By:  Leedom                                            S.B. No. 261
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
                                        AN ACT
    1-1  relating to certain charges in connection with a fine for violation
    1-2  of a motor vehicle law.
    1-3        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-4        SECTION 1.  Title 116, Revised Statutes, is amended by adding
    1-5  Article 6701d-28 to read as follows:
    1-6        Art. 6701d-28.  LOCAL GOVERNMENT EXPENSE IN COLLECTING FINES.
    1-7  (a)  In this article:
    1-8              (1)  "Delinquent fine" means a fine that is not paid on
    1-9  or before the last date on which payment may be made without
   1-10  penalty, as determined by applicable law or court order.
   1-11              (2)  "Motor vehicle misdemeanor" means a violation,
   1-12  punishable as a misdemeanor, of a statute or municipal ordinance
   1-13  that regulates:
   1-14                    (A)  parking or stopping of a motor vehicle;
   1-15                    (B)  a driver's conduct or condition while
   1-16  operating a motor vehicle; or
   1-17                    (C)  the condition of a motor vehicle while it is
   1-18  being operated.
   1-19        (b)  If the governing body of a municipality or county by an
   1-20  affirmative vote recorded in the governing body's minutes approves
   1-21  the collection of expenses related to delinquent fines for motor
   1-22  vehicle misdemeanors, a person owing a delinquent fine that was
   1-23  assessed for a motor vehicle misdemeanor and that has been
   1-24  delinquent for 30 days or more is liable to the municipality or
    2-1  county for:
    2-2              (1)  interest on the amount of the delinquent fine at a
    2-3  rate of one percent a month for the period beginning on the first
    2-4  day following the month the fine becomes delinquent and ending on
    2-5  the last day of the month prior to the collection of the delinquent
    2-6  fine; and
    2-7              (2)  collection fees in an amount equal to the lesser
    2-8  of:
    2-9                    (A)  30 percent of the amount of the fine; or
   2-10                    (B)  $100.
   2-11        (c)  This article does not apply to delinquent fines for
   2-12  parking or stopping a motor vehicle in a municipality which has
   2-13  disannexed territory previously annexed for limited purposes and
   2-14  which employs the practice of immobilization of motor vehicles with
   2-15  a mechanical device unless all the parking meters in the
   2-16  municipality accept any coins minted by the United States which
   2-17  have a value between five cents and 25 cents.
   2-18        SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
   2-19  to a fine that becomes delinquent on or after the effective date of
   2-20  this Act.
   2-21        SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
   2-22        SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
   2-23  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   2-24  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   2-25  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   2-26  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.