By Denny, Madden H.B. No. 352
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the limit on fines collected by municipalities for
1-3 traffic violations.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 542.402, Transportation Code, is amended
1-6 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 542.402. DISPOSITION OF FINES. (a) A municipality or
1-8 county shall use a fine collected for a violation of a highway law
1-9 in this title [subtitle] to:
1-10 (1) construct and maintain roads, bridges, and
1-11 culverts in the municipality or county;
1-12 (2) enforce laws regulating the use of highways by
1-13 motor vehicles; and
1-14 (3) defray the expense of county traffic officers.
1-15 (b) In each fiscal year, a municipality having a population
1-16 of less than 5,000 may retain, from fines collected for violations
1-17 of [highway laws in] this title [subtitle] and from special
1-18 expenses collected under Article 45.54, Code of Criminal Procedure,
1-19 in cases in which a violation of this title [subtitle] is alleged,
1-20 an amount equal to 30 percent of the municipality's revenue for the
1-21 preceding fiscal year from all sources, other than federal funds
1-22 and bond proceeds, as shown by the audit performed under Section
1-23 103.001, Local Government Code. After a municipality has retained
1-24 that amount, the municipality shall send to the comptroller any
2-1 portion of a fine or a special expense collected that exceeds $1.
2-2 (c) The comptroller shall enforce Subsection (b).
2-3 (d) In a fiscal year in which a municipality retains from
2-4 fines and special expenses collected for violations of [highway
2-5 laws in] this title [subtitle] an amount equal to at least 20
2-6 percent of the municipality's revenue for the preceding fiscal
2-7 year from all sources other than federal funds and bond proceeds,
2-8 not later than the 120th day after the last day of the
2-9 municipality's fiscal year, the municipality shall send to the
2-10 comptroller:
2-11 (1) a copy of the municipality's financial statement
2-12 for that fiscal year filed under Chapter 103, Local Government
2-13 Code; and
2-14 (2) a report that shows the total amount collected for
2-15 that fiscal year from fines and special expenses under Subsection
2-16 (b).
2-17 (e) If an audit is conducted by the comptroller under
2-18 Subsection (c) and it is determined that the municipality is
2-19 retaining more than 20 percent of the amounts under Subsection (b)
2-20 and has not complied with Subsection (d), the municipality shall
2-21 pay the costs incurred by the comptroller in conducting the audit.
2-22 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, and
2-23 applies only to fines and special expenses collected in a fiscal
2-24 year that begins on or after that date. Fines and special expenses
2-25 collected in a fiscal year that begins before the effective date of
2-26 this Act are governed by the law in effect immediately before the
2-27 effective date of this Act and that law is continued in effect for
3-1 that purpose.
3-2 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
3-3 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-4 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-5 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-6 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.