highway checkpoints operated on or after that date. This Act does
4-20 not invalidate public highway checkpoints operated before the
4-21 effective date of this Act.
4-22 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
4-23 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-24 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-25 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-26 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.