75R10803 DWS-F
By Coleman, Maxey H.B. No. 580
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 580:
By Oakley C.S.H.B. No. 580
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to enforcement of laws relating to parking by persons with
1-3 disabilities.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 681.002, Transportation Code, is amended
1-6 by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
1-7 (d) A disabled parking placard must bear a hologram designed
1-8 to prevent the reproduction of the placard or the production of a
1-9 counterfeit placard.
1-10 SECTION 2. Section 681.003, Transportation Code, is amended
1-11 by amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (d) to read as
1-12 follows:
1-13 (c) The first application must be accompanied by a notarized
1-14 written statement or written prescription of a physician licensed
1-15 to practice medicine in this state certifying and providing
1-16 evidence acceptable to the department [acceptable medical proof]
1-17 that the person making the application or on whose behalf the
1-18 application is made is legally blind or has a mobility problem that
1-19 substantially impairs the person's ability to ambulate. The
1-20 statement or prescription must include a certification of whether
1-21 the disability is temporary or permanent. The department shall
1-22 determine a person's eligibility based on evidence provided by the
1-23 applicant establishing legal blindness or mobility impairment
1-24 [operator or regularly transported passenger has a disability. A
2-1 written statement from a physician is not required as acceptable
2-2 medical proof if:]
2-3 [(1) the person with a disability:]
2-4 [(A) has had a limb, hand, or foot amputated; or]
2-5 [(B) must use a wheelchair; and]
2-6 [(2) the applicant and the county assessor-collector
2-7 issuing the disabled parking placard execute an affidavit attesting
2-8 to the person's disability].
2-9 (d) Information concerning the name or address of a person
2-10 to whom a disabled parking placard is issued or in whose behalf a
2-11 disabled parking placard is issued is confidential and not subject
2-12 to disclosure under Chapter 552, Government Code.
2-13 SECTION 3. Chapter 681, Transportation Code, is amended by
2-14 adding Section 681.0031 to read as follows:
2-15 Sec. 681.0031. APPLICANT'S DRIVER'S LICENSE OR PERSONAL
2-16 IDENTIFICATION CARD NUMBER. (a) The applicant shall include on
2-17 the application the applicant's driver's license number or the
2-18 number of a personal identification card issued to the applicant
2-19 under Chapter 521. The department shall provide for this
2-20 information in prescribing the application form.
2-21 (b) The county assessor-collector shall record the number on
2-22 any disabled parking placard issued to the applicant.
2-23 SECTION 4. Sections 681.004(c) and (d), Transportation Code,
2-24 are amended to read as follows:
2-25 (c) A disabled parking placard issued to a person with a
2-26 permanent disability is valid for a [maximum] period of four [five]
2-27 years and shall [may] be replaced or renewed on request of the
3-1 person to whom the initial card was issued without presentation of
3-2 evidence of eligibility.
3-3 (d) A disabled parking placard issued to a person with a
3-4 temporary disability expires after the period set by the department
3-5 and may be renewed at the end of that period if the disability
3-6 remains as evidenced by a physician's statement or prescription
3-7 submitted as required for a first application under Section
3-8 681.003(c).
3-9 SECTION 5. Section 681.006(c), Transportation Code, is
3-10 amended to read as follows:
3-11 (c) The exemption provided by Subsection (b) does not apply
3-12 to a fee or penalty:
3-13 (1) imposed by a branch of the United States
3-14 government; or
3-15 (2) imposed by a governmental unit for parking at a
3-16 meter, in a parking garage or lot, or in a space located within the
3-17 boundaries of a municipal airport.
3-18 SECTION 6. Chapter 681, Transportation Code, is amended by
3-19 adding Section 681.0101 to read as follows:
3-20 Sec. 681.0101. ENFORCEMENT BY CERTAIN APPOINTED PERSONS.
3-21 (a) A political subdivision may appoint a person to have authority
3-22 to file a charge against a person who commits an offense under this
3-23 chapter.
3-24 (b) A person appointed under this section must:
3-25 (1) be a United States citizen of good moral character
3-26 who has not been convicted of a felony;
3-27 (2) take and subscribe to an oath of office that the
4-1 political subdivision prescribes; and
4-2 (3) successfully complete a training program of at
4-3 least four hours in length developed by the political subdivision.
4-4 (c) A person appointed under this section:
4-5 (1) is not a peace officer;
4-6 (2) has no authority other than the authority
4-7 applicable to a citizen to enforce a law other than this chapter;
4-8 and
4-9 (3) may not carry a weapon while performing duties
4-10 under this section.
4-11 (d) A person appointed under this section is not entitled to
4-12 compensation for performing duties under this section or to
4-13 indemnification from the political subdivision or the state for
4-14 injury or property damage the person sustains or liability the
4-15 person incurs in performing duties under this section.
4-16 (e) The political subdivision and the state are not liable
4-17 for any damage arising from an act or omission of a person
4-18 appointed under Subsection (a) in performing duties under this
4-19 section.
4-20 SECTION 7. Chapter 681, Transportation Code, is amended by
4-21 adding Section 681.012 to read as follows:
4-22 Sec. 681.012. SEIZURE AND REVOCATION OF PLACARD. (a) A law
4-23 enforcement officer who believes that an offense under Section
4-24 681.011(a) or (d) has occurred in the officer's presence shall
4-25 seize any disabled parking placard involved in the offense. Not
4-26 later than 48 hours after the seizure, the officer shall determine
4-27 whether probable cause existed to believe that the offense was
5-1 committed. If the officer does not find that probable cause
5-2 existed, the officer shall promptly return each placard to the
5-3 person from whom it was seized. If the officer finds that probable
5-4 cause existed, the officer, not later than the fifth day after the
5-5 date of the seizure, shall submit each seized placard to the
5-6 department.
5-7 (b) On submission to the department under Subsection (a), a
5-8 placard is revoked. On request of the person from whom the placard
5-9 was seized, the department shall conduct a hearing and determine
5-10 whether the revocation should continue or the placard should be
5-11 returned to the person and the revocation rescinded.
5-12 SECTION 8. (a) In addition to the substantive changes in
5-13 law made by this Act, this Act conforms the Transportation Code to
5-14 changes in law made by Sections 1 and 3, Chapter 929, Acts of the
5-15 74th Legislature, Regular Session, 1995.
5-16 (b) Sections 1 and 3, Chapter 929, Acts of the 74th
5-17 Legislature, Regular Session, 1995, are repealed.
5-18 (c) To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails over
5-19 another Act of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session, 1997,
5-20 relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
5-21 codes.
5-22 SECTION 9. The changes in law made by Sections 1, 2, 3, and
5-23 4 of this Act apply only to a disabled parking placard issued or
5-24 renewed on or after the effective date of this Act.
5-25 SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
5-26 SECTION 11. The importance of this legislation and the
5-27 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-1 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-2 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-3 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.