By: Seliger S.B. No. 876

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to authorizing the Department of Public Safety of the State of Texas to establish a driver record monitoring pilot program and enter into contracts for the periodic reporting of certain information in the department's driver's license files; providing penalties.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 521, Transportation Code, is amended by adding Section 521.060 to read as follows:

Sec. 521.060. DRIVER RECORD MONITORING PILOT PROGRAM. (a) The department by rule may establish a driver record monitoring pilot program. The term of the pilot program may not exceed one year.

(b) Under the pilot program, the department may enter into a contract with a person to provide driver record monitoring services, as described by Subsection (c), and certain information from the department's driver's license records to the person, if the person:

(1) is an employer, an insurer, an insurance support organization, an employer support organization, or an entity that self-insures its motor vehicles; and

(2) is eligible to receive the information under Chapter 730.

(c) A contract entered into by the department must require:

(1) the department, during the term of the contract, to:

(A) monitor the driver record of each holder of a driver's license issued by the department that is requested by the person with whom the department has contracted;

(B) identify any change in the status of a driver's license or any conviction for a traffic offense reported to the department during the monitoring period; and

(C) periodically, as specified in the contract, provide reports of those individuals identified as having a change in status or convictions to the person with whom the department has contracted; and

(2) the person with whom the department has contracted:

(A) to purchase under Section 521.046 a copy of the driver record of each individual identified in a report provided under Subdivision (1)(C);

(B) to warrant that:

(i) the person will not directly or indirectly disclose information received from the department under the contract to a third party without the express written consent of the department, except as required by law or legal process; and

(ii) if a disclosure is required by law or legal process, the person will immediately notify the department so that the department may seek to oppose, limit, or restrict the required disclosure; and

(C) if the person is an insurance support organization, to warrant that the person will not seek to obtain information about a holder of a driver's license under the contract unless the license holder is insured by a client of the organization, and that the person will provide the department with the name of each client to whom the insurance support organization provides information received from the department under the contract.

(d) The attorney general may file a suit against a person with whom the department has contracted under this section for:

(1) injunctive relief to prevent or restrain the person from violating a term of the contract or from directly or indirectly disclosing information received from the department under the contract in a manner that violates the terms of the contract; or

(2) a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed $2,000 for each disclosure in violation of those terms.

(e) If the attorney general brings an action against a person under Subsection (d) and an injunction is granted against the person or the person is found liable for a civil penalty, the attorney general may recover reasonable expenses, court costs, investigative costs, and attorney's fees. Each day a violation continues or occurs is a separate violation for purposes of imposing a penalty under Subsection (d).

(f) A violation of the terms of a contract entered into with the department by the person with whom the department has contracted is a false, misleading, or deceptive act or practice under Subchapter E, Chapter 17, Business & Commerce Code.

(g) A civil action brought under this section shall be filed in a district court:

(1) in Travis County; or

(2) in any county in which the violation occurred.

(h) A person with whom the department has contracted under this section commits an offense if the person directly or indirectly discloses information received from the department under the contract in a manner that violates the terms of the contract. An offense under this subsection is a Class B misdemeanor. If conduct constituting an offense under this subsection also constitutes an offense under another law, the actor may be prosecuted under this section, the other law, or both.

(i) The department shall impose a fee on each person with whom the department contracts under this section for the services provided by the department under the contract. The fee must be reasonable and be not less than the amount necessary to allow the department to recover all reasonable costs to the department associated with entering into the contract and providing services to the person under the contract, including direct, indirect, and administrative costs and costs related to the development and deployment of the pilot program.

(j) The department may establish a reasonable deadline by which a person must apply to enter into a contract with the department under this section and may not enter into a contract with a person who fails to apply before that deadline.

(k) To the fullest extent practicable, the services of the department under a contract entered into under this section shall be provided by, through, or in conjunction with the interactive system established under Section 521.055.

(l) At the conclusion of the term of the pilot program, and on the recommendation of the department, the commission may authorize the department to implement the pilot program as a permanent program.

(m) Before the department recommends the pilot program be implemented as a permanent program, the department shall submit to the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and each member of the legislature a report that contains an analysis of the scope, effectiveness, and cost benefits of the pilot program. The report must include:

(1) a list of each insurance support organization with whom the department has contracted under this section; and

(2) a list of each client to whom the insurance support organization has provided information received from the department under this section.

SECTION 2. 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, 2007.