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79R1264 JD-D
By: Hope H.B. No. 280
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the impoundment of motor vehicle license plates for
failure to maintain financial responsibility.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Subchapter I, Chapter 601,
Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER I. FAILURE TO MAINTAIN EVIDENCE OF FINANCIAL
RESPONSIBILITY; IMPOUNDMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLE OR LICENSE PLATES
SECTION 2. Subchapter I, Chapter 601, Transportation Code,
is amended by adding Section 601.268 to read as follows:
Sec. 601.268. IMPOUNDMENT OF LICENSE PLATES BY PEACE
OFFICER. (a) If a person required by Section 601.053 to provide to
a peace officer evidence of financial responsibility for a motor
vehicle fails to provide that evidence, the officer shall:
(1) remove each license plate that is attached to the
vehicle or require the operator of or a passenger in the vehicle to
remove each license plate;
(2) issue the person:
(A) written notice, which shall be included on
the form required by Paragraph (B), that registration of the
vehicle from which the license plate was removed will be suspended
by the Texas Department of Transportation if the owner or operator
of the vehicle does not recover the removed license plate before the
31st day after the date the license plate was removed;
(B) a written explanation, on a form designed by
the Department of Public Safety, as to how the owner or operator of
the vehicle may recover a removed license plate from the law
enforcement agency that employs the peace officer; and
(C) a temporary license plate designed by the
Texas Department of Transportation that:
(i) when attached to the rear of the
vehicle, authorizes the operation of the vehicle for a period that
expires on the sixth day after its date of issuance; and
(ii) shows on its face the expiration date
of the temporary license plate;
(3) provide for the secure impoundment of each removed
plate for the vehicle at the offices of the law enforcement agency
that employs the peace officer; and
(4) notify the Texas Department of Transportation, or
the analogous authority in the jurisdiction that issued the license
plate, on a form designed by the Texas Department of
Transportation, that the license plate issued to the vehicle has
been impounded under this section.
(b) The law enforcement agency that impounds a license plate
under Subsection (a) shall release the plate to the owner or
operator of the vehicle from which the plate was removed if the
owner or operator:
(1) provides to the law enforcement agency evidence
consistent with:
(A) Section 601.053, showing that on the date the
plate was removed, the motor vehicle was in compliance with Section
601.051;
(B) Section 601.052, showing that on that date
the vehicle was exempt from the requirements of Section 601.051; or
(C) Section 601.053, showing that financial
responsibility for the vehicle has been obtained and is valid, at a
minimum, for the 180-day period that begins on the date that release
of the impounded license plate is applied for; and
(2) pays an administrative fee to the law enforcement
agency in the amount established by department rule.
(c) If an impounded license plate is not recovered by the
owner or operator of the vehicle under Subsection (b) before the
31st day after the date the plate was removed from the vehicle, the
impounding law enforcement agency shall return the license plate to
the Texas Department of Transportation or the analogous authority
in the jurisdiction that issued the plate. The license plate shall
be accompanied by a completed form, designed by the Texas
Department of Transportation, explaining why the law enforcement
agency is returning the plate to that department or issuing
authority.
(d) Not later than the 10th day after receipt of an
impounded license plate from a law enforcement agency under
Subsection (c), the Texas Department of Transportation shall:
(1) suspend the registration of the vehicle for which
the license plate was issued; and
(2) mail the owner of the vehicle, at the owner's last
known address as shown by department records, notice of the
suspension of the vehicle's registration.
(e) The amount of the administrative fee adopted by the
department under Subsection (b)(2) may not exceed the amount that
the department determines is sufficient for a law enforcement
agency in this state to recover the actual cost of enforcing this
section.
SECTION 3. (a) The Texas Department of Transportation
shall:
(1) not later than November 30, 2005, adopt rules
necessary for that department to implement and administer Section
601.268, Transportation Code, as added by this Act; and
(2) not later than December 31, 2005, provide to each
law enforcement agency in this state that employs a peace officer
who enforces Section 601.053, Transportation Code, a sufficient
number of the temporary license plates described by Section
601.268(a)(2)(C) and of the forms described by Sections
601.268(a)(4) and (c) of that code, as added by this Act.
(b) The Texas Department of Public Safety shall:
(1) not later than November 30, 2005, adopt rules
necessary for that department to implement and administer Section
601.268, Transportation Code, as added by this Act; and
(2) not later than December 31, 2005, provide to each
law enforcement agency in this state that employs a peace officer
who enforces Section 601.053, Transportation Code, a sufficient
number of the written forms described by Section 601.268(a)(2) of
that code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 4. (a) Sections 1 and 2 of this Act take effect
January 1, 2006.
(b) Section 3 of this Act takes effect September 1, 2005.