79R3807 PEP-D

By:  McClendon                                                    H.B. No. 651



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the creation of a presumption in certain criminal 
proceedings as to evidence of a defendant's alcohol concentration 
determined by an analysis of the defendant's breath, blood, or 
urine.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Chapter 38, Code of Criminal Procedure, is 
amended by adding Article 38.24 to read as follows:
	Art. 38.24.  EVIDENCE OF ALCOHOL CONCENTRATION.  For 
purposes of the prosecution of an offense under Chapter 49, Penal 
Code, relating to the operating of a motor vehicle while 
intoxicated, it is presumed that at the time of the offense, the 
person had an alcohol concentration equal to or higher than 0.08 if 
that level of alcohol concentration is shown by an analysis of a 
specimen of the person's breath, blood, or urine taken from the 
person not later than three hours after the time of the person's 
arrest.
	SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act applies only 
to an offense committed on or after September 1, 2005.  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.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.