By: Sibley, et al. S.B. No. 357
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the authority of certain law enforcement agencies to
1-2 establish a checkpoint on a street or highway to determine whether
1-3 persons are driving while intoxicated.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Title 116, Revised Statutes, is amended by adding
1-6 Article 6701l-8 to read as follows:
1-7 Art. 6701l-8. SOBRIETY CHECKPOINTS
1-8 Sec. 1. AUTHORIZATION FOR SOBRIETY CHECKPOINTS. A law
1-9 enforcement agency may operate a temporary checkpoint as provided
1-10 by this article on a street or highway to determine whether persons
1-11 operating motor vehicles on the street or highway are intoxicated
1-12 and in violation of Section 49.04, Penal Code.
1-13 Sec. 2. APPROVAL OF AND PROCEDURES FOR SOBRIETY CHECKPOINTS.
1-14 (a) A peace officer of at least the rank of lieutenant or its
1-15 equivalent in the law enforcement agency must approve the operation
1-16 of a checkpoint by peace officers of the agency and the procedures
1-17 to be used in the operation of the checkpoint before the checkpoint
1-18 begins operation.
1-19 (b) The law enforcement agency must record in writing the
1-20 procedures:
1-21 (1) used in selecting the site for the checkpoint; and
1-22 (2) to be used in the operation of the checkpoint.
1-23 (c) The procedures for the operation of a checkpoint must
1-24 ensure that the selection of motor vehicles to be stopped is
2-1 reasonably predictable and nonarbitrary. For example, every
2-2 vehicle or every other vehicle entering the checkpoint, from one or
2-3 both directions, may be stopped.
2-4 (d) The law enforcement agency, in establishing the
2-5 location, time, and design of a checkpoint, shall consider the
2-6 safety of the public entering the checkpoint and the peace officers
2-7 operating the checkpoint. The law enforcement agency shall make
2-8 reasonable efforts to place signs or other devices to advise
2-9 oncoming drivers of the checkpoint and the purpose of the
2-10 checkpoint, to demarcate the checkpoint with flares, flags, or
2-11 traffic cones, and otherwise to illuminate the checkpoint as
2-12 necessary.
2-13 (e) The peace officer who makes the initial traffic
2-14 directive or other communication with the driver of a vehicle at
2-15 the checkpoint must be wearing a uniform distinguishable from
2-16 civilian dress.
2-17 (f) The law enforcement agency shall establish procedures
2-18 governing the encounters between drivers and the peace officers to
2-19 ensure that:
2-20 (1) an intrusion on a driver is minimized; and
2-21 (2) an inquiry be reasonably related to determining
2-22 whether the driver is intoxicated and in violation of Section
2-23 49.04, Penal Code.
2-24 (g) A peace officer may request a person driving a vehicle
2-25 at a checkpoint to display the person's driver's license and to
2-26 furnish evidence of financial responsibility as required by law. A
2-27 peace officer may not direct a driver or a passenger in a motor
3-1 vehicle to leave the vehicle or move the vehicle off the street,
3-2 highway, or routine checkpoint diversion route unless the officer
3-3 has reasonable suspicion or probable cause to believe that the
3-4 person has committed or is committing an offense. The design of a
3-5 checkpoint may require that each motor vehicle passing through the
3-6 checkpoint be diverted to a location adjacent to the street or
3-7 highway to ensure safety.
3-8 (h) A peace officer may not require a driver to perform a
3-9 sobriety test unless the officer has reasonable suspicion or
3-10 probable cause to believe that the driver is violating Section
3-11 49.04, Penal Code. A peace officer who requires or requests a
3-12 driver to provide a specimen of breath, blood, or urine must comply
3-13 with Chapter 434, Acts of the 61st Legislature, Regular Session,
3-14 1969 (Article 6701l-5, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes).
3-15 (i) Unless a peace officer has reasonable suspicion or
3-16 probable cause to detain a driver or a passenger for a criminal
3-17 offense, the time during which an officer makes an inquiry of a
3-18 driver or passenger should not exceed two minutes, and the total
3-19 time during which the driver must wait to pass through the
3-20 checkpoint should not exceed 10 minutes. The law enforcement
3-21 agency shall make reasonable efforts to reduce these periods to not
3-22 more than one and five minutes, respectively.
3-23 (j) The law enforcement agency shall make reasonable efforts
3-24 to publicize the operation of a checkpoint but is not required to
3-25 disclose the precise date, time, location, or purpose of the
3-26 checkpoint.
3-27 (k) A law enforcement agency may not operate a checkpoint at
4-1 one location for more than four hours and may not operate a
4-2 checkpoint at the same location more than twice in a seven-day
4-3 period. For the purposes of this subsection, checkpoints located
4-4 within one-half mile of each other are considered to be at the same
4-5 location. This subsection does not apply in an emergency.
4-6 (l) A law enforcement agency shall keep a record of the
4-7 operation of a checkpoint that contains:
4-8 (1) the date, time, location, and duration of the
4-9 checkpoint;
4-10 (2) the number of motor vehicles stopped at the
4-11 checkpoint and the number and nature of arrests made and citations
4-12 issued at the checkpoint; and
4-13 (3) the identities of the peace officers operating the
4-14 checkpoint.
4-15 Sec. 3. VISUAL RECORDING OF SOBRIETY CHECKPOINTS. (a) A
4-16 law enforcement agency that operates a sobriety checkpoint shall
4-17 visually record the operation of the checkpoint. The visual
4-18 recording must display the day, date, and time that the recording
4-19 was made.
4-20 (b) The law enforcement agency shall retain each recording
4-21 of the operation of a checkpoint until at least the first
4-22 anniversary of the operation of that checkpoint.
4-23 (c) No later than the third working day of each month, a law
4-24 enforcement agency shall report the operation of each checkpoint
4-25 during the preceding month to the traffic safety section of the
4-26 traffic operations division of the Texas Department of
4-27 Transportation at its offices in Austin.
5-1 (d) The traffic operations division is entitled to:
5-2 (1) view each visual recording of the operation of a
5-3 checkpoint made by a law enforcement agency under Subsection (a) of
5-4 this section; and
5-5 (2) inspect any information in the possession of the
5-6 law enforcement agency that relates to the operation of a sobriety
5-7 checkpoint by the agency.
5-8 (e) No later than January 31, 1997, the traffic operations
5-9 division shall submit a report on the effectiveness of sobriety
5-10 checkpoints operated under this article in this state to the
5-11 governor, the lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the house of
5-12 representatives. This subsection expires February 1, 1997.
5-13 Sec. 4. DEFINITIONS. In this article:
5-14 (1) "Law enforcement agency" means:
5-15 (A) the Department of Public Safety of the State
5-16 of Texas;
5-17 (B) the sheriff's department of a county; or
5-18 (C) the police department of a municipality.
5-19 (2) "Street or highway" has the meaning assigned by
5-20 Section 13(a), Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on Highways (Article
5-21 6701d, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes).
5-22 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the
5-23 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-24 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-25 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-26 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
5-27 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
6-1 passage, and it is so enacted.