H.B. No. 2337
AN ACT
relating to the use of information provided by an applicant for a
driver's license or personal identification certificate in an image
verification system.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Section 502.1715, Transportation
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 502.1715. ADDITIONAL FEE FOR CERTAIN DEPARTMENT
PROGRAMS [MOTOR VEHICLE FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY VERIFICATION
PROGRAM].
SECTION 2. Sections 502.1715(b) and (c), Transportation
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) Fees [Before August 31, 2005, fees] collected under this
section shall be deposited to the credit of the state highway fund.
Subject to appropriations, the money shall be used by the
Department of Public Safety to:
(1) support the Department of Public Safety's
reengineering of the driver's license system to provide for the
issuance by the Department of Public Safety of a driver's license or
personal identification certificate, [not] to include use of image
comparison technology [biometric information];
(2) establish and maintain a system to support the
driver responsibility program under Chapter 708; and
(3) [conduct the feasibility study authorized by
Section 601.450; and
[(4)] make lease payments to the master lease purchase
program for the financing of [:
[(A)] the driver's license reengineering project
[; and
[(B) the liability insurance feasibility study].
(c) Fees [On or after August 31, 2005, fees] collected under
this section shall be deposited to the credit of the state highway
fund. Subject to appropriation, the money may be used by the
Department of Public Safety, the Texas Department of Insurance, and
the department to carry out Subchapter N, Chapter 601.
SECTION 3. Section 521.001(a), Transportation Code, is
amended by adding Subdivision (9) to read as follows:
(9) "Image comparison technology" means any
technology that is used to compare facial images, thumbprints, or
fingerprints.
SECTION 4. Subchapter C, Chapter 521, Transportation Code,
is amended by adding Section 521.059 to read as follows:
Sec. 521.059. IMAGE VERIFICATION SYSTEM. (a) The
department shall establish an image verification system based on
the following identifiers collected by the department:
(1) an applicant's facial image; and
(2) an applicant's thumbprints or fingerprints.
(b) The department shall authenticate the facial image and
thumbprints or fingerprints provided by an applicant for a personal
identification certificate, driver's license, or commercial
driver's license or permit using image comparison technology to
ensure that the applicant:
(1) is issued only one original license, permit, or
certificate;
(2) does not fraudulently obtain a duplicate license,
permit, or certificate; and
(3) does not commit other fraud in connection with the
application for a license, permit, or certificate.
(c) The department shall use the image verification system
established under this section only to the extent allowed by
Chapter 730, Transportation Code, to aid other law enforcement
agencies in:
(1) establishing the identity of a victim of a
disaster or crime that a local law enforcement agency is unable to
establish; or
(2) conducting an investigation of criminal conduct.
(d) The department shall provide a statistical report
annually to the legislature describing the rate of error presented
in the image verification system, including the rate of incorrect
matching of facial images, categorized by race. This subsection
expires September 1, 2010.
SECTION 5. Section 521.142(b), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) The application must include:
(1) the thumbprints of the applicant or, if
thumbprints cannot be taken, the index fingerprints of the
applicant; [and]
(2) a photograph of the applicant;
(3) the signature of the applicant; and
(4) a brief description of the applicant.
SECTION 6. Section 730.010, Transportation Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 730.010. DISCLOSURE OF THUMB OR FINGER IMAGES
PROHIBITED. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter,
if an agency obtains an image of an individual's thumb or finger in
connection with the issuance of a license, permit, or certificate
to the individual, the agency may:
(1) use the image only:
(A) in connection with the issuance of the
license, permit, or certificate; or
(B) to verify the identity of an individual as
provided by Section 521.059; and
(2) disclose the image only if disclosure is expressly
authorized by law.
SECTION 7. The amendments to Section 502.1715,
Transportation Code, by this Act prevail over any other Act of the
79th Legislature, Regular Session, 2005, regardless of the relative
dates of enactment.
SECTION 8. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
a driver's license or permit, or personal identification
certificate, or the renewal of a driver's license or permit, or
certificate, applied for on or after the effective date of this Act.
A driver's license or permit, or personal identification
certificate, or the renewal of a driver's license or permit, or
certificate, applied for before the effective date of this Act is
covered by the law in effect on the date the application was made,
and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2337 was passed by the House on May 9,
2005, by a non-record vote; and that the House concurred in Senate
amendments to H.B. No. 2337 on May 26, 2005, by a non-record vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2337 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 23, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 27, Nays
3.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor