By Barrientos S.B. No. 420
74R3254 JD-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the issuance of special license plates to justices of
1-3 the peace and municipal court judges.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Chapter 88, General Laws, Acts of the 41st
1-6 Legislature, 2nd Called Session, 1929 (Article 6675a-1 et seq.,
1-7 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by adding Section 5q to
1-8 read as follows:
1-9 Sec. 5q. (a) The department shall design and provide for
1-10 the issuance of special license plates for passenger cars and light
1-11 commercial motor vehicles that have a manufacturer's rated carrying
1-12 capacity of one ton or less and that are owned by persons who are
1-13 justices of the peace or judges of municipal courts of this state.
1-14 (b) License plates issued to justices of the peace and
1-15 judges of municipal courts under this section shall bear the words
1-16 "Texas Magistrate."
1-17 (c) The department shall issue license plates under this
1-18 section to a person who:
1-19 (1) applies to the county tax collector in the county
1-20 of the person's residence on a form prescribed by the department;
1-21 (2) pays the fee prescribed by Subsection (d) of this
1-22 section; and
1-23 (3) submits with the application proof that the person
1-24 is a justice of the peace or judge of a municipal court of this
2-1 state.
2-2 (d) The fee for issuance of license plates under this
2-3 section is $25.
2-4 (e) Registration under this section is valid for one year
2-5 and expires in the same manner as do regular motor vehicle
2-6 registrations, except as provided by Subsection (f) of this
2-7 section.
2-8 (f) Registration under this section expires when the owner
2-9 of the vehicle for which the license plates were issued ceases to
2-10 be a justice of the peace or judge of a municipal court. The
2-11 justice or judge is not required to return the expired license
2-12 plates to the department.
2-13 (g) A vehicle for which license plates are issued under this
2-14 section is not exempt from the motor vehicle registration fee
2-15 imposed by Section 5 of this Act or any additional county fee
2-16 imposed under Section 9a of this Act.
2-17 (h) The county tax collector shall retain $2 of each fee
2-18 collected under this section and deposit the amount retained to the
2-19 credit of the general fund of the county. The county tax collector
2-20 shall send the remainder of each fee to the department at the times
2-21 and in the manner provided by Section 10 of this Act.
2-22 (i) The department shall deposit in the state treasury to
2-23 the credit of the state highway fund amounts sent to the department
2-24 under Subsection (h) of this section.
2-25 (j) A person may be issued only one set of license plates
2-26 under this section. If the owner of a vehicle for which plates are
2-27 issued under this section disposes of the vehicle during a
3-1 registration year, the person shall return the plates to the
3-2 department and at that time may apply for issuance of those plates
3-3 to another vehicle.
3-4 (k) If license plates issued under this section are lost,
3-5 stolen, or mutilated, the owner of the vehicle for which the plates
3-6 were issued may obtain replacement plates from the department by
3-7 paying a replacement fee of $5 in addition to the fee required by
3-8 Section 13a of this Act.
3-9 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
3-10 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
3-11 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-12 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-13 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-14 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.