H.B. No. 602




AN ACT
relating to the designation of a weight enforcement officer by a commissioners court in certain counties. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Section 621.401, Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows: Sec. 621.401. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "weight enforcement officer" means: (1) a license and weight inspector of the Department of Public Safety; (2) a highway patrol officer; (3) a sheriff or sheriff's deputy; (4) a municipal police officer in a municipality with a population of: (A) 100,000 or more; or (B) 74,000 or more in a county with a population of more than 1.5 million; [or] (5) a police officer certified under Section 644.101; or (6) a constable or deputy constable designated under Section 621.4015. SECTION 2. Subchapter F, Chapter 621, Transportation Code, is amended by adding Section 621.4015 to read as follows: Sec. 621.4015. DESIGNATION BY COMMISSIONERS COURT. (a) A county commissioners court may designate a constable or deputy constable of the county as a weight enforcement officer in a county: (1) that is a county with a population of one million or more and is within 200 miles of an international border; or (2) that is adjacent to a county with a population of 3.3 million or more; and (3) in which a planned community is located that has 20,000 or more acres of land, that was originally established under the Urban Growth and New Community Development Act of 1970 (42 U.S.C. Section 4501 et seq.), and that is subject to restrictive covenants containing ad valorem or annual variable budget based assessments on real property. (b) A constable or deputy constable designated under this section shall be subject to the requirements of Subchapter C, Chapter 644, Transportation Code. SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2005. ______________________________ ______________________________ President of the Senate Speaker of the House I certify that H.B. No. 602 was passed by the House on May 13, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 142, Nays 0, 2 present, not voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B. No. 602 on May 27, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 139, Nays 0, 2 present, not voting. ______________________________ Chief Clerk of the House I certify that H.B. No. 602 was passed by the Senate, with amendments, on May 25, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1. ______________________________ Secretary of the Senate APPROVED: __________________ Date __________________ Governor