1-1 By: Shapiro S.B. No. 50
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed November 12, 1996; January 14, 1997,
1-3 read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;
1-4 April 23, 1997, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 6,
1-5 Nays 0; April 23, 1997, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to the penalty for driving while a driver's license is
1-9 invalid.
1-10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11 SECTION 1. Section 521.457, Transportation Code, is amended
1-12 by amending Subsections (e) and (f), redesignating Subsection (g)
1-13 as Subsection (h), and adding a new Subsection (g) to read as
1-14 follows:
1-15 (e) Except as provided by Subsections [Subsection] (f) and
1-16 (g), an offense under this section is a misdemeanor punishable by:
1-17 (1) a fine of not less than $100 or more than $500;
1-18 and
1-19 (2) confinement in county jail for a term of not less
1-20 than 72 hours or more than six months.
1-21 (f) If it is shown on the trial of an offense under this
1-22 section that the person has previously been convicted of an offense
1-23 under this section or Section 601.371(a), the offense is a Class A
1-24 misdemeanor. This subsection does not apply to an offense
1-25 punishable under Subsection (g).
1-26 (g) An offense under this section is a state jail felony if
1-27 it is shown on the trial of the offense that the person's driver's
1-28 license was suspended for:
1-29 (1) an offense under Section 49.04, Penal Code, for
1-30 which the person was punished under Section 49.09(b) of that code;
1-31 or
1-32 (2) an offense under Section 49.07 or 49.08 of that
1-33 code.
1-34 (h) [(g)] For purposes of this section, a conviction for an
1-35 offense that involves operation of a motor vehicle after August 31,
1-36 1987, is a final conviction, regardless of whether the sentence for
1-37 the conviction is probated.
1-38 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997. The
1-39 change in law made by this Act applies only to an offense committed
1-40 on or after September 1, 1997. An offense committed before
1-41 September 1, 1997, is covered by the law in effect when the offense
1-42 was committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that
1-43 purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense is committed
1-44 before September 1, 1997, if any element of the offense occurs
1-45 before that date.
1-46 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
1-47 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-48 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-49 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-50 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
1-51 * * * * *