H.B. No. 1517
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to the disposition of fines for traffic violations
  collected by certain counties and municipalities.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 542.402, Transportation Code, is amended
  by amending Subsections (a), (c), and (e) and adding Subsections
  (b-1), (b-2), (d-1), (f), and (g) to read as follows:
         (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b-1), a [A]
  municipality or county shall use a fine collected for a violation of
  a highway law in this title to:
               (1)  construct and maintain roads, bridges, and
  culverts in the municipality or county;
               (2)  enforce laws regulating the use of highways by
  motor vehicles; and
               (3)  defray the expense of county traffic officers.
         (b-1)  Subject to Subsection (b-2), a county may use a fine
  collected for a violation of a highway law as the county determines
  appropriate if:
               (1)  the county has a population of less than 5,000; and
               (2)  the commissioners court of the county by
  resolution elects to spend the revenue in a manner other than as
  provided by Subsection (a).
         (b-2)  In each fiscal year, a county described by Subsection
  (b-1) may retain, from fines collected for violations of this title
  and from special expenses collected under Article 45.051, Code of
  Criminal Procedure, in cases in which a violation of this title is
  alleged, an amount equal to 30 percent of the county's revenue for
  the preceding fiscal year from all sources, other than federal
  funds and bond proceeds, as shown by an audit performed under
  Chapter 115, Local Government Code. After a county has retained
  that amount, the county shall send to the comptroller any portion of
  a fine or a special expense collected that exceeds $1.
         (c)  The comptroller shall enforce Subsections [Subsection]
  (b) and (b-2).
         (d-1)  In a fiscal year in which a county retains from fines
  and special expenses collected for violations of this title an
  amount equal to at least 20 percent of the county's revenue for the
  preceding fiscal year from all sources other than federal funds and
  bond proceeds, not later than the 120th day after the last day of
  the county's fiscal year, the county shall send to the comptroller:
               (1)  a copy of the county's financial statement; and
               (2)  a report that shows the total amount collected for
  that fiscal year from fines and special expenses under Subsection
  (b-1).
         (e)  If an audit is conducted by the comptroller under
  Subsection (c) and it is determined that the municipality or county
  is retaining more than 20 percent of the amounts under Subsection
  (b) or (b-2), as applicable, and has not complied with Subsection
  (d) or (d-1), as applicable, the municipality or county shall pay
  the costs incurred by the comptroller in conducting the audit.
         (f)  A municipality may include the revenue generated from
  services provided in the municipality by a utility company
  operating within the municipality as municipal revenue for a fiscal
  year under Subsection (b) if:
               (1)  the municipality has a population of more than
  1,000 but less than 1,200; and
               (2)  part of the municipality's boundary is a river that
  forms part of the boundary between two counties.
         (g)  This subsection and Subsection (f) expire on September
  1, 2021.
         SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act in amending
  Section 542.402(e), Transportation Code, and in adding Sections
  542.402(b-2) and (d-1), Transportation Code, applies only to the
  fiscal year of a county that begins on or after the effective date
  of this Act.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 1517 was passed by the House on May 5,
  2011, by the following vote:  Yeas 142, Nays 4, 1 present, not
  voting; that the House refused to concur in Senate amendments to
  H.B. No. 1517 on May 26, 2011, and requested the appointment of a
  conference committee to consider the differences between the two
  houses; and that the House adopted the conference committee report
  on H.B. No. 1517 on May 29, 2011, by the following vote:  Yeas 140,
  Nays 3, 1 present, not voting.
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 1517 was passed by the Senate, with
  amendments, on May 24, 2011, by the following vote:  Yeas 29, Nays
  1
  ; at the request of the House, the Senate appointed a conference
  committee to consider the differences between the two houses; and
  that the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.B. No.
  1517 on May 28, 2011, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays 0.
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate   
  APPROVED: __________________
                  Date       
   
           __________________
                Governor