By Sibley S.B. No. 358
74R4722 JD-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the civil and criminal consequences of an offense
1-3 involving the driving or operation of a motor vehicle by a person
1-4 under the age of 21 while under the influence of alcohol or certain
1-5 substances or while impaired.
1-6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-7 SECTION 1. Chapter 49, Penal Code, is amended by adding
1-8 Section 49.045 to read as follows:
1-9 Sec. 49.045. DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL OR OTHER
1-10 SUBSTANCE BY MINOR. (a) In this section:
1-11 (1) "Toxic inhalant" means a gaseous substance that is
1-12 inhaled by a person to produce a desired physical or psychological
1-13 effect and that may cause personal injury or illness to the
1-14 inhaler.
1-15 (2) "Under the influence of alcohol" means having an
1-16 alcohol concentration of at least 0.02 but less than 0.10.
1-17 (b) A person younger than 21 years of age commits an offense
1-18 if the person operates a motor vehicle in a public place while the
1-19 person is:
1-20 (1) under the influence of alcohol; or
1-21 (2) under the influence of a controlled substance, a
1-22 drug, a dangerous drug, a toxic inhalant, or a combination of two
1-23 or more of those substances, to the extent that the person's
1-24 physical or mental capacity to safely operate a motor vehicle is
2-1 impaired.
2-2 (c) An offense under Subsection (b) is a Class C
2-3 misdemeanor.
2-4 SECTION 2. Section 1, Chapter 434, Acts of the 61st
2-5 Legislature, Regular Session, 1969 (Article 6701l-5, Vernon's Texas
2-6 Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
2-7 Sec. 1. (a) Any person who operates a motor vehicle in a
2-8 public place, or a watercraft, in this state shall be deemed to
2-9 have given consent, subject to the provisions of this Act, to
2-10 submit to the taking of one or more specimens of the person's <his>
2-11 breath or blood for the purpose of analysis to determine the
2-12 alcohol concentration or the presence in the person's <his> body of
2-13 a controlled substance, drug, dangerous drug, or other substance,
2-14 if arrested for any offense arising out of acts alleged to have
2-15 been committed while a person was driving or in actual physical
2-16 control of a motor vehicle or a watercraft while intoxicated.
2-17 (b)(1) A person younger than 21 years of age who operates a
2-18 motor vehicle in a public place in this state shall be deemed to
2-19 have given consent, subject to the provisions of this Act, to
2-20 submit to the taking of one or more specimens of the person's
2-21 breath or blood for the purpose of analysis to determine the
2-22 alcohol concentration or the presence in the person's body of a
2-23 controlled substance, drug, dangerous drug, or toxic inhalant if
2-24 arrested for an offense under Section 49.045, Penal Code.
2-25 (2) In this subsection, the term "toxic inhalant" has
2-26 the meaning assigned by Section 49.045, Penal Code.
2-27 (c) Any person so arrested may consent to the giving of any
3-1 other type of specimen to determine the person's <his> alcohol
3-2 concentration, but the person <he> shall not be deemed, solely on
3-3 the basis of the person's <his> operation of a motor vehicle in a
3-4 public place, or a watercraft, in this state, to have given consent
3-5 to give any type of specimen other than a specimen of the person's
3-6 <his> breath or blood.
3-7 (d) The specimen, or specimens, shall be taken at the
3-8 request of a peace officer having reasonable grounds to believe the
3-9 person to have been driving or in actual physical control of a
3-10 motor vehicle in a public place, or a watercraft, in this state
3-11 while intoxicated or to have been operating a motor vehicle in
3-12 violation of Section 49.045, Penal Code.
3-13 SECTION 3. Section 2(e), Chapter 434, Acts of the 61st
3-14 Legislature, Regular Session, 1969 (Article 6701l-5, Vernon's Texas
3-15 Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
3-16 (e) The director shall approve the form of the report. The
3-17 report must show the grounds for the officer's belief that the
3-18 person had been operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated or in
3-19 violation of Section 49.045, Penal Code. The report must also show
3-20 that the person refused to give a specimen, as evidenced by:
3-21 (1) a written refusal to give a specimen, signed by
3-22 the person; or
3-23 (2) a statement signed by the officer stating that the
3-24 person refused to give a specimen and also refused to sign the
3-25 statement requested by the officer under Subsection (c) of this
3-26 section.
3-27 SECTION 4. Section 2(f), Chapter 434, Acts of the 61st
4-1 Legislature, Regular Session, 1969 (Article 6701l-5, Vernon's Texas
4-2 Civil Statutes), as amended by Chapters 82, 790, 796, 886, and 900,
4-3 Acts of the 73rd Legislature, 1993, is amended to read as follows:
4-4 (f) A copy of the notice of suspension or denial and the
4-5 refusal report under Subsection (e) of this section shall be
4-6 forwarded by the officer to the department before the end of the
4-7 fifth business day after the date of the arrest. When the director
4-8 receives the report, the director shall suspend the person's
4-9 license, permit, or resident or nonresident privilege to operate a
4-10 motor vehicle on a public highway, or shall issue an order
4-11 prohibiting the person from obtaining a license or permit, for 90
4-12 days if the person is 21 years of age or older, or one year if the
4-13 person is younger than 21 years of age, effective 28 days after the
4-14 date the person receives notice by certified mail or 31 days after
4-15 the date the director sends notice by certified mail, if the person
4-16 has not accepted delivery of the notice. If, not later than the
4-17 20th day after the date on which the person receives notice by
4-18 certified mail or the 23rd day after the date the director sent
4-19 notice by certified mail, if the person has not accepted delivery
4-20 of the notice, the department receives a written demand that a
4-21 hearing be held, the department shall promptly make arrangements to
4-22 set the hearing for the earliest practical time. The hearing shall
4-23 be set in the same manner as a hearing under Section 22(a), Chapter
4-24 173, Acts of the 47th Legislature, Regular Session, 1941, as
4-25 amended (Article 6687b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes). If, upon
4-26 such hearing the hearing officer finds (1) that probable cause
4-27 existed that such person was driving or in actual physical control
5-1 of a motor vehicle in a public place while intoxicated or in
5-2 violation of Section 49.045, Penal Code, (2) that the person was
5-3 placed under arrest by the officer and was offered an opportunity
5-4 to give a specimen under the provisions of this Act, and (3) that
5-5 such person refused to give a specimen upon request of the officer,
5-6 then the Director of the Texas Department of Public Safety shall
5-7 suspend the person's license or permit to drive, or any nonresident
5-8 operating privilege for a period of 90 days if the person is 21
5-9 years of age or older, or for a period of not more than one year if
5-10 the person is younger than 21 years of age. If the person is a
5-11 resident without a license or permit to operate a motor vehicle in
5-12 this State, the Texas Department of Public Safety shall deny to
5-13 the person the issuance of a license or permit for 90 days if the
5-14 person is 21 years of age or older, or for a period of not more
5-15 than one year if the person is younger than 21 years of age. If,
5-16 after a hearing has been requested, the person or the person's
5-17 agent fails to appear at a hearing under this subsection, the
5-18 department shall suspend the person's license, permit, or resident
5-19 or nonresident operating privilege for 90 days.
5-20 SECTION 5. Section 24(a), Chapter 173, Acts of the 47th
5-21 Legislature, Regular Session, 1941 (Article 6687b, Vernon's Texas
5-22 Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
5-23 (a) Except as provided by Subsection (g) of this Section,
5-24 the license of any person shall be automatically suspended upon
5-25 final conviction of:
5-26 (1) an offense under Section 49.07 or 49.08 <19.07>,
5-27 Penal Code, committed as a result of the person's <criminally
6-1 negligent> operation of a motor vehicle;
6-2 (2) an offense under Section 49.04 or 49.045
6-3 <19.05(a)(2)>, Penal Code;
6-4 (3) <an offense under Article 6701l-1, Revised
6-5 Statutes, committed as a result of the introduction of alcohol into
6-6 the body;>
6-7 <(4)> an offense punishable as a felony under the
6-8 motor vehicle laws of this State;
6-9 (4) <(5)> an offense under Section 38, Uniform Act
6-10 Regulating Traffic on Highways (Article 6701d, Vernon's Texas Civil
6-11 Statutes); or
6-12 (5) <(6)> an offense under Section 32 or 32A of this
6-13 Act.
6-14 SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
6-15 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
6-16 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-17 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-18 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-19 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.