By Wentworth S.B. No. 614
74R5792 JD-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the authority of a law enforcement agency to establish
1-3 a checkpoint on a street or highway to determine whether persons
1-4 are in compliance with certain traffic laws or are driving while
1-5 intoxicated.
1-6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-7 SECTION 1. Title 1, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended
1-8 by adding Chapter 61 to read as follows:
1-9 CHAPTER 61. HIGHWAY CHECKPOINTS
1-10 Art. 61.01. AUTHORIZATION FOR CHECKPOINTS. A law
1-11 enforcement agency may operate a temporary checkpoint as provided
1-12 by this article on a street or highway to determine whether persons
1-13 operating motor vehicles on the street or highway:
1-14 (1) possess a driver's license and are in compliance
1-15 with the Texas Motor Vehicle Safety-Responsibility Act (Article
1-16 6701h, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes); or
1-17 (2) are intoxicated in violation of Section 49.04,
1-18 Penal Code.
1-19 Art. 61.02. APPROVAL OF AND PROCEDURES FOR CHECKPOINTS. (a)
1-20 A peace officer of the law enforcement agency of at least the rank
1-21 of lieutenant must approve the operation of a checkpoint and the
1-22 procedures to be used in the operation of the checkpoint before the
1-23 checkpoint begins operation.
1-24 (b) The approving officer 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) The procedures for the operation of a checkpoint must
2-4 ensure that the selection of motor vehicles to be stopped is
2-5 reasonably predictable and nonarbitrary. For example, every
2-6 vehicle or every other vehicle entering the checkpoint, from one or
2-7 both directions, may be stopped.
2-8 (d) The approving officer in establishing the location,
2-9 time, and design of a checkpoint shall consider the safety of the
2-10 public entering the checkpoint and the peace officers operating the
2-11 checkpoint. The peace officers operating the checkpoint shall make
2-12 reasonable efforts to place signs or other devices to advise
2-13 operators of oncoming motor vehicles of the checkpoint, to
2-14 demarcate the checkpoint with flares, flags, or traffic cones, and
2-15 to otherwise illuminate the checkpoint if necessary.
2-16 (e) Peace officers operating the checkpoint must be in
2-17 uniform.
2-18 (f) The approving officer shall establish procedures
2-19 governing the encounters between the operators of motor vehicles
2-20 and the peace officers to ensure that:
2-21 (1) an intrusion on the operator of a vehicle is
2-22 minimized; and
2-23 (2) an inquiry be reasonably related to determining
2-24 whether the operator is intoxicated and in violation of Section
2-25 49.04, Penal Code.
2-26 (g) A peace officer may request a person operating a motor
2-27 vehicle at a checkpoint to display the person's driver's license
3-1 and to furnish evidence of financial responsibility as required by
3-2 law. A peace officer may not direct a person in a motor vehicle to
3-3 leave the vehicle or move the vehicle off the street, highway, or
3-4 routine checkpoint diversion route unless the officer has
3-5 reasonable suspicion or probable cause to believe that the person
3-6 has committed or is committing an offense. The design of a
3-7 checkpoint may require that each motor vehicle passing through the
3-8 checkpoint be diverted to a location adjacent to the street or
3-9 highway to ensure safety.
3-10 (h) A peace officer operating a checkpoint may not require
3-11 the operator of a motor vehicle to perform a sobriety test unless
3-12 the officer has reasonable suspicion or probable cause to believe
3-13 that the operator is violating Section 49.04, Penal Code. A peace
3-14 officer who requires or requests a vehicle operator to provide a
3-15 specimen of breath, blood, or urine must comply with Chapter 434,
3-16 Acts of the 61st Legislature, Regular Session, 1969 (Article
3-17 6701l-5, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes).
3-18 (i) A peace officer operating a checkpoint may not search a
3-19 motor vehicle unless the officer has reasonable suspicion or
3-20 probable cause to believe that a person in the vehicle possesses a
3-21 controlled substance in violation of Chapter 481, Health and Safety
3-22 Code.
3-23 (j) Unless a peace officer has reasonable suspicion or
3-24 probable cause to detain a person in the vehicle for a criminal
3-25 offense, the time during which an officer makes an inquiry of a
3-26 person in the vehicle should not exceed two minutes, and the total
3-27 time during which the operator of the vehicle must wait to pass
4-1 through the checkpoint should not exceed 10 minutes. The law
4-2 enforcement agency shall make reasonable efforts to reduce these
4-3 periods to not more than one and five minutes, respectively.
4-4 (k) The law enforcement agency shall make reasonable efforts
4-5 to publicize the operation of a checkpoint but is not required to
4-6 disclose the precise date, time, location, or purpose of the
4-7 checkpoint.
4-8 (l) The law enforcement agency may not operate a checkpoint
4-9 at one location for more than four hours and may not operate a
4-10 checkpoint at the same location more than twice in a seven-day
4-11 period. For the purposes of this subsection, checkpoints located
4-12 within one-half mile of each other are considered to be at the same
4-13 location. This subsection does not apply in an emergency.
4-14 (m) The law enforcement agency shall keep a record of the
4-15 operation of a checkpoint that contains:
4-16 (1) the date, time, location, and duration of the
4-17 checkpoint;
4-18 (2) the number of motor vehicles stopped at the
4-19 checkpoint and the number and nature of arrests made and citations
4-20 issued at the checkpoint; and
4-21 (3) the identities of the peace officers operating the
4-22 checkpoint.
4-23 Art. 61.03. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
4-24 (1) "Law enforcement agency" means:
4-25 (A) the Department of Public Safety of the State
4-26 of Texas;
4-27 (B) the sheriff's department of a county; or
5-1 (C) the police department of a municipality.
5-2 (2) "Street or highway" has the meaning assigned by
5-3 Section 13(a), Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on Highways (Article
5-4 6701d, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes).
5-5 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the
5-6 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-7 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-8 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-9 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
5-10 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
5-11 passage, and it is so enacted.