By Talton H.B. No. 3363
76R9388 PEP-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to requiring the Texas Department of Public Safety to
1-3 establish minimum standards for vendors of ignition interlock
1-4 devices.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Sections 521.247(a) and (b), Transportation Code,
1-7 are amended to read as follows:
1-8 (a) The department shall adopt rules for the approval of
1-9 ignition interlock devices used under this subchapter. The
1-10 department by rule shall provide that a device may be approved only
1-11 if the device:
1-12 (1) meets guidelines established by the National
1-13 Highway Traffic Safety Administration, including the guidelines
1-14 listed in Section 521.2475; and
1-15 (2) incorporates features designed to:
1-16 (A) maintain a complete record of the use of the
1-17 device; and
1-18 (B) provide a service appointment reminder to
1-19 the user of the device.
1-20 (b) The department by rule shall establish minimum [general]
1-21 standards for the calibration and maintenance of the devices. The
1-22 manufacturer or an authorized representative of the manufacturer is
1-23 responsible for calibrating and maintaining the device.
1-24 SECTION 2. Subchapter L, Chapter 521, Transportation Code,
2-1 is amended by adding Section 521.2476 to read as follows:
2-2 Sec. 521.2476. MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR VENDORS OF IGNITION
2-3 INTERLOCK DEVICES. (a) The department by rule shall establish:
2-4 (1) minimum standards for vendors of ignition
2-5 interlock devices who conduct business in this state; and
2-6 (2) procedures to ensure compliance with those
2-7 standards, including procedures for the inspection of a vendor's
2-8 facilities.
2-9 (b) The minimum standards shall require each vendor to:
2-10 (1) be authorized by the department to do business in
2-11 this state;
2-12 (2) install a device only if the device is approved
2-13 under Section 521.247;
2-14 (3) obtain liability insurance providing coverage for
2-15 damages arising out of the operation or use of devices in the
2-16 amounts and under the terms specified by the department;
2-17 (4) install the device and activate any
2-18 anticircumvention feature of the device within a reasonable time
2-19 after the vendor receives notice that installation is ordered by a
2-20 court;
2-21 (5) install and inspect the device in accordance with
2-22 any applicable court order;
2-23 (6) repair or replace a device not later than 48 hours
2-24 after receiving notice of a complaint regarding the operation of
2-25 the device;
2-26 (7) submit a written report of any violation of a
2-27 court order to that court and to the person's supervising officer,
3-1 if any, not later than 48 hours after the vendor discovers the
3-2 violation;
3-3 (8) maintain a record of each action taken by the
3-4 vendor with respect to each device installed by the vendor,
3-5 including each action taken as a result of an attempt to circumvent
3-6 the device, until at least the fifth anniversary after the date of
3-7 installation;
3-8 (9) make a copy of the record available for inspection
3-9 by or send a copy of the record to any court, supervising officer,
3-10 or the department on request; and
3-11 (10) annually provide to the department a written
3-12 report of each service and ignition interlock device feature made
3-13 available by the vendor.
3-14 (c) The department may revoke the department's authorization
3-15 for a vendor to do business in this state if the vendor or an
3-16 officer or employee of the vendor is a person who has been
3-17 convicted of any felony or of a second or subsequent offense
3-18 relating to the operation of a motor vehicle while intoxicated.
3-19 The department shall periodically review criminal history record
3-20 information maintained by the department and take any action
3-21 necessary to enforce this subsection.
3-22 (d) A vendor shall reimburse the department for the
3-23 reasonable cost of conducting each inspection of the vendor's
3-24 facilities under this section.
3-25 (e) In this section, "offense relating to the operation of a
3-26 motor vehicle while intoxicated" has the meaning assigned by
3-27 Section 49.09, Penal Code.
4-1 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
4-2 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
4-3 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-4 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-5 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-6 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.