H.B. No. 51
AN ACT
relating to the punishment prescribed for and conditions of
community supervision imposed on certain persons who commit
intoxication offenses.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 49.09(d), Penal Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(d) For the purposes of this section, a conviction for an
offense under Section 49.04, 49.045, 49.05, 49.06, 49.065, 49.07,
or 49.08 that occurs on or after September 1, 1994, is a final
conviction, whether the sentence for the conviction is imposed or
probated.
SECTION 2. Section 13(i), Article 42.12, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
(i) If a person convicted of an offense under Sections
49.04-49.08, Penal Code, is placed on community supervision, the
court may require as a condition of community supervision that the
defendant have a device installed, on the motor vehicle owned by the
defendant or on the vehicle most regularly driven by the defendant,
that uses a deep-lung breath analysis mechanism to make impractical
the operation of the motor vehicle if ethyl alcohol is detected in
the breath of the operator and that the defendant not operate any
motor vehicle that is not equipped with that device. If it is shown
on the trial of the offense that an analysis of a specimen of the
person's blood, breath, or urine showed an alcohol concentration
level of 0.15 or more at the time the analysis was performed, or if
the person is convicted of an offense under Sections 49.04-49.06,
Penal Code, and punished under Section 49.09(a) or (b), Penal Code,
or of a second or subsequent offense under Section 49.07 or 49.08,
Penal Code, and the person after conviction of either offense is
placed on community supervision, the court shall require as a
condition of community supervision that the defendant have the
device installed on the appropriate vehicle and that the defendant
not operate any motor vehicle unless the vehicle is equipped with
that device. Before placing on community supervision a person
convicted of an offense under Sections 49.04-49.08, Penal Code, the
court shall determine from criminal history record information
maintained by the Department of Public Safety whether the person
has one or more previous convictions under Sections 49.04-49.08,
Penal Code, or has one previous conviction under Sections
49.04-49.07, Penal Code, or one previous conviction under Section
49.08, Penal Code. If it is shown on the trial of the offense that
an analysis of a specimen of the person's blood, breath, or urine
showed an alcohol concentration level of 0.15 or more at the time
the analysis was performed, or if the court determines that the
person has one or more such previous convictions, the court shall
require as a condition of community supervision that the defendant
have that device installed on the motor vehicle owned by the
defendant or on the vehicle most regularly driven by the defendant
and that the defendant not operate any motor vehicle unless the
vehicle is equipped with the device described in this subsection.
The court shall require the defendant to obtain the device at the
defendant's own cost before the 30th day after the date of
conviction unless the court finds that to do so would not be in the
best interest of justice and enters its findings on record. The
court shall require the defendant to provide evidence to the court
within the 30-day period that the device has been installed on the
appropriate vehicle and order the device to remain installed on
that vehicle for a period not less than 50 percent of the
supervision period. If the court determines the offender is unable
to pay for the device, the court may impose a reasonable payment
schedule not to exceed twice the period of the court's order. The
Department of Public Safety shall approve devices for use under
this subsection. Section 521.247, Transportation Code, applies to
the approval of a device under this subsection and the consequences
of that approval. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section,
if a person is required to operate a motor vehicle in the course and
scope of the person's employment and if the vehicle is owned by the
employer, the person may operate that vehicle without installation
of an approved ignition interlock device if the employer has been
notified of that driving privilege restriction and if proof of that
notification is with the vehicle. This employment exemption does
not apply, however, if the business entity that owns the vehicle is
owned or controlled by the person whose driving privilege has been
restricted. A previous conviction may not be used for purposes of
restricting a person to the operation of a motor vehicle equipped
with an interlock ignition device under this subsection if:
(1) the previous conviction was a final conviction
under Section 49.04, 49.045, 49.05, 49.06, 49.07, or 49.08, Penal
Code, and was for an offense committed more than 10 years before the
instant offense for which the person was convicted and placed on
community supervision; and
(2) the person has not been convicted of an offense
under Section 49.04, 49.045, 49.05, 49.06, 49.07, or 49.08 of that
code, committed within 10 years before the date on which the instant
offense for which the person was convicted and placed on community
supervision.
SECTION 3. Sections 49.09(e) and (f), Penal Code, are
repealed.
SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
the penalty or the terms of community supervision for an offense
under Chapter 49, Penal Code, that is committed on or after the
effective date of this Act. The penalty and the terms of community
supervision for an offense under Chapter 49, Penal Code, that was
committed before the effective date of this Act are 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 the effective date of this Act if
any element of the offense was committed before that date.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 51 was passed by the House on May 11,
2005, by a non-record vote; and that the House concurred in Senate
amendments to H.B. No. 51 on May 27, 2005, by a non-record vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 51 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 25, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor