By: Cain S.B. No. 1531
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the period that an ignition interlock device must
1-3 remain installed on the vehicle of a person placed on community
1-4 supervision for certain intoxication offenses.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Subsection (i), Section 13, Article 42.12, Code
1-7 of Criminal Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
1-8 (i) If a person convicted of an offense under Sections
1-9 49.04-49.08, Penal Code, is placed on community supervision, the
1-10 court may require as a condition of community supervision that the
1-11 defendant have a device installed, on the motor vehicle owned by
1-12 the defendant or on the vehicle most regularly driven by the
1-13 defendant, that uses a deep-lung breath analysis mechanism to make
1-14 impractical the operation of the motor vehicle if ethyl alcohol is
1-15 detected in the breath of the operator and that the defendant not
1-16 operate any motor vehicle that is not equipped with that device.
1-17 If the person is convicted of an offense under Sections
1-18 49.04-49.06, Penal Code, and punished under Section 49.09(a) or
1-19 (b), Penal Code, or of a second or subsequent offense under Section
1-20 49.07 or 49.08, Penal Code, and the person after conviction of
1-21 either offense is placed on community supervision, the court shall
1-22 require as a condition of community supervision that the defendant
1-23 have the device installed on the appropriate vehicle and that the
1-24 defendant not operate any motor vehicle unless the vehicle is
1-25 equipped with that device. Before placing on community supervision
2-1 a person convicted of an offense under Sections 49.04-49.08, Penal
2-2 Code, the court shall determine from criminal history record
2-3 information maintained by the Department of Public Safety whether
2-4 the person has one or more previous convictions under Sections
2-5 49.04-49.08, Penal Code, or has one previous conviction under
2-6 Sections 49.04-49.07, Penal Code, or one previous conviction under
2-7 Section 49.08, Penal Code. If the court determines that the person
2-8 has one or more such previous convictions, the court shall require
2-9 as a condition of community supervision that the defendant have
2-10 that device installed on the motor vehicle owned by the defendant
2-11 or on the vehicle most regularly driven by the defendant and that
2-12 the defendant not operate any motor vehicle unless the vehicle is
2-13 equipped with the device described in this subsection. The court
2-14 shall require the defendant to obtain the device at the defendant's
2-15 own cost before the 30th day after the date of conviction unless
2-16 the court finds that to do so would not be in the best interest of
2-17 justice and enters its findings on record. The court shall require
2-18 the defendant to provide evidence to the court within the 30-day
2-19 period that the device has been installed on the appropriate
2-20 vehicle and order the device to remain installed on that vehicle
2-21 until the expiration [for a period not less than 50 percent] of the
2-22 supervision period or until ordered removed by the court. If the
2-23 court determines the offender is unable to pay for the device, the
2-24 court may impose a reasonable payment schedule not to exceed twice
2-25 the period of the court's order. The Department of Public Safety
2-26 shall approve devices for use under this subsection. Section
3-1 521.247, Transportation Code, applies to the approval of a device
3-2 under this subsection and the consequences of that approval. A
3-3 person may not remove a device installed in a defendant's vehicle
3-4 under this subsection unless the person holds a written order
3-5 authorizing the removal issued by the court that ordered the device
3-6 to be installed. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section,
3-7 if a person is required to operate a motor vehicle in the course
3-8 and scope of the person's employment and if the vehicle is owned by
3-9 the employer, the person may operate that vehicle without
3-10 installation of an approved ignition interlock device if the
3-11 employer has been notified of that driving privilege restriction
3-12 and if proof of that notification is with the vehicle. This
3-13 employment exemption does not apply, however, if the business
3-14 entity that owns the vehicle is owned or controlled by the person
3-15 whose driving privilege has been restricted. A previous conviction
3-16 may not be used for purposes of restricting a person to the
3-17 operation of a motor vehicle equipped with an interlock ignition
3-18 device under this subsection if:
3-19 (1) the previous conviction was a final conviction
3-20 under Section 49.04, 49.05, 49.06, 49.07, or 49.08, Penal Code, and
3-21 was for an offense committed more than 10 years before the instant
3-22 offense for which the person was convicted and placed on community
3-23 supervision; and
3-24 (2) the person has not been convicted of an offense
3-25 under Section 49.04, 49.05, 49.06, 49.07, or 49.08 of that code,
3-26 committed within 10 years before the date on which the instant
4-1 offense for which the person was convicted and placed on community
4-2 supervision.
4-3 SECTION 2. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
4-4 (b) The change in law made by this Act applies only to an
4-5 offense committed on or after September 1, 2001.
4-6 (c) An offense committed before September 1, 2001, is
4-7 covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and
4-8 the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
4-9 purposes of this section, an offense was committed before September
4-10 1, 2001, if any element of the offense was committed before that
4-11 date.