1-1     By:  Lucio                                            S.B. No. 1511
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 9, 2001; March 14, 2001, read
 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;
 1-4     May 11, 2001, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 4,
 1-5     Nays 0; May 11, 2001, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to interference with or recycling of a traffic-control
 1-9     device or railroad sign or signal; providing penalties.
1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11           SECTION 1.  Section 544.005, Transportation Code, is amended
1-12     to read as follows:
1-13           Sec. 544.005.  INTERFERENCE WITH TRAFFIC-CONTROL DEVICE OR
1-14     RAILROAD SIGN OR SIGNAL.  (a)  A person may not, without lawful
1-15     authority, alter, injure, knock down, or remove or attempt to
1-16     alter, injure, knock down, or remove:
1-17                 (1)  an official traffic-control device or railroad
1-18     sign or signal;
1-19                 (2)  an inscription, shield, or insignia on an official
1-20     traffic-control device or railroad sign or signal; or
1-21                 (3)  another part of an official traffic-control device
1-22     or railroad sign or signal.
1-23           (b)  If a person other than the person committing the offense
1-24     suffers property damage or bodily injury as a result of an offense
1-25     under Subsection (a), instead of the penalty provided by Section
1-26     542.401, the offense is a Class B misdemeanor.
1-27           SECTION 2.  Chapter 544, Transportation Code, is amended by
1-28     adding Section 544.0051 to read as follows:
1-29           Sec. 544.0051.  RECYCLING OF TRAFFIC-CONTROL DEVICE OR
1-30     RAILROAD SIGN OR SIGNAL.  (a)  In this section "recycler" means a
1-31     person in the business of dismantling or otherwise processing
1-32     materials so that the materials or components of the materials may
1-33     be reused.
1-34           (b)  Except as provided by Subsection (c):
1-35                 (1)  a person may not sell a traffic-control device or
1-36     railroad sign or signal to a recycler; and
1-37                 (2)  a recycler may not recycle all or part of the
1-38     material in a traffic-control device or railroad sign or signal.
1-39           (c)  This section does not apply to a traffic-control device
1-40     or railroad sign or signal sold or recycled by a governmental
1-41     entity as permitted by law.
1-42           SECTION 3.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies
1-43     only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this
1-44     Act.  For the purposes of this section, an offense is committed
1-45     before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense
1-46     occurs before that date.
1-47           (b)  An offense committed before the effective date of this
1-48     Act is governed by the law in effect when the offense was
1-49     committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that
1-50     purpose.
1-51           SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
1-52                                  * * * * *