1-1 By: Coleman, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Moncrief) H.B. No. 580
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 5, 1997;
1-3 May 6, 1997, read first time and referred to Committee on
1-4 Intergovernmental Relations; May 16, 1997, reported favorably, as
1-5 amended, by the following vote: Yeas 11, Nays 0; May 16, 1997,
1-6 sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1 By: Moncrief
1-8 Amend H.B. No. 580 in SECTION 8 of the bill, in the second
1-9 sentence of new Subsection (h) of Section 5, Article 9102, Revised
1-10 Statutes, by inserting "to which those standards apply" between
1-11 "for the state" and "comply with" (page 3, line 23).
1-12 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-13 AN ACT
1-14 relating to enforcement of laws relating to parking by, or
1-15 accessibility of facilities to, persons with disabilities.
1-16 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-17 SECTION 1. Section 681.002, Transportation Code, is amended
1-18 by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
1-19 (d) A disabled parking placard must bear a hologram designed
1-20 to prevent the reproduction of the placard or the production of a
1-21 counterfeit placard.
1-22 SECTION 2. Section 681.003, Transportation Code, is amended
1-23 by amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (d) to read as
1-24 follows:
1-25 (c) The first application must be accompanied by a notarized
1-26 written statement or written prescription of a physician licensed
1-27 to practice medicine in this state certifying and providing
1-28 evidence acceptable to the department [acceptable medical proof]
1-29 that the person making the application or on whose behalf the
1-30 application is made is legally blind or has a mobility problem that
1-31 substantially impairs the person's ability to ambulate. The
1-32 statement or prescription must include a certification of whether
1-33 the disability is temporary or permanent. The department shall
1-34 determine a person's eligibility based on evidence provided by the
1-35 applicant establishing legal blindness or mobility impairment
1-36 [operator or regularly transported passenger has a disability. A
1-37 written statement from a physician is not required as acceptable
1-38 medical proof if:]
1-39 [(1) the person with a disability:]
1-40 [(A) has had a limb, hand, or foot amputated; or]
1-41 [(B) must use a wheelchair; and]
1-42 [(2) the applicant and the county assessor-collector
1-43 issuing the disabled parking placard execute an affidavit attesting
1-44 to the person's disability].
1-45 (d) Information concerning the name or address of a person
1-46 to whom a disabled parking placard is issued or in whose behalf a
1-47 disabled parking placard is issued is confidential and not subject
1-48 to disclosure under Chapter 552, Government Code.
1-49 SECTION 3. Chapter 681, Transportation Code, is amended by
1-50 adding Section 681.0031 to read as follows:
1-51 Sec. 681.0031. APPLICANT'S DRIVER'S LICENSE OR PERSONAL
1-52 IDENTIFICATION CARD NUMBER. (a) The applicant shall include on
1-53 the application the applicant's driver's license number or the
1-54 number of a personal identification card issued to the applicant
1-55 under Chapter 521. The department shall provide for this
1-56 information in prescribing the application form.
1-57 (b) The county assessor-collector shall record the number on
1-58 any disabled parking placard issued to the applicant.
1-59 SECTION 4. Sections 681.004(c) and (d), Transportation Code,
1-60 are amended to read as follows:
1-61 (c) A disabled parking placard issued to a person with a
1-62 permanent disability is valid for a [maximum] period of four [five]
1-63 years and shall [may] be replaced or renewed on request of the
1-64 person to whom the initial card was issued without presentation of
2-1 evidence of eligibility.
2-2 (d) A disabled parking placard issued to a person with a
2-3 temporary disability expires after the period set by the department
2-4 and may be renewed at the end of that period if the disability
2-5 remains as evidenced by a physician's statement or prescription
2-6 submitted as required for a first application under Section
2-7 681.003(c).
2-8 SECTION 5. Section 681.006(c), Transportation Code, is
2-9 amended to read as follows:
2-10 (c) The exemption provided by Subsection (b) does not apply
2-11 to a fee or penalty:
2-12 (1) imposed by a branch of the United States
2-13 government; or
2-14 (2) imposed by a governmental unit for parking at a
2-15 meter, in a parking garage or lot, or in a space located within the
2-16 boundaries of a municipal airport.
2-17 SECTION 6. Chapter 681, Transportation Code, is amended by
2-18 adding Section 681.0101 to read as follows:
2-19 Sec. 681.0101. ENFORCEMENT BY CERTAIN APPOINTED PERSONS.
2-20 (a) A political subdivision may appoint a person to have authority
2-21 to file a charge against a person who commits an offense under this
2-22 chapter.
2-23 (b) A person appointed under this section must:
2-24 (1) be a United States citizen of good moral character
2-25 who has not been convicted of a felony;
2-26 (2) take and subscribe to an oath of office that the
2-27 political subdivision prescribes; and
2-28 (3) successfully complete a training program of at
2-29 least four hours in length developed by the political subdivision.
2-30 (c) A person appointed under this section:
2-31 (1) is not a peace officer;
2-32 (2) has no authority other than the authority
2-33 applicable to a citizen to enforce a law other than this chapter;
2-34 and
2-35 (3) may not carry a weapon while performing duties
2-36 under this section.
2-37 (d) A person appointed under this section is not entitled to
2-38 compensation for performing duties under this section or to
2-39 indemnification from the political subdivision or the state for
2-40 injury or property damage the person sustains or liability the
2-41 person incurs in performing duties under this section.
2-42 (e) The political subdivision and the state are not liable
2-43 for any damage arising from an act or omission of a person
2-44 appointed under Subsection (a) in performing duties under this
2-45 section.
2-46 SECTION 7. Chapter 681, Transportation Code, is amended by
2-47 adding Section 681.012 to read as follows:
2-48 Sec. 681.012. SEIZURE AND REVOCATION OF PLACARD. (a) A law
2-49 enforcement officer who believes that an offense under Section
2-50 681.011(a) or (d) has occurred in the officer's presence shall
2-51 seize any disabled parking placard involved in the offense. Not
2-52 later than 48 hours after the seizure, the officer shall determine
2-53 whether probable cause existed to believe that the offense was
2-54 committed. If the officer does not find that probable cause
2-55 existed, the officer shall promptly return each placard to the
2-56 person from whom it was seized. If the officer finds that probable
2-57 cause existed, the officer, not later than the fifth day after the
2-58 date of the seizure, shall submit each seized placard to the
2-59 department.
2-60 (b) On submission to the department under Subsection (a), a
2-61 placard is revoked. On request of the person from whom the placard
2-62 was seized, the department shall conduct a hearing and determine
2-63 whether the revocation should continue or the placard should be
2-64 returned to the person and the revocation rescinded.
2-65 SECTION 8. Section 5, Article 9102, Revised Statutes, is
2-66 amended by amending Subsection (e) and adding Subsections (g) and
2-67 (h) to read as follows:
2-68 (e) The commissioner may review plans and specifications,
2-69 make inspections, and issue certifications that structures not
3-1 otherwise covered by this article are free of architectural
3-2 barriers and in compliance with the provisions of this article.
3-3 The department shall inspect each building and facility that has an
3-4 estimated construction cost of $50,000 or more and that is subject
3-5 to this article not later than the first anniversary of the date
3-6 that construction or substantial renovation, modification, or
3-7 alteration of the building or facility is completed. [The
3-8 department shall inspect each building that is subject to this
3-9 article because of a lease to the state during the first year of
3-10 the lease.]
3-11 (g) The standards and specifications adopted by the
3-12 commissioner under this article that apply specifically to a
3-13 building or facility occupied by a state agency involved in
3-14 extending direct services to persons with mobility impairments also
3-15 apply to a building or facility that is occupied by the Texas
3-16 Rehabilitation Commission.
3-17 (h) Notwithstanding other provisions of this article, the
3-18 commissioner shall require complete compliance with the standards
3-19 and specifications prescribed or referenced by Subsection (g) of
3-20 this section. The department and the General Services Commission
3-21 shall ensure that all buildings and facilities leased or built by
3-22 or for the state comply with those standards. Notwithstanding
3-23 other provisions of this article, the department shall perform an
3-24 on-site inspection of all buildings and facilities to be leased by
3-25 the state before the building or facility is occupied by the state
3-26 for compliance with all accessibility standards and specifications
3-27 adopted under this article. The leasing agency or the General
3-28 Services Commission, as applicable, shall cancel the lease unless
3-29 the lessor brings into compliance any condition that the inspection
3-30 finds not to be in compliance with all applicable standards and
3-31 specifications not later than:
3-32 (1) the 60th day after the date the department
3-33 delivers the results of the inspection to the lessor or the
3-34 lessor's agent; or
3-35 (2) a later date established by the commissioner if
3-36 circumstances justify a later date.
3-37 SECTION 9. (a) In addition to the substantive changes in
3-38 law made by this Act, this Act conforms the Transportation Code to
3-39 changes in law made by Sections 1 and 3, Chapter 929, Acts of the
3-40 74th Legislature, Regular Session, 1995.
3-41 (b) Sections 1 and 3, Chapter 929, Acts of the 74th
3-42 Legislature, Regular Session, 1995, are repealed.
3-43 (c) To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails over
3-44 another Act of the 75th Legislature, Regular Session, 1997,
3-45 relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
3-46 codes.
3-47 SECTION 10. The changes in law made by Sections 1, 2, 3, and
3-48 4 of this Act apply only to a disabled parking placard issued or
3-49 renewed on or after the effective date of this Act.
3-50 SECTION 11. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
3-51 SECTION 12. The importance of this legislation and the
3-52 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-53 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-54 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-55 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
3-56 * * * * *