79R1145 JD-D
By: Smith of Tarrant H.B. No. 51
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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, Penal Code, is amended by adding
Subsection (a-1) and amending Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(a-1) An offense under Section 49.04, 49.05, or 49.06 is a
Class A misdemeanor 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.
(d) For the purposes of this section, a conviction for an
offense under Article 6701l-1, Revised Statutes, as that law
existed before September 1, 1994, Article 6701l-2, Revised
Statutes, as that law existed before January 1, 1984, Section
19.05(a)(2), as that law existed before September 1, 1994, or
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. Sections 13(a), (b), (c), and (i), Article
42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
(a) A judge granting community supervision to a defendant
convicted of an offense under Chapter 49, Penal Code, shall require
as a condition of community supervision that the defendant submit
to:
(1) not less than 72 hours [three days] of confinement
in county jail if the defendant was punished under Section
49.09(a);
(2) not less than five days of confinement in county
jail if the defendant:
(A) was punished under Section 49.09(a) and was
subject to Section 49.09(h); or
(B) was punished under Section 49.09(a-1);
(3) not less than 10 days of confinement in county jail
if the defendant was punished under Section 49.09(b) [or (c)];
(4) [or] not less than 30 days of confinement in county
jail if the defendant was punished [convicted] under Section
49.09(a-1), if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the
defendant has previously been convicted of an offense under Chapter
49; or
(5) not less than 120 days of continuous confinement
in county jail if the defendant was convicted under Section 49.07 or
49.08[; and
[(2) an evaluation by a supervision officer or by a
person, program, or facility approved by the Texas Commission on
Alcohol and Drug Abuse for the purpose of having the facility
prescribe and carry out a course of conduct necessary for the
rehabilitation of the defendant's drug or alcohol dependence
condition].
(b) A judge granting community supervision to a defendant
convicted of an offense under Sections 49.04-49.08 [Section 49.08],
Penal Code, shall require as a condition of community supervision
that the defendant submit to an evaluation by a supervision officer
or by a person, program, or facility approved by the Texas
Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse for the purpose of having the
facility prescribe and carry out a course of conduct necessary for
the rehabilitation of the defendant's drug or alcohol dependence
condition [a period of confinement of not less than 120 days].
(c) If the director of a facility to which a defendant is
referred under Subsection (b) [Subdivision (2) of Subsection (a) of
this section] determines that the defendant is not making a good
faith effort to participate in a program of rehabilitation, the
director shall notify the judge that referred the defendant of that
fact.
(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 the person
is convicted of an offense under Sections 49.04-49.06, Penal Code,
and punished under Section 49.09(a), (a-1), 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 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.