78(R) SB 582 - Senate Committee Report version


                                                                                


By:  Williams                                                     S.B. No. 582
	(In the Senate - Filed February 19, 2003; February 24, 2003, 
read first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice; 
April 25, 2003, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 6, 
Nays 0; April 25, 2003, sent to printer.)


A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT


relating to the consolidation of certain offenses relating to the 
driving of a motor vehicle while a driver's license or privilege to 
operate a vehicle is invalid.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.   Subsections (a), (b), and (f), Section 521.457, 
Transportation Code, are amended to read as follows:
	(a)  A person commits an offense if the person operates a 
motor vehicle on a highway:
		(1)  after the person's driver's license has been 
canceled under this chapter if the person does not have a license 
that was subsequently issued under this chapter;
		(2)  during a period that the person's driver's license 
or privilege is suspended or revoked under any law of this state[:
			[(A)  this chapter;                                         
			[(B)  Chapter 524;                                          
			[(C)  Chapter 724;                                          
			[(D)  Section 106.071, Alcoholic Beverage Code; 
or        
			[(E)  Article 42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure];           
		(3)  while the person's driver's license is expired if 
the license expired during a period of suspension [imposed under:
			[(A)  this chapter;                                         
			[(B)  Chapter 524;                                          
			[(C)  Chapter 724;                                          
			[(D)  Section 106.071, Alcoholic Beverage Code; 
or        
			[(E)  Article 42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure]; 
or      
		(4)  after renewal of the person's driver's license has 
been denied under any law of this state [Chapter 706], if the person 
does not have a driver's license subsequently issued under this 
chapter.
	(b)  A person commits an offense if the person is the subject 
of an order issued under any law of this state [chapter or Chapter 
724] that prohibits the person from obtaining a driver's license 
and the person operates a motor vehicle on a highway.
	(f)  If it is shown on the trial of an offense under this 
section that the person has previously been convicted of an offense 
under this section or an offense under Section 601.371(a), as that 
law existed before September 1, 2003, the offense is a Class A 
misdemeanor.
	SECTION 2.   Section 601.371, Transportation Code, is 
amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 601.371.  OPERATION OF MOTOR VEHICLE IN VIOLATION OF 
SUSPENSION; OFFENSE.  (a)  [A person commits an offense if the 
person operates a motor vehicle on a highway:
		[(1)  during a period that a suspension of the person's 
driver's license or nonresident's operating privilege is in effect 
under this chapter; or
		[(2)  while the person's driver's license is expired, 
if the license expired during a period of suspension imposed under 
this chapter.
	[(b)]  A person commits an offense if the person, during a 
period that a suspension of the person's vehicle registration is in 
effect under this chapter, knowingly permits a motor vehicle owned 
by the person to be operated on a highway.
	(b) [(c)]  It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under 
this section that the person had not received notice of a suspension 
order concerning the person's [driver's license, nonresident's 
operating privilege, or] vehicle registration.  For purposes of 
this subsection, notice is presumed to be received if the notice was 
mailed in accordance with this chapter to the last known address of 
the person as shown by department records.
	(c) [(d)]  Except as provided by Subsection (d) [(e)], an 
offense under this section is a misdemeanor punishable by:
		(1)  a fine of not less than $100 or more than $500; and                      
		(2)  confinement in county jail for a term of not less 
than 72 hours or more than six months.
	(d) [(e)]  If it is shown on the trial of an offense under 
this section that the person has previously been convicted of an 
offense under this section [or under Section 521.457], the offense 
is punishable as a Class A misdemeanor.
	(e) [(f)]  In this section, a conviction for an offense that 
involves operation of a motor vehicle after August 31, 1987, is a 
final conviction, whether the sentence for the conviction is 
imposed or probated.
	SECTION 3.  (a)  The change in law made by this Act applies 
only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this 
Act.  For purposes of this section, an offense was committed before 
the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense 
occurred before that date.
	(b)  An offense committed before the effective date of this 
Act is covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed, 
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.                           



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