81(R) HB 2730 - 2nd reading 45 (H)



	Amend CSHB 2730 (house committee printing) by adding the 
following appropriately numbered ARTICLE to the bill and 
renumbering subsequent ARTICLES of the bill accordingly:

ARTICLE ____.  SOBRIETY CHECKPOINTS
	SECTION ____.01.  Title 1, Code of Criminal Procedure, is 
amended by adding Chapter 65 to read as follows:

CHAPTER 65.  SOBRIETY CHECKPOINTS
	Art. 65.01.  DEFINITIONS.  In this chapter:                             
		(1)  "Highway or street" and "limited-access or 
controlled-access highway" have the meanings assigned by Section 
541.302, Transportation Code.
		(2)  "Law enforcement agency" means:                                   
			(A)  the Department of Public Safety;                                 
			(B)  the sheriff's department of a county with a 
population of 250,000 or more; or
			(C)  the police department of a municipality with 
a population of 325,000 or more.
		(3)  "Sobriety checkpoint" means a checkpoint 
authorized under Article 65.02.
	Art. 65.02.  AUTHORIZATION FOR SOBRIETY CHECKPOINTS.  (a)  
Except as provided by Subsection (b), a law enforcement agency may 
operate a temporary checkpoint as provided by this chapter to 
determine whether persons operating motor vehicles on a highway or 
street are intoxicated and in violation of Section 49.04 or 49.045, 
Penal Code.  The checkpoint must be operated on a highway or street 
other than:
		(1)  a limited-access or controlled-access highway;                    
		(2)  an overpass;                                                      
		(3)  a bridge or causeway; or                                          
		(4)  the single ingress to or egress from a designated 
area.         
	(b)  The Department of Public Safety may not operate a 
temporary checkpoint in a county with a population of less than 
250,000.
	Art. 65.03.  LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY COORDINATION.  Each law 
enforcement agency shall coordinate efforts with other law 
enforcement agencies as appropriate to implement this chapter.
	Art. 65.04.  APPROVAL OF AND PROCEDURES FOR SOBRIETY 
CHECKPOINTS.  (a)  As applicable, a captain for the Texas Highway 
Patrol, the sheriff elected to that position, or the mayor of the 
municipality must approve the operation of a sobriety checkpoint by 
peace officers of the Department of Public Safety, a sheriff's 
department, or a municipal police department and the procedures to 
be used in the operation of the checkpoint before the checkpoint 
begins operation.
	(b)  The law enforcement agency must record in writing and 
publish on an appropriate publicly accessible Internet website the 
procedures:
		(1)  used in selecting each site for a sobriety 
checkpoint; and      
		(2)  to be used in the operation of each sobriety 
checkpoint, including procedures regarding the selection of motor 
vehicles to be stopped.
	(c)  The procedures for the operation of a sobriety 
checkpoint must ensure that the selection of motor vehicles to be 
stopped is reasonably predictable and nonarbitrary.
	(d)  The criteria for selecting the location for a sobriety 
checkpoint must include the number of traffic accidents in the 
vicinity of the location in which the use of alcohol was a factor 
and that occurred in the preceding 12 months and the number of 
convictions for intoxication-related offenses in that vicinity in 
the preceding 12 months.  The selection of the location of a 
sobriety checkpoint must be made without regard to the ethnic or 
socioeconomic characteristics of the area in which the checkpoint 
is located.
	(e)  The law enforcement agency, in establishing the 
location, time, and design of a sobriety checkpoint, shall consider 
the safety of the public entering the checkpoint and the peace 
officers operating the checkpoint.  The law enforcement agency 
shall make reasonable efforts to place signs or other devices to 
advise operators of oncoming motor vehicles of the sobriety 
checkpoint and the purpose of the checkpoint, to demarcate the 
checkpoint with flares, flags, or traffic cones, and to otherwise 
illuminate the checkpoint as necessary.
	(f)  The peace officer who makes the initial traffic 
directive or other communication with the operator of a motor 
vehicle at the sobriety checkpoint must be wearing a uniform of the 
law enforcement agency that is distinguishable from civilian dress.
	(g)  The law enforcement agency shall establish procedures 
governing the encounters between motor vehicle operators and the 
peace officers to ensure that:
		(1)  a video and audio recording is made of the 
encounter;           
		(2)  intrusion on the operator is minimized; and                       
		(3)  an inquiry is reasonably related to determining 
whether the operator is intoxicated and in violation of Section 
49.04 or 49.045, Penal Code.
	(h)  Notwithstanding Section 521.025 or 601.053, 
Transportation Code, a peace officer may not request a person 
operating a motor vehicle at the sobriety checkpoint to display the 
person's driver's license or concealed handgun license or to 
furnish evidence of financial responsibility unless the officer has 
reasonable suspicion or probable cause to believe that the person 
has committed or is committing an offense.  A peace officer may not 
direct the operator of a motor vehicle to leave the vehicle or move 
the vehicle off the highway or street or routine sobriety 
checkpoint diversion route unless the officer has reasonable 
suspicion or probable cause to believe that the person has 
committed or is committing an offense.  The design of a sobriety 
checkpoint may require that each motor vehicle passing through the 
checkpoint be diverted to a location adjacent to the highway or 
street to ensure safety.
	(i)  A peace officer at the sobriety checkpoint may not 
require a motor vehicle operator to perform a sobriety test unless 
the officer has reasonable suspicion or probable cause to believe 
that the operator is in violation of Section 49.04 or 49.045, Penal 
Code.  A peace officer who requires or requests an operator to 
provide a specimen of breath, blood, or urine must comply with 
Chapter 724, Transportation Code.
	(j)  Unless a peace officer has reasonable suspicion or 
probable cause to detain a motor vehicle operator for a criminal 
offense, the time during which an officer makes an inquiry of an 
operator should not exceed three minutes, and the total time during 
which the operator must wait to pass through the checkpoint should 
not exceed 10 minutes.  The law enforcement agency shall make 
reasonable efforts to reduce these periods to not more than one and 
five minutes, respectively.
	(k)  Before beginning the operation of a sobriety 
checkpoint, the law enforcement agency shall publicize through the 
use of the media the date and time for the operation of a sobriety 
checkpoint but is not required to disclose the location of the 
checkpoint.
	(l)  A law enforcement agency may not operate a sobriety 
checkpoint at one location for more than four hours and may not 
operate a checkpoint at the same location more than once in a 
12-month period.  For the purposes of this subsection, sobriety 
checkpoints located within one mile of each other are considered to 
be at the same location.
	(m)  A law enforcement agency shall maintain until at least 
the fifth anniversary of the date on which the agency concludes the 
operation of a sobriety checkpoint a record of the operation of the 
checkpoint that contains:
		(1)  the date, time, location, and duration of the 
checkpoint;       
		(2)  the procedures used in selecting the site for the 
checkpoint;   
		(3)  the number and characteristics of motor vehicles 
stopped at the checkpoint and the number and nature of arrests made 
and citations issued at the checkpoint; and
		(4)  the identities of the peace officers operating the 
checkpoint.  
	(n)  A law enforcement agency shall maintain until at least 
the second anniversary of the date on which the agency concludes the 
operation of a sobriety checkpoint any video or audio recording 
made at the checkpoint of an encounter between a motor vehicle 
operator and a peace officer under Subsection (g)(1).
	Art. 65.05.  REPORT ON EFFECTIVENESS OF CHECKPOINTS.  (a)  
Not later than January 15 of each calendar year, a law enforcement 
agency shall report the operation of each checkpoint during the 
preceding calendar year to the traffic safety section of the 
traffic operations division of the Texas Department of 
Transportation at its offices in Austin.
	(b)  The traffic operations division is entitled to inspect 
any information in the possession of the law enforcement agency 
that relates to the operation of a sobriety checkpoint by the 
agency.
	(c)  Not later than February 1, 2015, the traffic operations 
division shall submit a report on the effectiveness of sobriety 
checkpoints operated under this chapter to the governor, the 
lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the house of 
representatives.
	Art. 65.06.  EXPIRATION.  This chapter expires August 31, 
2015.       
	SECTION ____.02.  A law enforcement agency authorized to 
operate a sobriety checkpoint under Chapter 65, Code of Criminal 
Procedure, as added by this Act, shall submit the first report 
required by Article 65.05 of that chapter not later than January 15, 
2010.