HBA-CMT S.B. 1371 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisS.B. 1371 By: Brown, J. E. "Buster" Public Safety 4/29/2001 Engrossed BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE In 1997, the legislature created the failure to appear program in which municipal courts are allowed to report persons who fail to appear in court to the Department of Public Safety (DPS). DPS is allowed to turn those reports over to a third party vendor or contractor. A person who is reported is denied renewal of the person's driver's license until the political subdivision notifies DPS that there is no cause to continue the denial of renewal. Senate Bill 1371 authorizes a political subdivision to contract with DPS to deny renewal of a driver's license of a person who fails to pay or satisfy a judgment involving any offense over which a justice or municipal court has jurisdiction. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS Senate Bill 1371 amends the Transportation Code to authorize a political subdivision to contract with the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to deny renewal of the driver's license of a person who fails to appear for a complaint or citation or fails to pay or satisfy a judgment ordering payment of a fine and cost in the manner ordered by the court in a matter involving any offense over which a justice or municipal court has jurisdiction. The bill provides that the written warning that a peace officer is required to give to each person issued a citation for a violation of traffic law must state in the substance that if the person fails to pay or satisfy a judgment ordering the payment of a fine and cost in the manner ordered by the court, the person may be denied renewal of the person's driver's license. The bill provides that if a political subdivision has contracted with DPS, on receiving the necessary information from the political subdivision, DPS is authorized to deny renewal of a person's driver's license for failure to pay or satisfy a judgment ordering the payment of a fine and cost in the manner ordered by the court in a matter involving any offense over which a justice or municipal court has jurisdiction. The bill requires a political subdivision to notify DPS that there is no cause to continue to deny renewal of a person's driver's license for failure to pay or satisfy a judgment ordering the payment of a fine and cost in a matter involving the perfection of an appeal of the case for which the warrant of arrest was issued or judgment arose, the dismissal of the charge for which the warrant of arrest was issued or judgment arose, the discharge of the fine and cost owed on an outstanding judgment of the court, or other suitable arrangement to pay the fine and cost within the court's discretion. The bill requires the political subdivision to require a person to pay an administrative fee of $30 for each violation reported to DPS under the provisions of the bill unless a person has been acquitted of the offense for which the person failed to appear for a complaint or citation involving a violation of any offense over which a justice or municipal court has jurisdiction. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.