81R30402 E

By: King of Zavala H.B. No. 1499

Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1499:

By: Merritt C.S.H.B. No. 1499

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the installation and removal of an ignition interlock device.

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

SECTION 1. Article 17.441(c), Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended to read as follows:

(c) If the defendant is required to have the device installed, the magistrate shall require that the defendant have the device installed on the appropriate motor vehicle, at the defendant's expense, not later than the 15th business [before the 30th] day after the date the defendant is released on bond.

SECTION 2. Section 13(i), Article 42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended to read as follows:

(i) If a person convicted of an offense under Sections 49.04-49.08, Penal Code, is placed on community supervision, the court may require as a condition of community supervision that the defendant have a device installed, on the motor vehicle owned by the defendant or on the vehicle most regularly driven by the defendant, that uses a deep-lung breath analysis mechanism to make impractical the operation of the motor vehicle if ethyl alcohol is detected in the breath of the operator and that the defendant not operate any motor vehicle that is not equipped with that device. If it is shown on the trial of the offense that an analysis of a specimen of the person's blood, breath, or urine showed an alcohol concentration level of 0.15 or more at the time the analysis was performed, or if the person is convicted of an offense under Sections 49.04-49.06, Penal Code, and punished under Section 49.09(a) or (b), Penal Code, or of a second or subsequent offense under Section 49.07 or 49.08, Penal Code, and the person after conviction of either offense is placed on community supervision, the court shall require as a condition of community supervision that the defendant have the device installed on the appropriate vehicle and that the defendant not operate any motor vehicle unless the vehicle is equipped with that device. Before placing on community supervision a person convicted of an offense under Sections 49.04-49.08, Penal Code, the court shall determine from criminal history record information maintained by the Department of Public Safety whether the person has one or more previous convictions under Sections 49.04-49.08, Penal Code, or has one previous conviction under Sections 49.04-49.07, Penal Code, or one previous conviction under Section 49.08, Penal Code. If it is shown on the trial of the offense that an analysis of a specimen of the person's blood, breath, or urine showed an alcohol concentration level of 0.15 or more at the time the analysis was performed, or if the court determines that the person has one or more such previous convictions, the court shall require as a condition of community supervision that the defendant have that device installed on the motor vehicle owned by the defendant or on the vehicle most regularly driven by the defendant and that the defendant not operate any motor vehicle unless the vehicle is equipped with the device described in this subsection. The court shall require the defendant to obtain the device at the defendant's own cost not later than the 15th business [before the 30th] day after the date of conviction unless the court finds that to do so would not be in the best interest of justice and enters its findings on record. The court shall require the defendant to promptly provide evidence to the court [within the 30-day period] that the device has been installed on the appropriate vehicle and order the device to remain installed on that vehicle for a period not less than 50 percent of the supervision period. If the court determines the offender is unable to pay for the device, the court may impose a reasonable payment schedule not to exceed twice the period of the court's order. The Department of Public Safety shall approve devices for use under this subsection. Section 521.247, Transportation Code, applies to the approval of a device under this subsection and the consequences of that approval. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, if a person is required to operate a motor vehicle in the course and scope of the person's employment and if the vehicle is owned by the employer, the person may operate that vehicle without installation of an approved ignition interlock device if the employer has been notified of that driving privilege restriction and if proof of that notification is with the vehicle. This employment exemption does not apply, however, if the business entity that owns the vehicle is owned or controlled by the person whose driving privilege has been restricted. A previous conviction may not be used for purposes of restricting a person to the operation of a motor vehicle equipped with an interlock ignition device under this subsection if:

(1) the previous conviction was a final conviction under Section 49.04, 49.045, 49.05, 49.06, 49.07, or 49.08, Penal Code, and was for an offense committed more than 10 years before the instant offense for which the person was convicted and placed on community supervision; and

(2) the person has not been convicted of an offense under Section 49.04, 49.045, 49.05, 49.06, 49.07, or 49.08 of that code, committed within 10 years before the date on which the instant offense for which the person was convicted and placed on community supervision.

SECTION 3. Section 521.246(d), Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:

(d) The court shall require the ignition interlock device to be installed not later than the 15th business day after the date the occupational license takes effect and shall order the ignition interlock device to remain installed for at least half of the period of supervision.

SECTION 4. Section 521.2476(b), Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) The minimum standards shall require each vendor to:

(1) be authorized by the department to do business in this state;

(2) install a device only if the device is approved under Section 521.247;

(3) obtain liability insurance providing coverage for damages arising out of the operation or use of devices in amounts and under the terms specified by the department;

(4) install the device and activate any anticircumvention feature of the device within a reasonable time after the vendor receives notice that installation is ordered by a court;

(5) install and inspect the device in accordance with any applicable court order;

(6) repair or replace a device not later than 48 hours after receiving notice of a complaint regarding the operation of the device;

(7) remove a device not later than the 15th business day after the date the owner or operator of the vehicle requests removal and provides a copy of a court order to the vendor showing that the owner or operator is no longer restricted to the use of a motor vehicle equipped with an ignition interlock device;

(8) submit a written report of any violation of a court order to that court and to the person's supervising officer, if any, not later than 48 hours after the vendor discovers the violation;

(9) [(8)] maintain a record of each action taken by the vendor with respect to each device installed by the vendor, including each action taken as a result of an attempt to circumvent the device, until at least the fifth anniversary after the date of installation;

(10) [(9)] make a copy of the record available for inspection by or send a copy of the record to any court, supervising officer, or the department on request; and

(11) [(10)] annually provide to the department a written report of each service and ignition interlock device feature made available by the vendor.

SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act in amending Articles 17.441 and 42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, and Section 521.246, Transportation Code, apply only to a court order entered on or after the effective date of this Act. A court order entered before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect when the court order was entered, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 6. The Department of Public Safety by rule shall establish the minimum standards required by Section 521.2476(b), Transportation Code, as amended by this Act, not later than December 1, 2009.

SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.