1-1 By: Jones of Dallas (Senate Sponsor - Cain) H.B. No. 2926
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 11, 2001;
1-3 May 11, 2001, read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal
1-4 Justice; May 11, 2001, reported favorably by the following vote:
1-5 Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 11, 2001, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to the period that an ignition interlock device must
1-9 remain installed on the vehicle of a person placed on community
1-10 supervision for certain intoxication offenses.
1-11 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-12 SECTION 1. Section 13(i), Article 42.12, Code of Criminal
1-13 Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
1-14 (i) If a person convicted of an offense under Sections
1-15 49.04-49.08, Penal Code, is placed on community supervision, the
1-16 court may require as a condition of community supervision that the
1-17 defendant have a device installed, on the motor vehicle owned by
1-18 the defendant or on the vehicle most regularly driven by the
1-19 defendant, that uses a deep-lung breath analysis mechanism to make
1-20 impractical the operation of the motor vehicle if ethyl alcohol is
1-21 detected in the breath of the operator and that the defendant not
1-22 operate any motor vehicle that is not equipped with that device.
1-23 If the person is convicted of an offense under Sections
1-24 49.04-49.06, Penal Code, and punished under Section 49.09(a) or
1-25 (b), Penal Code, or of a second or subsequent offense under Section
1-26 49.07 or 49.08, Penal Code, and the person after conviction of
1-27 either offense is placed on community supervision, the court shall
1-28 require as a condition of community supervision that the defendant
1-29 have the device installed on the appropriate vehicle and that the
1-30 defendant not operate any motor vehicle unless the vehicle is
1-31 equipped with that device. Before placing on community supervision
1-32 a person convicted of an offense under Sections 49.04-49.08, Penal
1-33 Code, the court shall determine from criminal history record
1-34 information maintained by the Department of Public Safety whether
1-35 the person has one or more previous convictions under Sections
1-36 49.04-49.08, Penal Code, or has one previous conviction under
1-37 Sections 49.04-49.07, Penal Code, or one previous conviction under
1-38 Section 49.08, Penal Code. If the court determines that the person
1-39 has one or more such previous convictions, the court shall require
1-40 as a condition of community supervision that the defendant have
1-41 that device installed on the motor vehicle owned by the defendant
1-42 or on the vehicle most regularly driven by the defendant and that
1-43 the defendant not operate any motor vehicle unless the vehicle is
1-44 equipped with the device described in this subsection. The court
1-45 shall require the defendant to obtain the device at the defendant's
1-46 own cost before the 30th day after the date of conviction unless
1-47 the court finds that to do so would not be in the best interest of
1-48 justice and enters its findings on record. The court shall require
1-49 the defendant to provide evidence to the court within the 30-day
1-50 period that the device has been installed on the appropriate
1-51 vehicle and order the device to remain installed on that vehicle
1-52 until the expiration [for a period not less than 50 percent] of the
1-53 supervision period and to not be removed from the vehicle without a
1-54 written order issued by the court. If the court determines the
1-55 offender is unable to pay for the device, the court may impose a
1-56 reasonable payment schedule not to exceed twice the period of the
1-57 court's order. The Department of Public Safety shall approve
1-58 devices for use under this subsection. Section 521.247,
1-59 Transportation Code, applies to the approval of a device under this
1-60 subsection and the consequences of that approval. A person may not
1-61 remove a device installed in a defendant's vehicle under this
1-62 subsection unless the person holds a written order authorizing the
1-63 removal issued by the court that ordered the device to be
1-64 installed. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, if a
2-1 person is required to operate a motor vehicle in the course and
2-2 scope of the person's employment and if the vehicle is owned by the
2-3 employer, the person may operate that vehicle without installation
2-4 of an approved ignition interlock device if the employer has been
2-5 notified of that driving privilege restriction and if proof of that
2-6 notification is with the vehicle. This employment exemption does
2-7 not apply, however, if the business entity that owns the vehicle is
2-8 owned or controlled by the person whose driving privilege has been
2-9 restricted. A previous conviction may not be used for purposes of
2-10 restricting a person to the operation of a motor vehicle equipped
2-11 with an interlock ignition device under this subsection if:
2-12 (1) the previous conviction was a final conviction
2-13 under Section 49.04, 49.05, 49.06, 49.07, or 49.08, Penal Code, and
2-14 was for an offense committed more than 10 years before the instant
2-15 offense for which the person was convicted and placed on community
2-16 supervision; and
2-17 (2) the person has not been convicted of an offense
2-18 under Section 49.04, 49.05, 49.06, 49.07, or 49.08 of that code,
2-19 committed within 10 years before the date on which the instant
2-20 offense for which the person was convicted and placed on community
2-21 supervision.
2-22 SECTION 2. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
2-23 (b) The change in law made by this Act applies only to an
2-24 offense committed on or after September 1, 2001.
2-25 (c) An offense committed before September 1, 2001, is
2-26 covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and
2-27 the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
2-28 purposes of this section, an offense was committed before September
2-29 1, 2001, if any element of the offense was committed before that
2-30 date.
2-31 * * * * *