By: Wilson H.B. No. 3148
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to fines and penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 545.352, Transportation Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 545.352. PRIMA FACIE SPEED LIMITS. (a) A speed in
excess of the limits established by Subsection (b) or under another
provision of this subchapter is prima facie evidence that the speed
is not reasonable and prudent and that the speed is unlawful. Fines
for speeding under this section shall include a $100 state
surcharge that shall be deposited into the general revenue fund.
(b) Unless a special hazard exists that requires a slower
speed for compliance with Section 545.351(b), the following speeds
are lawful:
(1) 30 miles per hour in an urban district on a street
other than an alley and 15 miles per hour in an alley;
(2) 70 miles per hour in daytime and 65 miles per hour
in nighttime if the vehicle is a passenger car, motorcycle,
passenger car or light truck towing a trailer bearing a vessel, as
defined by Section 31.003, Parks and Wildlife Code, that is less
than 26 feet in length, passenger car or light truck towing a
trailer or semitrailer used primarily to transport a motorcycle, or
passenger car or light truck towing a trailer or semitrailer
designed and used primarily to transport dogs or livestock, on a
highway numbered by this state or the United States outside an urban
district, including a farm-to-market or ranch-to-market road;
(3) 60 miles per hour in daytime and 55 miles per hour
in nighttime if the vehicle is a passenger car or motorcycle on a
highway that is outside an urban district and not a highway numbered
by this state or the United States;
(4) 60 miles per hour outside an urban district if a
speed limit for the vehicle is not otherwise specified by this
section; or
(5) outside an urban district:
(A) 60 miles per hour if the vehicle is a school
bus that has passed a commercial motor vehicle inspection under
Section 548.201 and is on a highway numbered by the United States or
this state, including a farm-to-market road;
(B) 50 miles per hour if the vehicle is a school
bus that:
(i) has not passed a commercial motor
vehicle inspection under Section 548.201; or
(ii) is traveling on a highway not numbered
by the United States or this state; or
(C) 60 miles per hour in daytime and 55 miles per
hour in nighttime if the vehicle is a truck, other than a light
truck, or if the vehicle is a truck tractor, trailer, or
semitrailer, or a vehicle towing a trailer other than a trailer
described by Subdivision (2), semitrailer, another motor vehicle or
towable recreational vehicle.
(b) Unless a special hazard exists that requires a slower
speed for compliance with Section 545.351(b), the following speeds
are lawful:
(1) 30 miles per hour in an urban district on a street
other than an alley and 15 miles per hour in an alley;
(2) 70 miles per hour in daytime and 65 miles per hour
in nighttime if the vehicle is on a highway numbered by this state
or the United States outside an urban district, including a
farm-to-market or ranch-to-market road, except as provided by
Subdivision (4);
(3) 60 miles per hour in daytime and 55 miles per hour
in nighttime if the vehicle is on a highway that is outside an urban
district and not a highway numbered by this state or the United
States;
(4) outside an urban district:
(A) 60 miles per hour if the vehicle is a school
bus that has passed a commercial motor vehicle inspection under
Section 548.201 and is on a highway numbered by the United States or
this state, including a farm-to-market road;
(B) 50 miles per hour if the vehicle is a school
bus that:
(i) has not passed a commercial motor
vehicle inspection under Section 548.201; or
(ii) is traveling on a highway not numbered
by the United States or this state; or
(C) 60 miles per hour in daytime and 55 miles per
hour in nighttime if:
(i) the vehicle is a truck, other than a
light truck, or if the vehicle is a truck tractor, trailer, or
semitrailer; and
(ii) the vehicle is on a farm-to-market or
ranch-to-market road;
(5) on a beach, 15 miles per hour; or
(6) on a county road adjacent to a public beach, 15
miles per hour, if declared by the commissioners court of the
county.
SECTION 2. Chapter 544.044, Transportation Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 544.004. COMPLIANCE WITH TRAFFIC-CONTROL DEVICES. (a)
The operator of a vehicle or streetcar shall comply with an
applicable official traffic-control device placed as provided by
this subtitle unless the person is:
(1) otherwise directed by a traffic or police officer;
or
(2) operating an authorized emergency vehicle and is
subject to exceptions under this subtitle.
(b) A provision of this subtitle requiring an official
traffic-control device may not be enforced against an alleged
violator if at the time and place of the alleged violation the
device is not in proper position and sufficiently legible to an
ordinarily observant person. A provision of this subtitle that
does not require an official traffic-control device is effective
regardless of whether a device is in place.
(c) Fines for under this section shall include a $100 state
surcharge that shall be deposited into the general revenue fund.
SECTION 3. Chapter 543.009, Transportation Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 543.009. COMPLIANCE WITH OR VIOLATION OF PROMISE TO
APPEAR. (a) A person may comply with a written promise to appear in
court by an appearance by counsel.
(b) A person who willfully violates a written promise to
appear in court, given as provided by this subchapter, commits a
misdemeanor regardless of the disposition of the charge on which
the person was arrested.
(c) An offense under this section is a misdemeanor
punishable by a fine of not less than $200 or more than $1,000 and
shall include a $100 state surcharge that shall be deposited into
the general revenue fund.
SECTION 4. Chapter 481.125, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 481.125. OFFENSE: POSSESSION OR DELIVERY OF DRUG
PARAPHERNALIA. (a) A person commits an offense if the person
knowingly or intentionally uses or possesses with intent to use
drug paraphernalia to plant, propagate, cultivate, grow, harvest,
manufacture, compound, convert, produce, process, prepare, test,
analyze, pack, repack, store, contain, or conceal a controlled
substance in violation of this chapter or to inject, ingest,
inhale, or otherwise introduce into the human body a controlled
substance in violation of this chapter.
(b) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly or
intentionally delivers, possesses with intent to deliver, or
manufactures with intent to deliver drug paraphernalia knowing that
the person who receives or who is intended to receive the drug
paraphernalia intends that it be used to plant, propagate,
cultivate, grow, harvest, manufacture, compound, convert, produce,
process, prepare, test, analyze, pack, repack, store, contain, or
conceal a controlled substance in violation of this chapter or to
inject, ingest, inhale, or otherwise introduce into the human body
a controlled substance in violation of this chapter.
(c) A person commits an offense if the person commits an
offense under Subsection (b), is 18 years of age or older, and the
person who receives or who is intended to receive the drug
paraphernalia is younger than 18 years of age and at least three
years younger than the actor.
(d) An offense under Subsection (a) is a Class C misdemeanor
and shall include a $250 state surcharge that shall be deposited
into the general revenue fund.
(e) An offense under Subsection (b) is a Class A
misdemeanor, unless it is shown on the trial of a defendant that the
defendant has previously been convicted under Subsection (b) or
(c), in which event the offense is punishable by confinement in jail
for a term of not more than one year or less than 90 days.
(f) An offense under Subsection (c) is a state jail felony.
SECTION 5. Chapter 601.008, Transportation Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 601.008. VIOLATION OF CHAPTER; OFFENSE. (a) A person
commits an offense if the person violates a provision of this
chapter for which a penalty is not otherwise provided.
(b) An offense under this section is a misdemeanor
punishable by:
(1) a fine not to exceed $500 including a $100 state
surcharge that shall be deposited into the general revenue fund.;
(2) confinement in county jail for a term not to exceed
90 days; or
(3) both the fine and the confinement.
SECTION 6. Section 49.04, Penal Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 49.04. DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED. (a) A person
commits an offense if the person is intoxicated while operating a
motor vehicle in a public place.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c) and Section 49.09,
an offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor, with a
minimum term of confinement of 72 hours.
(c) If it is shown on the trial of an offense under this
section that at the time of the offense the person operating the
motor vehicle had an open container of alcohol in the person's
immediate possession, the offense is a Class B misdemeanor, with a
minimum term of confinement of six days.
(d) Fines for under this section shall include a $100 state
surcharge that shall be deposited into the general revenue fund.
SECTION 7. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.
(b) The change in law made by this Act applies only to an
offense committed on or after September 1, 2003.
(c) An offense committed before September 1, 2003, is
covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of
this section, an offense was committed before September 1, 2003, if
any element of the offense was committed before that date.
(d) The change in law made by this Act does not affect taxes
or fees imposed before the effective date of this Act, and the
former law is continued in effect for purposes of the liability for
and collection of those taxes and fees.
(e) All surcharge funds specified in this Act shall be
placed in the general revenue fund.