1-1 By: Cain S.B. No. 1531
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 7, 2001, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
1-5 Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 7, 2001,
1-6 sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1531 By: Staples
1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-9 AN ACT
1-10 relating to the period that an ignition interlock device must
1-11 remain installed on the vehicle of a person placed on community
1-12 supervision for certain intoxication offenses.
1-13 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-14 SECTION 1. Subsection (i), Section 13, Article 42.12, Code
1-15 of Criminal Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
1-16 (i) If a person convicted of an offense under Sections
1-17 49.04-49.08, Penal Code, is placed on community supervision, the
1-18 court may require as a condition of community supervision that the
1-19 defendant have a device installed, on the motor vehicle owned by
1-20 the defendant or on the vehicle most regularly driven by the
1-21 defendant, that uses a deep-lung breath analysis mechanism to make
1-22 impractical the operation of the motor vehicle if ethyl alcohol is
1-23 detected in the breath of the operator and that the defendant not
1-24 operate any motor vehicle that is not equipped with that device.
1-25 If the person is convicted of an offense under Sections
1-26 49.04-49.06, Penal Code, and punished under Section 49.09(a) or
1-27 (b), Penal Code, or of a second or subsequent offense under Section
1-28 49.07 or 49.08, Penal Code, and the person after conviction of
1-29 either offense is placed on community supervision, the court shall
1-30 require as a condition of community supervision that the defendant
1-31 have the device installed on the appropriate vehicle and that the
1-32 defendant not operate any motor vehicle unless the vehicle is
1-33 equipped with that device. Before placing on community supervision
1-34 a person convicted of an offense under Sections 49.04-49.08, Penal
1-35 Code, the court shall determine from criminal history record
1-36 information maintained by the Department of Public Safety whether
1-37 the person has one or more previous convictions under Sections
1-38 49.04-49.08, Penal Code, or has one previous conviction under
1-39 Sections 49.04-49.07, Penal Code, or one previous conviction under
1-40 Section 49.08, Penal Code. If the court determines that the person
1-41 has one or more such previous convictions, the court shall require
1-42 as a condition of community supervision that the defendant have
1-43 that device installed on the motor vehicle owned by the defendant
1-44 or on the vehicle most regularly driven by the defendant and that
1-45 the defendant not operate any motor vehicle unless the vehicle is
1-46 equipped with the device described in this subsection. The court
1-47 shall require the defendant to obtain the device at the defendant's
1-48 own cost before the 30th day after the date of conviction unless
1-49 the court finds that to do so would not be in the best interest of
1-50 justice and enters its findings on record. The court shall require
1-51 the defendant to provide evidence to the court within the 30-day
1-52 period that the device has been installed on the appropriate
1-53 vehicle and order the device to remain installed on that vehicle
1-54 until the expiration [for a period not less than 50 percent] of the
1-55 supervision period or until ordered removed by the court. If the
1-56 court determines the offender is unable to pay for the device, the
1-57 court may impose a reasonable payment schedule not to exceed twice
1-58 the period of the court's order. The Department of Public Safety
1-59 shall approve devices for use under this subsection. Section
1-60 521.247, Transportation Code, applies to the approval of a device
1-61 under this subsection and the consequences of that approval. A
1-62 person may not remove a device installed in a defendant's vehicle
1-63 under this subsection unless the person holds a written order
1-64 authorizing the removal issued by the court that ordered the device
2-1 to be installed. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section,
2-2 if a person is required to operate a motor vehicle in the course
2-3 and scope of the person's employment and if the vehicle is owned by
2-4 the employer, the person may operate that vehicle without
2-5 installation of an approved ignition interlock device if the
2-6 employer has been notified of that driving privilege restriction
2-7 and if proof of that notification is with the vehicle. This
2-8 employment exemption does not apply, however, if the business
2-9 entity that owns the vehicle is owned or controlled by the person
2-10 whose driving privilege has been restricted. A previous conviction
2-11 may not be used for purposes of restricting a person to the
2-12 operation of a motor vehicle equipped with an interlock ignition
2-13 device under this subsection if:
2-14 (1) the previous conviction was a final conviction
2-15 under Section 49.04, 49.05, 49.06, 49.07, or 49.08, Penal Code, and
2-16 was for an offense committed more than 10 years before the instant
2-17 offense for which the person was convicted and placed on community
2-18 supervision; and
2-19 (2) the person has not been convicted of an offense
2-20 under Section 49.04, 49.05, 49.06, 49.07, or 49.08 of that code,
2-21 committed within 10 years before the date on which the instant
2-22 offense for which the person was convicted and placed on community
2-23 supervision.
2-24 SECTION 2. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
2-25 (b) The change in law made by this Act applies only to an
2-26 offense committed on or after September 1, 2001.
2-27 (c) An offense committed before September 1, 2001, is
2-28 covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and
2-29 the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For
2-30 purposes of this section, an offense was committed before September
2-31 1, 2001, if any element of the offense was committed before that
2-32 date.
2-33 * * * * *