By Turner of Coleman H.B. No. 3641
Line and page numbers may not match official copy.
Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to license denial, suspension, or revocation.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 521.291, Transportation Code, is amended
1-5 to read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 521.291. Authority to Suspend or Revoke License;
1-7 Notice; Hearing. (a) If the director determines under Section
1-8 521.163 that a person [license holder] is incapable of safely
1-9 operating a motor vehicle, or if the department receives
1-10 information about a person [license holder] in accordance with a
1-11 contract under Chapter 702, or if a person meets one or more of the
1-12 criteria listed in 521.294, the director may notify the person
1-13 [license holder] of that fact and may suspend or revoke the
1-14 person's license, permit, or operating privilege [summon the
1-15 license holder to appear at a hearing]. Notice is considered
1-16 received on the fifth day after the date the notice is mailed.
1-17 (b) The notice shall [may] be sent by first class
1-18 [certified] mail to the person's [license holder's] most recent
1-19 address as shown in the records of the department [on the holder's
1-20 driver's license].
1-21 (c) If a hearing is not timely requested the period of
2-1 suspension is 90 days effective 40 days after the date the person
2-2 is considered to have received the notice of suspension or
2-3 revocation.
2-4 SECTION 2. Section 521.292, Transportation Code, is amended
2-5 to read as follows:
2-6 Sec. 521.292. Written Charges Required. (a) If, not later
2-7 than the 15th day after the date on which the person is considered
2-8 to have received notice of suspension or revocation under Section
2-9 521.291, the department receives at its headquarters in Austin, in
2-10 writing a request that a hearing be held, a hearing shall be held
2-11 as provided by this Subchapter. A $50 data processing fee must be
2-12 included with the request for hearing. If the $50 fee is not
2-13 included with the request for hearing, the department shall not
2-14 process the request. Fees collected under this subsection are
2-15 hereby appropriated to the department for the administration of
2-16 this chapter and Chapter 601.
2-17 (b) The hearing must be based on written charges. Except as
2-18 otherwise provided by this subchapter, a copy of the charges must
2-19 be given to the person [license holder] not later than the 10th day
2-20 before the date of the hearing.
2-21 SECTION 3. Section 521.293, Transportation Code, is amended
2-22 to read as follows:
2-23 Sec. 521.293. Jurisdiction; Presiding Officer.
2-24 (d) The hearing shall be conducted not less than 10 days
2-25 after the date of the notification required by Section 521.292
3-1 [521.291]. The department [presiding officer] shall set the case
3-2 for hearing at the earliest practical time.
3-3 SECTION 4. Section 521.294, Transportation Code, is amended
3-4 to read as follows:
3-5 Sec. 521.294. Suspension; Revocation.
3-6 (b) The presiding officer shall determine whether a person's
3-7 license, permit, or operating privilege should be suspended or
3-8 revoked, and the period of a suspension, because the person:
3-9 (1) has operated a motor vehicle on a highway while
3-10 the person's license, permit, or operating privilege was suspended,
3-11 canceled, disqualified, or revoked, or without a license after an
3-12 application for a license was denied;
3-13 [(2) has been responsible as an operator for any
3-14 accident resulting in death;]
3-15 (2) [(3)] is a habitually reckless or negligent
3-16 operator of a motor vehicle;
3-17 (3) [(4)] is a habitual violator of the traffic laws;
3-18 (4) [(5)] has permitted the unlawful or fraudulent use
3-19 of the person's license;
3-20 (5) [(6)] has committed an offense in another state or
3-21 Canadian province that, if committed in this state, would be
3-22 grounds for suspension or revocation;
3-23 (6) [(7)] has been convicted on two or more occasions
3-24 for violating [violated] a restriction [or an endorsement] imposed
3-25 on the use of the license;
4-1 (7) has violated an endorsement imposed on the use of
4-2 the license;
4-3 (8) has been responsible as a driver for any accident
4-4 resulting in serious personal injury or serious property damage;
4-5 (9) is the holder of a provisional license issued
4-6 under Section 521.123 and has been convicted of two or more moving
4-7 violations committed within a 12-month period; or
4-8 (10) has committed an offense under Section 545.421.
4-9 (c) If the hearing results in an affirmative finding that
4-10 the person engaged in conduct proscribed in Subsection (b), except
4-11 for Subsection (b)(1), the period of a suspension is not less than
4-12 30 days or more than [may not exceed] one year.
4-13 (d) [(c)] If the hearing results in an affirmative finding
4-14 that the person has engaged in conduct proscribed by Subsection
4-15 (b)(1), the period of suspension is extended for an additional
4-16 period of the lesser of:
4-17 (1) the term of the original suspension; or
4-18 (2) one year.
4-19 (e) [(d)] The presiding officer shall determine whether a
4-20 person's license should be revoked because the person:
4-21 (1) is incapable of safely operating a motor vehicle;
4-22 (2) has not complied with the terms of a citation
4-23 issued by a jurisdiction that is a party to the Nonresident
4-24 Violator Compact of 1977 for a traffic violation to which that
4-25 compact applies;
5-1 (3) has failed to provide medical records or has
5-2 failed to undergo medical or other examinations as required by a
5-3 panel of the medical advisory board;
5-4 (4) has failed to pass an examination required by the
5-5 director under this chapter;
5-6 (5) has been reported by a court under Section 729.003
5-7 for failure to appear or for default in payment of a fine unless
5-8 the court files an additional report on final disposition of the
5-9 case; or
5-10 (6) has been reported within 2 years of an offense by
5-11 a justice or municipal court for failure to appear or for a default
5-12 in payment of a fine for a misdemeanor punishable only by fine,
5-13 other than a failure or default reported under Section 729.003,
5-14 committed by a person who is at least 14 years of age, but younger
5-15 than 17 years of age when the offense was committed, unless the
5-16 court files an additional report on final disposition of the case.
5-17 (f) [(e)] The presiding officer shall report the officer's
5-18 determination to the department.
5-19 (g) [(f)] The director may suspend the person's license for
5-20 the recommended period or revoke the license in accordance with the
5-21 presiding officer's determination.
5-22 (h) [(g)] The license holder or department may appeal the
5-23 ruling of the presiding officer by filing a petition in the manner
5-24 provided by Section 521.302.
5-25 (i) [(h)] For the purposes of this subchapter, a person is a
6-1 "habitual violator" if the person has four or more convictions that
6-2 arise out of different transactions in 12 consecutive months, or
6-3 seven or more convictions that arise out of different transactions
6-4 in 24 months, if the convictions are for moving violations of the
6-5 traffic laws of any state, Canadian province, or political
6-6 subdivision, other than a violation under:
6-7 (1) Section 621.101, 621.201, or 621.203-621.207;
6-8 (2) Subchapter B or C, Chapter 623; or
6-9 (3) Section 545.413.
6-10 SECTION 5. Section 521.295, Transportation Code, is amended
6-11 to read as follows:
6-12 Sec. 521.295. Habitual Violators; Notice. [(a) The
6-13 director may give a license holder notice of a pending hearing by
6-14 publishing notice not later than the 31st day before the date of
6-15 the hearing in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in
6-16 which the holder resides, as shown in the department's records, if:]
6-17 [(1) the hearing is to determine whether the license
6-18 holder is a habitual violator of the traffic laws; and]
6-19 [(2) notice under Section 521.291(b) is returned to
6-20 the department because:]
6-21 [(A) the department has not been notified of the
6-22 holder's correct address; or]
6-23 [(B) the holder has refused to accept the
6-24 notice.]
6-25 [(b) The notice must:]
7-1 [(1) specify the place, time, and date of the hearing;
7-2 and]
7-3 [(2) state that the department is entitled to suspend
7-4 for a period not to exceed one year the license of a person who is
7-5 determined to be a habitual violator of the traffic laws.]
7-6 SECTION 5. Section 521.301, Transportation Code, is amended
7-7 to read as follows:
7-8 Sec. 521.301. Order Binding. A suspension, cancellation, or
7-9 revocation order of the department is binding on the person to whom
7-10 it pertains unless the person appeals the order as provided in
7-11 Section 521.302 [521.303] or unless the person establishes that a
7-12 hearing was timely requested under Sections 521.291 and 521.344(g)
7-13 but was not held.
7-14 SECTION 6. Section 601.156, Transportation Code, is amended
7-15 to read as follows:
7-16 Sec. 601.156. Setting of Hearing. (a) A hearing under this
7-17 subchapter is subject to the notice and hearing procedures of
7-18 Section 521.291(a), (b) and shall be heard by a judge of a
7-19 municipal court or the justice of the peace of the county
7-20 [precinct] in which the person requesting the hearing resides. A
7-21 party is not entitled to a jury.
7-22 [(b) The court shall set a date for the hearing. The
7-23 hearing must be held at the earliest practical time after notice is
7-24 given to the person requesting the hearing.]
7-25 [(c) The department shall summon the person requesting the
8-1 hearing to appear at the hearing. Notice under this subsection
8-2 shall be delivered through personal service or mailed by certified
8-3 mail, return receipt requested, to the person's last known address,
8-4 as shown by the department's records. The notice must include
8-5 written charges issued by the department.]
8-6 SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
8-7 SECTION 8. The importance of this legislation and the
8-8 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
8-9 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
8-10 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three consecutive
8-11 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
8-12 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
8-13 passage, and it is so enacted.