79R47 JD-D
By: Goodman H.B. No. 200
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the administrative suspension of the driver's license
of a person arrested for certain offenses involving the operation
of a watercraft while intoxicated for the person's failure to pass a
test for intoxication.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 524.001(3), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(3) "Alcohol-related or drug-related enforcement
contact" means a driver's license suspension, disqualification, or
prohibition order under the laws of this state or another state
resulting from:
(A) a conviction of an offense prohibiting the
operation of a motor vehicle or a watercraft while:
(i) intoxicated;
(ii) under the influence of alcohol; or
(iii) under the influence of a controlled
substance;
(B) a refusal to submit to the taking of a breath
or blood specimen following an arrest for an offense prohibiting
the operation of a motor vehicle or a watercraft while:
(i) intoxicated;
(ii) under the influence of alcohol; or
(iii) under the influence of a controlled
substance; or
(C) an analysis of a breath or blood specimen
showing an alcohol concentration of a level specified by Section
49.01, Penal Code, following an arrest for an offense prohibiting
the operation of a motor vehicle or a watercraft while intoxicated.
SECTION 2. Section 524.011(a), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) An officer arresting a person shall comply with
Subsection (b) if:
(1) the person is arrested for an offense under
Section 49.04 or 49.06, Penal Code, or an offense under Section
49.07 or 49.08 of that code involving the operation of a motor
vehicle or a watercraft, and submits to the taking of a specimen of
breath or blood and an analysis of the specimen shows the person had
an alcohol concentration of a level specified by Section
49.01(2)(B), Penal Code; or
(2) the person is a minor arrested for an offense under
Section 106.041, Alcoholic Beverage Code, or Section 49.04 or
49.06, Penal Code, or an offense under Section 49.07 or 49.08, Penal
Code, involving the operation of a motor vehicle or a watercraft
and:
(A) the minor is not requested to submit to the
taking of a specimen; or
(B) the minor submits to the taking of a specimen
and an analysis of the specimen shows that while operating a motor
vehicle in a public place the minor had an alcohol concentration of
greater than .00 but less than the level specified by Section
49.01(2)(B), Penal Code.
SECTION 3. Section 524.012(b), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) The department shall suspend the person's driver's
license if the department determines that:
(1) the person had an alcohol concentration of a level
specified by Section 49.01(2)(B), Penal Code, while operating a
motor vehicle in a public place or while operating a watercraft; or
(2) the person is a minor and had any detectable amount
of alcohol in the minor's system while operating a motor vehicle in
a public place.
SECTION 4. Section 524.015(b), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) A suspension may not be imposed under this chapter on a
person who is acquitted of a criminal charge under Section 49.04,
49.06, 49.07, or 49.08, Penal Code, or Section 106.041, Alcoholic
Beverage Code, arising from the occurrence that was the basis for
the suspension. If a suspension was imposed before the acquittal,
the department shall rescind the suspension and shall remove any
reference to the suspension from the person's computerized driving
record.
SECTION 5. Section 524.022(b), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) A period of suspension under this chapter for a minor
is:
(1) 60 days if the minor has not been previously
convicted of an offense under Section 106.041, Alcoholic Beverage
Code, or Section 49.04 or 49.06, Penal Code, or an offense under
Section 49.07 or 49.08, Penal Code, involving the operation of a
motor vehicle or a watercraft;
(2) 120 days if the minor has been previously
convicted once of an offense listed by Subdivision (1); or
(3) 180 days if the minor has been previously
convicted twice or more of an offense listed by Subdivision (1).
SECTION 6. Section 524.023(a), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) If a person is convicted of an offense under Section
106.041, Alcoholic Beverage Code, or Section 49.04, 49.06, 49.07,
or 49.08, Penal Code, and if any conduct on which that conviction is
based is a ground for a driver's license suspension under this
chapter and Section 106.041, Alcoholic Beverage Code, Subchapter O,
Chapter 521, or Subchapter H, Chapter 522, each of the suspensions
shall be imposed.
SECTION 7. Section 524.035(a), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The issues that must be proved at a hearing by a
preponderance of the evidence are:
(1) whether:
(A) the person had an alcohol concentration of a
level specified by Section 49.01(2)(B), Penal Code, while operating
a motor vehicle in a public place or while operating a watercraft;
or
(B) the person is a minor and had any detectable
amount of alcohol in the minor's system while operating a motor
vehicle in a public place; and
(2) whether reasonable suspicion to stop or probable
cause to arrest the person existed.
SECTION 8. Section 524.042(a), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) A suspension of a driver's license under this chapter is
stayed on the filing of an appeal petition only if:
(1) the person's driver's license has not been
suspended as a result of an alcohol-related or drug-related
enforcement contact during the five years preceding the date of the
person's arrest; and
(2) the person has not been convicted during the 10
years preceding the date of the person's arrest of an offense under:
(A) Article 6701l-1, Revised Statutes, as that
law existed before September 1, 1994;
(B) Section 19.05(a)(2), Penal Code, as that law
existed before September 1, 1994;
(C) Section 49.04 or 49.06, Penal Code;
(D) Section 49.07 or 49.08, Penal Code, if the
offense involved the operation of a motor vehicle or a watercraft;
or
(E) Section 106.041, Alcoholic Beverage Code.
SECTION 9. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.
(b) The change in law made by this Act applies only to a
person arrested for an offense committed on or after September 1,
2005.
(c) A person arrested for an offense committed before
September 1, 2005, 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, 2005, if any element of the offense was
committed before that date.