By: Nixon S.B. No. 507
97S0343/1
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to certain traffic law violations; providing penalties.
1-2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-3 SECTION 1. Sections 543.102 and 543.103, Transportation
1-4 Code, are amended to conform to Section 1, Chapter 334, Acts of the
1-5 74th Legislature, 1995, and further amended to read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 543.102. Notice of Right to Complete Course. The court
1-7 shall advise a person charged with a misdemeanor under this
1-8 subtitle, committed while operating a motor vehicle, of the
1-9 person's right to successfully complete a driving safety course or,
1-10 if the offense was committed while operating a motorcycle, a
1-11 motorcycle operator training course. The right to complete a
1-12 course does not apply to a person charged with:
1-13 (1) a violation of Section 545.066, 545.401, 545.421,
1-14 550.022, or 550.023;
1-15 (2) [or] a serious traffic violation as defined by
1-16 Section 522.003; or
1-17 (3) speeding, if the complaint or notice to appear
1-18 alleges that the person was driving at a speed of more than 90
1-19 miles per hour on a 70-mile-per-hour highway.
1-20 Sec. 543.103. MANDATORY DEFERRAL. (a) Subject to
1-21 Subsection (b), the [The] court shall defer proceedings and allow a
1-22 person:
1-23 (1) 90 days to take a driving safety course approved
2-1 under the Texas Driver and Traffic Safety Education Act (Article
2-2 4413(29c), Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes) or, if the offense was
2-3 committed while operating a motorcycle, a motorcycle operator
2-4 training course approved by the department under Chapter 662; and
2-5 (2) 30 additional days to present:
2-6 (A) a uniform certificate of course completion
2-7 as written evidence that after the alleged violation the person
2-8 successfully completed the [a] driving safety course; or
2-9 (B) written evidence that after the alleged
2-10 violation the person successfully completed the motorcycle operator
2-11 training course.
2-12 (b) Subsection (a) applies only [approved under the Texas
2-13 Driver and Traffic Safety Education Act (Article 4413(29c),
2-14 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes)] if:
2-15 (1) the person enters a plea in person or in writing
2-16 of no contest or guilty and, before the answer date on the notice
2-17 to appear [citation]:
2-18 (A) presents in person to the court an oral or
2-19 written request to take a course; or
2-20 (B) sends to the court by [certified] mail[,
2-21 return receipt requested], postmarked on or before the answer date
2-22 on the notice to appear, a written request to take a course;
2-23 (2) the court enters judgment on the person's plea of
2-24 no contest or guilty at the time the plea is made but defers
2-25 imposition of the judgment for 90 days;
3-1 (3) the person has a Texas driver's license or permit;
3-2 (4) the person's driving record as maintained by the
3-3 department does not show successful completion of a driving safety
3-4 course or a motorcycle operator training course, as appropriate,
3-5 under this section within one year before the date of the alleged
3-6 violation;
3-7 (5) the person files an affidavit with the court
3-8 stating that the person is not taking a course under this section
3-9 and has not completed a course under this section that is not shown
3-10 on the person's driving record;
3-11 (6) the person is charged with an offense to which
3-12 this subchapter applies other than speeding 25 miles per hour or
3-13 more over the posted speed limit; and
3-14 (7) the person provides evidence of financial
3-15 responsibility as required by Chapter 601.
3-16 (c) [(b)] Notwithstanding Subsection (b)(1) [(a)(1)], on a
3-17 written motion submitted to the court before the final disposition
3-18 of the case, the court may grant a request to take a driving safety
3-19 course or a motorcycle operator training course under this section.
3-20 SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 543.106, Transportation
3-21 Code, is amended to read as follows:
3-22 (a) The court may require a person requesting a driving
3-23 safety course to pay a fee set by the court at an amount of not
3-24 more than $25 [$10], including any other fee authorized by statute
3-25 or municipal ordinance, to cover the cost of administering this
4-1 subchapter.
4-2 SECTION 3. Subchapter H, Chapter 545, Transportation Code,
4-3 is amended by adding Section 545.366 to read as follows:
4-4 Sec. 545.366. PENALTY FOR SPEEDING ON 70-MILE-PER-HOUR
4-5 HIGHWAY. An offense of speeding on a portion of a highway for
4-6 which the applicable speed limit is 70 miles per hour is a
4-7 misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than $400.
4-8 SECTION 4. Section 729.001, Transportation Code, is amended
4-9 by amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (d) to read as
4-10 follows:
4-11 (c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), an [An] offense
4-12 under this section is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to
4-13 exceed $100.
4-14 (d) An offense under this section of speeding on a portion
4-15 of a highway for which the applicable speed limit is 70 miles per
4-16 hour is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than $400.
4-17 SECTION 5. In addition to the substantive changes in law
4-18 made by this Act, this Act conforms Sections 543.102 and 543.103,
4-19 Transportation Code, to the changes in law made by Section 1,
4-20 Chapter 334, Acts of the 74th Legislature, 1995. To the extent of
4-21 any conflict, this Act prevails over another Act of the 75th
4-22 Legislature, Regular Session, 1997, relating to nonsubstantive
4-23 additions to or corrections in enacted codes.
4-24 SECTION 6. (a) The changes in law made by this Act apply
4-25 only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this
5-1 Act. For the purposes of this section, an offense is committed
5-2 before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense
5-3 occurs before that date.
5-4 (b) An offense committed before the effective date of this
5-5 Act is governed by the law in effect when the offense was
5-6 committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that
5-7 purpose.
5-8 SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
5-9 SECTION 8. The importance of this legislation and the
5-10 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-11 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-12 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-13 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.