By Smith H.B. No. 161
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 certain offenses committed by a person with an alcohol
1-3 concentration of 0.15 or more and to the conditions of community
1-4 supervision imposed on conviction of certain intoxication offenses.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Section 49.09, Penal Code, is amended by adding
1-7 Subsection (g) to read as follows:
1-8 (g) If it is shown on the trial of an offense under Section
1-9 49.04, 49.05, or 49.06 that an analysis of a specimen of the
1-10 person's blood, breath, urine, or other bodily substance showed an
1-11 alcohol concentration of 0.15 or more, the offense is a Class A
1-12 misdemeanor.
1-13 SECTION 2. Sections 13(a), (b), and (i), Article 42.12, Code
1-14 of Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
1-15 (a) A judge granting community supervision to a defendant
1-16 convicted of an offense under Chapter 49, Penal Code, shall require
1-17 as a condition of community supervision that the defendant submit
1-18 to:
1-19 (1) not less than three days of confinement in county
1-20 jail if the defendant was punished under Section 49.09(a);
1-21 (2) not less than five days of confinement in county
1-22 jail plus the completion of a course of conduct for the
2-1 rehabilitation of the defendant's drug or alcohol dependence
2-2 condition, if the defendant was punished under Section 49.09(g);
2-3 (3) not less than 10 days of confinement in county
2-4 jail if the defendant was punished under Section 49.09(b), except
2-5 as provided by Subdivision (4) [or (c)]; [or]
2-6 (4) not less than 30 days of confinement in county
2-7 jail if the defendant was:
2-8 (A) convicted under Section 49.07; or
2-9 (B) punished under Section 49.09(g), if it is
2-10 shown on the trial of the offense that the defendant has previously
2-11 been convicted of an offense for which the defendant was punished
2-12 under Section 49.09(g); or
2-13 (5) not less than 120 days of confinement in county
2-14 jail if the defendant was convicted under Section 49.08 [and]
2-15 [(2) an evaluation by a supervision officer or by a
2-16 person, program, or facility approved by the Texas Commission on
2-17 Alcohol and Drug Abuse for the purpose of having the facility
2-18 prescribe and carry out a course of conduct necessary for the
2-19 rehabilitation of the defendant's drug or alcohol dependence
2-20 condition].
2-21 (b) A judge granting community supervision to a defendant
2-22 convicted of an offense under Sections 49.04-49.08 [Section 49.08],
2-23 Penal Code, shall require as a condition of community supervision
2-24 that the defendant submit to an evaluation by a supervision officer
2-25 or by a person, program, or facility approved by the Texas
2-26 Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse for the purpose of having the
3-1 facility prescribe and supervise a course of conduct necessary for
3-2 the rehabilitation of the defendant's drug or alcohol dependence
3-3 condition [a period of confinement of not less than 120 days].
3-4 (i) If a person convicted of an offense under Sections
3-5 49.04-49.08, Penal Code, is placed on community supervision, the
3-6 court may require as a condition of community supervision that the
3-7 defendant have a device installed, on the motor vehicle owned by
3-8 the defendant or on the vehicle most regularly driven by the
3-9 defendant, that uses a deep-lung breath analysis mechanism to make
3-10 impractical the operation of the motor vehicle if ethyl alcohol is
3-11 detected in the breath of the operator and that the defendant not
3-12 operate any motor vehicle that is not equipped with that device.
3-13 If the person is convicted of an offense under Sections
3-14 49.04-49.06, Penal Code, and punished under Section 49.09(a), [or]
3-15 (b), or (g), Penal Code, or of a second or subsequent offense under
3-16 Section 49.07 or 49.08, Penal Code, and the person after conviction
3-17 of either offense is placed on community supervision, the court
3-18 shall require as a condition of community supervision that the
3-19 defendant have the device installed on the appropriate vehicle and
3-20 that the defendant not operate any motor vehicle unless the vehicle
3-21 is equipped with that device. Before placing on community
3-22 supervision a person convicted of an offense under Sections
3-23 49.04-49.08, Penal Code, the court shall determine from criminal
3-24 history record information maintained by the Department of Public
3-25 Safety whether the person has one or more previous convictions
3-26 under Sections 49.04-49.08, Penal Code, or has one previous
4-1 conviction under Sections 49.04-49.07, Penal Code, or one previous
4-2 conviction under Section 49.08, Penal Code. If the court
4-3 determines that the person has one or more such previous
4-4 convictions, the court shall require as a condition of community
4-5 supervision that the defendant have that device installed on the
4-6 motor vehicle owned by the defendant or on the vehicle most
4-7 regularly driven by the defendant and that the defendant not
4-8 operate any motor vehicle unless the vehicle is equipped with the
4-9 device described in this subsection. The court shall require the
4-10 defendant to obtain the device at the defendant's own cost before
4-11 the 30th day after the date of conviction unless the court finds
4-12 that to do so would not be in the best interest of justice and
4-13 enters its findings on record. The court shall require the
4-14 defendant to provide evidence to the court within the 30-day period
4-15 that the device has been installed on the appropriate vehicle and
4-16 order the device to remain installed on that vehicle for a period
4-17 not less than 50 percent of the supervision period. If the court
4-18 determines the offender is unable to pay for the device, the court
4-19 may impose a reasonable payment schedule not to exceed twice the
4-20 period of the court's order. The Department of Public Safety shall
4-21 approve devices for use under this subsection. Section 521.247,
4-22 Transportation Code, applies [The provisions of Section 23A(f),
4-23 Chapter 173, Acts of the 47th Legislature, Regular Session, 1941
4-24 (Article 6687b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), apply] to the
4-25 approval of a device under this subsection and the consequences of
4-26 that approval. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, if
5-1 a person is required to operate a motor vehicle in the course and
5-2 scope of the person's employment and if the vehicle is owned by the
5-3 employer, the person may operate that vehicle without installation
5-4 of an approved ignition interlock device if the employer has been
5-5 notified of that driving privilege restriction and if proof of that
5-6 notification is with the vehicle. This employment exemption does
5-7 not apply, however, if the business entity that owns the vehicle is
5-8 owned or controlled by the person whose driving privilege has been
5-9 restricted.
5-10 SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
5-11 to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
5-12 An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
5-13 covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and
5-14 the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
5-15 purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
5-16 effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
5-17 before that date.
5-18 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
5-19 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
5-20 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-21 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-22 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-23 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.