1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to systems for providing access to driver's license record
1-3 information held by the Department of Public Safety.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 521, Transportation Code,
1-6 is amended by adding Sections 521.055 and 521.056 to read as
1-7 follows:
1-8 Sec. 521.055. ESTABLISHMENT OF INTERACTIVE SYSTEM. (a) The
1-9 department may establish a system, separate from the department's
1-10 mainframe computer, that will allow interactive access to certain
1-11 driver's license record information.
1-12 (b) The system may provide for the release of the following
1-13 information:
1-14 (1) the status check described in Section 521.045; and
1-15 (2) the three-year driving record under Section
1-16 521.046.
1-17 (c) The fee for a status check under Subsection (b)(1) is
1-18 $2.50. The fee for a three-year driving record under Subsection
1-19 (b)(2) is $4.50.
1-20 (d) Fifty cents of each fee collected under Subsection (c)
1-21 shall be deposited in a special account in the general revenue fund
1-22 that may be appropriated only to the department for administration
1-23 of this chapter.
1-24 (e) The department may contract with private vendors as
2-1 necessary to implement this section.
2-2 (f) The department may adopt rules as necessary to
2-3 administer this section.
2-4 Sec. 521.056. NATIONAL DRIVER REGISTER. (a) The department
2-5 may process file check requests under the National Driver Register
2-6 on behalf of current or prospective employers of individuals
2-7 employed or seeking employment as operators of motor vehicles or
2-8 railway locomotive operators if the individual:
2-9 (1) has given written consent to the release of the
2-10 information; and
2-11 (2) has a license in this state.
2-12 (b) The fee for a request under Subsection (a) is $4.
2-13 (c) The department shall forward a request made under
2-14 Subsection (a) directly to the current or prospective employer.
2-15 (d) The department shall assist and provide procedures for
2-16 an individual to obtain information from the National Driver
2-17 Register on the individual's own driving record. The department
2-18 may by rule establish a reasonable fee for this service, in
2-19 conformity with the policies of the National Driver Register.
2-20 (e) The department may adopt forms and rules as necessary to
2-21 carry out the purposes of this section and comply with the policies
2-22 of the National Driver Register.
2-23 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the
2-24 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-25 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-26 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-27 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-1 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-2 passage, and it is so enacted.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 972 was passed by the House on May
10, 1997, by the following vote: Yeas 134, Nays 6, 2 present, not
voting; that the House refused to concur in Senate amendments to
H.B. No. 972 on May 28, 1997, and requested the appointment of a
conference committee to consider the differences between the two
houses; and that the House adopted the conference committee report
on H.B. No. 972 on June 1, 1997, by the following vote: Yeas 145,
Nays 0, 1 present, not voting.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 972 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 26, 1997, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0; at the request of the House, the Senate appointed a conference
committee to consider the differences between the two houses; and
that the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.B. No.
972 on June 1, 1997, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor