By: Quintanilla, Fletcher, Flynn H.B. No. 805

(Senate Sponsor - Carona)

(In the Senate - Received from the House May 13, 2009; May 14, 2009, read first time and referred to Committee on Transportation and Homeland Security; May 23, 2009, reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; May 23, 2009, sent to printer.)

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 805 By: Carona

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the definitions of police vehicle and authorized emergency vehicle for the purposes of certain traffic laws.

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

SECTION 1. Sections 541.201(1) and (13-a), Transportation Code, are amended to read as follows:

(1) "Authorized emergency vehicle" means:

(A) a fire department or police vehicle;

(B) a public or private ambulance operated by a person who has been issued a license by the Texas Department of Health;

(C) a municipal department or public service corporation emergency vehicle that has been designated or authorized by the governing body of a municipality;

(D) a private vehicle of a volunteer firefighter or a certified emergency medical services employee or volunteer when responding to a fire alarm or medical emergency;

(E) an industrial emergency response vehicle, including an industrial ambulance, when responding to an emergency, but only if the vehicle is operated in compliance with criteria in effect September 1, 1989, and established by the predecessor of the Texas Industrial Emergency Services Board of the State Firemen's and Fire Marshals' Association of Texas; [or]

(F) a vehicle of a blood bank or tissue bank, accredited or approved under the laws of this state or the United States, when making emergency deliveries of blood, drugs, medicines, or organs; or

(G) a vehicle operated by an employee of a district attorney's office, criminal district attorney's office, county attorney's office, or medical examiner's office, other than a vehicle operated in the manner described by Section 546.001(2) or (4), Section 284.070, Section 366.178, or Section 370.177(a) or (k), that:

(i) is registered to the appropriate office and authorized by that office for use in performing the official duties of the office; or

(ii) is a private vehicle of an employee of the appropriate office for which the person has received written authority from that office to use the vehicle in performing official duties, provided that use of the private vehicle must, if applicable, comply with any rule adopted by the commissioners court of a county under Section 170.001, Local Government Code.

(13-a) "Police vehicle" means a vehicle [of a governmental entity primarily] used by a peace officer, as defined by Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, for law enforcement purposes that:

(A) is owned or leased by a governmental entity;

(B) is owned or leased by the police department of a private institution of higher education that commissions peace officers under Section 51.212, Education Code; or

(C) is:

(i) a private vehicle owned or leased by the peace officer; and

(ii) approved for use for law enforcement purposes by the head of the law enforcement agency that employs the peace officer, or by that person's designee, provided that use of the private vehicle must, if applicable, comply with any rule adopted by the commissioners court of a county under Section 170.001, Local Government Code.

SECTION 2. Section 545.421(b), Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) A signal under this section that is given by a police officer pursuing a vehicle may be by hand, voice, emergency light, or siren. The officer giving the signal must be in uniform and prominently display the officer's badge of office. The officer's vehicle must bear the insignia of a law enforcement agency, regardless of whether the vehicle displays an emergency light [be appropriately marked as an official police vehicle].

SECTION 3. Section 284.070, Transportation Code, is amended by amending Subsection (e) and adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:

(e) An authorized emergency vehicle[, as defined by Section 541.201,] is exempt from payment of a toll imposed under this chapter regardless of whether the vehicle is:

(1) responding to an emergency;

(2) displaying a flashing light; or

(3) marked as an emergency vehicle.

(f) In this section, "authorized emergency vehicle" has the meaning assigned by Section 541.201.

SECTION 4. Section 366.178, Transportation Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (j) to read as follows:

(a) A motor vehicle other than an authorized emergency vehicle[, as defined by Section 541.201,] that passes through a toll collection facility, whether driven or towed, shall pay the proper toll. The exemption from payment of a toll for an authorized emergency vehicle applies regardless of whether the vehicle is:

(1) responding to an emergency;

(2) displaying a flashing light; or

(3) marked as a police or emergency vehicle.

(j) In this section, "authorized emergency vehicle" has the meaning assigned by Section 541.201.

SECTION 5. Sections 370.177(a) and (k), Transportation Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) Except as provided by Subsection (a-1), the operator of a vehicle, other than an authorized emergency vehicle [as defined by Section 541.201], that is driven or towed through a toll collection facility of a turnpike project shall pay the proper toll. The operator of a vehicle who drives or tows a vehicle through a toll collection facility and does not pay the proper toll commits an offense. An offense under this subsection is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed $250. The exemption from payment of a toll for an authorized emergency vehicle applies regardless of whether the vehicle is:

(1) responding to an emergency;

(2) displaying a flashing light; or

(3) marked as an emergency vehicle.

(k) In this section:

(1) "Authorized emergency vehicle" has the meaning assigned by Section 541.201.

(2) "Registered [, "registered] owner" means the owner of a vehicle as shown on the vehicle registration records of the department or the analogous department or agency of another state or country.

SECTION 6. Section 170.001(a), Local Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) The commissioners court of a county may adopt rules prohibiting or regulating the use of a privately owned motor vehicle for the performance of county business or law enforcement duties by a sheriff or constable or a deputy or employee of a district attorney, criminal district attorney, county attorney, medical examiner, sheriff, or constable.

SECTION 7. 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, 2009.

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