By:  Whitmire                                                     S.B. No. 1061


A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the authority of the Texas Department of Transportation 
to review certain traffic programs of local authorities.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 542.203, Transportation Code, is amended 
by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (d) to read as 
follows:
	(a)  Unless permitted by agreement between the local 
authority and the Texas Department of Transportation under Section 
221.002, a [A] local authority may not:
		(1)  erect or maintain a traffic-control device to 
direct the traffic on a state highway, including a farm-to-market 
or ranch-to-market road, to stop or yield before entering or 
crossing an intersecting highway; or
		(2)  establish a transportation or mobility 
enhancement program on a state highway, including a farm-to-market 
or ranch-to-market road, such as a program by which the 
municipality receives revenue for towing of vehicles located on the 
highway [unless permitted by agreement between the local authority 
and the Texas Department of Transportation under Section 221.002].
	(d)  The Texas Department of Transportation shall establish 
rules related to an agreement with a municipality to establish a 
transportation or mobility enhancement program under Subsection 
(a)(2).  The rules must:
		(1)  establish reasonable charges for the program;                     
		(2)  require separate disclosure of any towing, 
storage, attorney's fees, or other fees;
		(3)  require that no attorney's fee may be charged to 
the owner of a vehicle if the vehicle is claimed within 30 days of 
the date of notice to the last registered owner of the vehicle that 
the vehicle has been removed from a highway; and
		(4)  require that a vehicle removed from a highway 
through a transportation or mobility enhancement program 
established under this section may not be sold at a public auction 
or used as provided by Section 683.016 within 30 days of the date of 
notice to the last registered owner of the vehicle that the vehicle 
has been removed from a highway.
	SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.