1-1 By: Denny, Madden (Senate Sponsor - Brown) H.B. No. 352
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House April 26, 1999;
1-3 April 27, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on
1-4 Intergovernmental Relations; May 13, 1999, reported favorably by
1-5 the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 13, 1999, sent to
1-6 printer.)
1-7 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-8 AN ACT
1-9 relating to the limit on fines collected by municipalities for
1-10 traffic violations.
1-11 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-12 SECTION 1. Section 542.402, Transportation Code, is amended
1-13 to read as follows:
1-14 Sec. 542.402. DISPOSITION OF FINES. (a) A municipality or
1-15 county shall use a fine collected for a violation of a highway law
1-16 in this title [subtitle] to:
1-17 (1) construct and maintain roads, bridges, and
1-18 culverts in the municipality or county;
1-19 (2) enforce laws regulating the use of highways by
1-20 motor vehicles; and
1-21 (3) defray the expense of county traffic officers.
1-22 (b) In each fiscal year, a municipality having a population
1-23 of less than 5,000 may retain, from fines collected for violations
1-24 of [highway laws in] this title [subtitle] and from special
1-25 expenses collected under Article 45.54, Code of Criminal Procedure,
1-26 in cases in which a violation of this title [subtitle] is alleged,
1-27 an amount equal to 30 percent of the municipality's revenue for the
1-28 preceding fiscal year from all sources, other than federal funds
1-29 and bond proceeds, as shown by the audit performed under Section
1-30 103.001, Local Government Code. After a municipality has retained
1-31 that amount, the municipality shall send to the comptroller any
1-32 portion of a fine or a special expense collected that exceeds $1.
1-33 (c) The comptroller shall enforce Subsection (b).
1-34 (d) In a fiscal year in which a municipality retains from
1-35 fines and special expenses collected for violations of [highway
1-36 laws in] this title [subtitle] an amount equal to at least 20
1-37 percent of the municipality's revenue for the preceding fiscal
1-38 year from all sources other than federal funds and bond proceeds,
1-39 not later than the 120th day after the last day of the
1-40 municipality's fiscal year, the municipality shall send to the
1-41 comptroller:
1-42 (1) a copy of the municipality's financial statement
1-43 for that fiscal year filed under Chapter 103, Local Government
1-44 Code; and
1-45 (2) a report that shows the total amount collected for
1-46 that fiscal year from fines and special expenses under Subsection
1-47 (b).
1-48 (e) If an audit is conducted by the comptroller under
1-49 Subsection (c) and it is determined that the municipality is
1-50 retaining more than 20 percent of the amounts under Subsection (b)
1-51 and has not complied with Subsection (d), the municipality shall
1-52 pay the costs incurred by the comptroller in conducting the audit.
1-53 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, and
1-54 applies only to fines and special expenses collected in a fiscal
1-55 year that begins on or after that date. Fines and special expenses
1-56 collected in a fiscal year that begins before the effective date of
1-57 this Act are governed by the law in effect immediately before the
1-58 effective date of this Act and that law is continued in effect for
1-59 that purpose.
1-60 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
1-61 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-62 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-63 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-64 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
2-1 * * * * *