By Dunnam H.B. No. 2695
76R6932 JD-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the civil and criminal consequences of operating a
1-3 motor vehicle while intoxicated or after having consumed alcohol.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Chapter 49, Penal Code, is amended by adding
1-6 Section 49.045 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 49.045. POST-CONSUMPTION DRIVING. (a) A person
1-8 commits an offense if the person:
1-9 (1) operates a motor vehicle in a public place having
1-10 an alcohol concentration of more than 0.08 and less than 0.10; and
1-11 (2) is not intoxicated under Section 49.01(2)(A).
1-12 (b) Except as provided by Subsections (c) and (d), an
1-13 offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor punishable by a
1-14 fine of $500.
1-15 (c) If it is shown on the trial of an offense under
1-16 Subsection (a) that the person has previously been convicted one
1-17 or more times of an offense under this section, the offense is
1-18 punishable in the same manner as an offense under Section 49.04.
1-19 (d) The clerk of the court in which a person is convicted
1-20 under this section shall remit the fine collected from the person
1-21 to the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse. The department
1-22 may use money received under this subsection only for educational
1-23 programs designed to educate persons on the dangers of operating a
1-24 motor vehicle after having consumed alcohol or while intoxicated.
2-1 SECTION 2. Section 49.09, Penal Code, is amended by adding
2-2 Subsections (g) and (h) to read as follows:
2-3 (g) If it is shown on the trial of an offense under Section
2-4 49.04, 49.05, or 49.06 that the person has previously been
2-5 convicted three times of an offense relating to the operating of a
2-6 motor vehicle while intoxicated, an offense of operating an
2-7 aircraft while intoxicated, or an offense of operating a watercraft
2-8 while intoxicated, the offense is a felony of the second degree.
2-9 (h) For purposes of this section, a person who has been
2-10 convicted two or more times of an offense under Section 49.045
2-11 shall be punished in the same manner as a person whom it is shown
2-12 has previously been convicted one time of an offense relating to
2-13 the operating of a motor vehicle while intoxicated.
2-14 SECTION 3. Section 724.011(a), Transportation Code, is
2-15 amended to read as follows:
2-16 (a) If a person is arrested for an offense arising out of
2-17 acts alleged to have been committed while the person was operating
2-18 a motor vehicle in a public place, or a watercraft, while
2-19 intoxicated, an offense under Section 49.045, Penal Code, or an
2-20 offense under Section 106.041, Alcoholic Beverage Code, the person
2-21 is deemed to have consented, subject to this chapter, to submit to
2-22 the taking of one or more specimens of the person's breath or blood
2-23 for analysis to determine the alcohol concentration or the presence
2-24 in the person's body of a controlled substance, drug, dangerous
2-25 drug, or other substance.
2-26 SECTION 4. Section 724.013, Transportation Code, is amended
2-27 to read as follows:
3-1 Sec. 724.013. PROHIBITION ON TAKING SPECIMEN IF PERSON
3-2 REFUSES; EXCEPTION; PRESUMPTION OF CONSUMPTION. (a) Except as
3-3 provided by Section 724.012(b), a specimen may not be taken if a
3-4 person refuses to submit to the taking of a specimen designated by
3-5 a peace officer.
3-6 (b) A person who is arrested for an offense involving the
3-7 operation of a motor vehicle described by Section 724.011(a) and
3-8 who refuses to submit to the taking of a specimen designated by a
3-9 peace officer is presumed to have had an alcohol concentration of
3-10 more than 0.08 and less than 0.10 at the time the person was
3-11 arrested.
3-12 SECTION 5. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
3-13 (b) The changes in law made by Sections 3 and 4 of this Act
3-14 apply only to a person arrested for an offense described by Section
3-15 724.011, Transportation Code, as amended by this Act, on or after
3-16 September 1, 1999. A person arrested for an offense described by
3-17 Section 724.011 of that code before September 1, 1999, is covered
3-18 by the law in effect on the date the person was arrested, and the
3-19 former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
3-20 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
3-21 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-22 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-23 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-24 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.