1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the requirement that the motor vehicle of a person
1-3 convicted of certain offenses involving the operation of a motor
1-4 vehicle while intoxicated be equipped with an ignition interlock
1-5 device and that the Department of Public Safety establish minimum
1-6 standards for vendors of ignition interlock devices.
1-7 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-8 SECTION 1. Section 521.246, Transportation Code, is amended
1-9 by adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
1-10 (f) A previous conviction may not be used for purposes of
1-11 restricting a person to the operation of a motor vehicle equipped
1-12 with an interlock ignition device under this section if:
1-13 (1) the previous conviction was a final conviction
1-14 under Section 49.04, 49.07, or 49.08, Penal Code, and was for an
1-15 offense committed more than 10 years before the instant offense for
1-16 which the person was convicted; and
1-17 (2) the person has not been convicted of an offense
1-18 under Section 49.04, 49.07, or 49.08 of that code committed within
1-19 10 years before the date on which the instant offense for which the
1-20 person was convicted.
1-21 SECTION 2. Subchapter L, Chapter 521, Transportation Code,
1-22 is amended by adding Section 521.2476 to read as follows:
1-23 Sec. 521.2476. MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR VENDORS OF IGNITION
1-24 INTERLOCK DEVICES. (a) The department by rule shall establish:
2-1 (1) minimum standards for vendors of ignition
2-2 interlock devices who conduct business in this state; and
2-3 (2) procedures to ensure compliance with those
2-4 standards, including procedures for the inspection of a vendor's
2-5 facilities.
2-6 (b) The minimum standards shall require each vendor to:
2-7 (1) be authorized by the department to do business in
2-8 this state;
2-9 (2) install a device only if the device is approved
2-10 under Section 521.247;
2-11 (3) obtain liability insurance providing coverage for
2-12 damages arising out of the operation or use of devices in amounts
2-13 and under the terms specified by the department;
2-14 (4) install the device and activate any
2-15 anticircumvention feature of the device within a reasonable time
2-16 after the vendor receives notice that installation is ordered by a
2-17 court;
2-18 (5) install and inspect the device in accordance with
2-19 any applicable court order;
2-20 (6) repair or replace a device not later than 48 hours
2-21 after receiving notice of a complaint regarding the operation of
2-22 the device;
2-23 (7) submit a written report of any violation of a
2-24 court order to that court and to the person's supervising officer,
2-25 if any, not later than 48 hours after the vendor discovers the
2-26 violation;
2-27 (8) maintain a record of each action taken by the
3-1 vendor with respect to each device installed by the vendor,
3-2 including each action taken as a result of an attempt to circumvent
3-3 the device, until at least the fifth anniversary after the date of
3-4 installation;
3-5 (9) make a copy of the record available for inspection
3-6 by or send a copy of the record to any court, supervising officer,
3-7 or the department on request; and
3-8 (10) annually provide to the department a written
3-9 report of each service and ignition interlock device feature made
3-10 available by the vendor.
3-11 (c) The department may revoke the department's authorization
3-12 for a vendor to do business in this state if the vendor or an
3-13 officer or employee of the vendor violates:
3-14 (1) any law of this state that applies to the vendor;
3-15 or
3-16 (2) any rule adopted by the department under this
3-17 section or another law that applies to the vendor.
3-18 (d) A vendor shall reimburse the department for the
3-19 reasonable cost of conducting each inspection of the vendor's
3-20 facilities under this section.
3-21 (e) In this section, "offense relating to the operating of a
3-22 motor vehicle while intoxicated" has the meaning assigned by
3-23 Section 49.09, Penal Code.
3-24 SECTION 3. Section 13(i), Article 42.12, Code of Criminal
3-25 Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
3-26 (i) If a person convicted of an offense under Sections
3-27 49.04-49.08, Penal Code, is placed on community supervision, the
4-1 court may require as a condition of community supervision that the
4-2 defendant have a device installed, on the motor vehicle owned by
4-3 the defendant or on the vehicle most regularly driven by the
4-4 defendant, that uses a deep-lung breath analysis mechanism to make
4-5 impractical the operation of the motor vehicle if ethyl alcohol is
4-6 detected in the breath of the operator and that the defendant not
4-7 operate any motor vehicle that is not equipped with that device.
4-8 If the person is convicted of an offense under Sections
4-9 49.04-49.06, Penal Code, and punished under Section 49.09(a) or
4-10 (b), Penal Code, or of a second or subsequent offense under Section
4-11 49.07 or 49.08, Penal Code, and the person after conviction of
4-12 either offense is placed on community supervision, the court shall
4-13 require as a condition of community supervision that the defendant
4-14 have the device installed on the appropriate vehicle and that the
4-15 defendant not operate any motor vehicle unless the vehicle is
4-16 equipped with that device. Before placing on community supervision
4-17 a person convicted of an offense under Sections 49.04-49.08, Penal
4-18 Code, the court shall determine from criminal history record
4-19 information maintained by the Department of Public Safety whether
4-20 the person has one or more previous convictions under Sections
4-21 49.04-49.08, Penal Code, or has one previous conviction under
4-22 Sections 49.04-49.07, Penal Code, or one previous conviction under
4-23 Section 49.08, Penal Code. If the court determines that the person
4-24 has one or more such previous convictions, the court shall require
4-25 as a condition of community supervision that the defendant have
4-26 that device installed on the motor vehicle owned by the defendant
4-27 or on the vehicle most regularly driven by the defendant and that
5-1 the defendant not operate any motor vehicle unless the vehicle is
5-2 equipped with the device described in this subsection. The court
5-3 shall require the defendant to obtain the device at the defendant's
5-4 own cost before the 30th day after the date of conviction unless
5-5 the court finds that to do so would not be in the best interest of
5-6 justice and enters its findings on record. The court shall require
5-7 the defendant to provide evidence to the court within the 30-day
5-8 period that the device has been installed on the appropriate
5-9 vehicle and order the device to remain installed on that vehicle
5-10 for a period not less than 50 percent of the supervision period.
5-11 If the court determines the offender is unable to pay for the
5-12 device, the court may impose a reasonable payment schedule not to
5-13 exceed twice the period of the court's order. The Department of
5-14 Public Safety shall approve devices for use under this subsection.
5-15 The provisions of Section 23A(f), Chapter 173, Acts of the 47th
5-16 Legislature, Regular Session, 1941 (Article 6687b, Vernon's Texas
5-17 Civil Statutes), apply to the approval of a device under this
5-18 subsection and the consequences of that approval. Notwithstanding
5-19 the provisions of this section, if a person is required to operate
5-20 a motor vehicle in the course and scope of the person's employment
5-21 and if the vehicle is owned by the employer, the person may operate
5-22 that vehicle without installation of an approved ignition interlock
5-23 device if the employer has been notified of that driving privilege
5-24 restriction and if proof of that notification is with the vehicle.
5-25 This employment exemption does not apply, however, if the business
5-26 entity that owns the vehicle is owned or controlled by the person
5-27 whose driving privilege has been restricted. A previous conviction
6-1 may not be used for purposes of restricting a person to the
6-2 operation of a motor vehicle equipped with an interlock ignition
6-3 device under this subsection if:
6-4 (1) the previous conviction was a final conviction
6-5 under Section 49.04, 49.05, 49.06, 49.07, or 49.08, Penal Code, and
6-6 was for an offense committed more than 10 years before the instant
6-7 offense for which the person was convicted and placed on community
6-8 supervision; and
6-9 (2) the person has not been convicted of an offense
6-10 under Section 49.04, 49.05, 49.06, 49.07, or 49.08 of that code,
6-11 committed within 10 years before the date on which the instant
6-12 offense for which the person was convicted and placed on community
6-13 supervision.
6-14 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999. The
6-15 changes in law to Section 521.246, Transportation Code, and Section
6-16 13(i), Article 42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, apply only to a
6-17 person convicted of an offense specified by those laws committed on
6-18 or after September 1, 1999. A person convicted of an offense
6-19 specified by those laws committed before September 1, 1999, is
6-20 covered by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed,
6-21 and the former laws are continued in effect for those purposes.
6-22 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
6-23 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-24 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-25 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-26 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 3492 was passed by the House on May
4, 1999, by a non-record vote; and that the House concurred in
Senate amendments to H.B. No. 3492 on May 26, 1999, by a non-record
vote.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 3492 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 24, 1999, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays
0.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor