By Thompson H.B. No. 1281
76R4222 DWS-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to a notice to appear for certain traffic offenses.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 543.003, Transportation Code, is amended
1-5 to read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 543.003. NOTICE TO APPEAR REQUIRED: PERSON NOT TAKEN
1-7 BEFORE MAGISTRATE. An officer who arrests a person for a violation
1-8 of this subtitle punishable as a misdemeanor and who does not take
1-9 the person before a magistrate shall issue [in duplicate] a written
1-10 notice to appear in court showing the time and place the person is
1-11 to appear, the offense charged, the name and address of the person
1-12 charged, and, if applicable, the license number of the person's
1-13 vehicle.
1-14 SECTION 2. Section 543.005, Transportation Code, is amended
1-15 to read as follows:
1-16 Sec. 543.005. PROMISE TO APPEAR; RELEASE. To secure
1-17 release, the person arrested must make a written promise to appear
1-18 in court by signing [in duplicate] the written notice prepared by
1-19 the arresting officer. The signature may be obtained on a
1-20 duplicate form or on an electronic device capable of creating a
1-21 copy of the signed notice. The arresting officer shall retain the
1-22 paper or electronic original of the notice and deliver the copy of
1-23 the notice to the person arrested. The officer shall then promptly
1-24 release the person from custody.
2-1 SECTION 3. Section 543.007, Transportation Code, is amended
2-2 to read as follows:
2-3 Sec. 543.007. NOTICE TO APPEAR: COMMERCIAL VEHICLE OR
2-4 LICENSE. A notice to appear issued to the operator of a commercial
2-5 motor vehicle or holder of a commercial driver's license or
2-6 commercial driver learner's permit, for the violation of a law
2-7 regulating the operation of vehicles on highways, must contain [be
2-8 on a form that contains] the information required by department
2-9 rule, to comply with Chapter 522 and the federal Commercial Motor
2-10 Vehicle Safety Act of 1986 (Title 49, U.S.C. Section 2701 et seq.).
2-11 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
2-12 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-13 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-14 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-15 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
2-16 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
2-17 passage, and it is so enacted.