82R3301 JSC-D

By: Carter H.B. No. 3477

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the permanent revocation of a person's driver's license or permit on conviction of a fifth offense relating to the operating of a motor vehicle while intoxicated.

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

SECTION 1. Section 49.09, Penal Code, is amended by adding Subsection (i) to read as follows:

(i) Notwithstanding any other law, if it is shown at the trial of a person convicted of an offense under Section 49.04, 49.045, 49.07, or 49.08 relating to the operating of a motor vehicle while intoxicated that the person has been previously convicted four or more times of any of those offenses, all of which were committed on or after September 1, 2011, the court shall order the Department of Public Safety to permanently revoke the person's driver's license or permit, or, if the person does not have a license or permit, to permanently deny the issuance of a license or permit to the person. To the extent of a conflict between this subsection and Section 13, Article 42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, this subsection controls.

SECTION 2. Sections 13(g), (j), and (k), Article 42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, are amended to read as follows:

(g) A jury that recommends community supervision for a person convicted of an offense under Sections 49.04-49.08, Penal Code, may recommend that any driver's license issued to the defendant under Chapter 521, Transportation Code, not be suspended. This subsection does not apply to a person:

(1) who is punished under Section 49.09(a) or (b), Penal Code, and subject to Section 49.09(h) of that code; or

(2) whose driver's license or permit is the subject of a court order issued under Section 49.09(i), Penal Code.

(j) The judge shall require a defendant who is punished under Section 49.09, Penal Code, as a condition of community supervision, to attend and successfully complete an educational program for repeat offenders approved by the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse. The Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse shall adopt rules and shall monitor, coordinate, and provide training to persons providing the educational programs. The Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse is responsible for the administration of the certification of approved educational programs and may charge a nonrefundable application fee for initial certification of approval or for renewal of the certification. The judge may waive the educational program requirement only if the defendant by a motion in writing shows good cause. In determining good cause, the judge may consider the defendant's school and work schedule, the defendant's health, the distance that the defendant must travel to attend an educational program, and the fact that [whether] the defendant resides out of state, has no valid driver's license, or does not have access to transportation. The judge shall set out the finding of good cause in the judgment. If a defendant is required, as a condition of community supervision, to attend an educational program, the court clerk shall immediately report that fact to the Department of Public Safety, on a form prescribed by the department, for inclusion in the defendant's driving record. The report must include the beginning date of the defendant's community supervision. On the defendant's successful completion of the educational program for repeat offenders, the defendant's instructor shall give notice to the Department of Public Safety for inclusion in the defendant's driving record and to the community supervision and corrections department. The community supervision and corrections department shall then forward the notice to the court clerk for filing. If the Department of Public Safety does not receive notice that a defendant required to complete an educational program has successfully completed the program for repeat offenders within the period required by the judge, as shown on department records, the department shall revoke the defendant's driver's license, permit, or privilege or prohibit the defendant from obtaining a license or permit, as provided by Sections 521.344(e) and (f), Transportation Code.

(k) Notwithstanding Sections 521.344(d)-(i), Transportation Code, if the judge, under Subsection (h) or (j) of this section, permits or requires a defendant punished under Section 49.09, Penal Code, to attend an educational program as a condition of community supervision, or waives the required attendance for such a program, and the defendant has previously been required to attend such a program, or the required attendance at the program had been waived, the judge, unless the person's driver's license or permit is the subject of a court order issued under Section 49.09(i), Penal Code, nonetheless shall order the suspension of the driver's license, permit, or operating privilege of that person for a period determined by the judge according to the following schedule:

(1) not less than 90 days or more than 365 days, if the defendant is convicted under Sections 49.04-49.08, Penal Code;

(2) not less than 180 days or more than two years, if the defendant is punished under Section 49.09(a) or (b), Penal Code; or

(3) not less than one year or more than two years, if the person is convicted of a second or subsequent offense under Sections 49.04-49.08, Penal Code, committed within five years of the date on which the most recent preceding offense was committed.

SECTION 3. Section 521.027, Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 521.027. PERSONS EXEMPT FROM LICENSE REQUIREMENT. (a) The following persons are exempt from the license requirement imposed under this chapter:

(1) a person in the service of the state military forces or the United States while the person is operating an official motor vehicle in the scope of that service;

(2) a person while the person is operating a road machine, farm tractor, or implement of husbandry on a highway, unless the vehicle is a commercial motor vehicle under Section 522.003;

(3) a nonresident on active duty in the armed forces of the United States who holds a license issued by the person's state or Canadian province of residence; and

(4) a person who is the spouse or dependent child of a nonresident exempt under Subdivision (3) and who holds a license issued by the person's state or Canadian province of residence.

(b) A person exempted under this section from the license requirement imposed by this chapter may not operate a motor vehicle on a public street or highway in this state if the person's driver's license or permit is the subject of a court order issued under Section 49.09(i), Penal Code.

SECTION 4. Section 521.202, Transportation Code, is amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:

(d) The department may not issue a license to a person whose license or permit is the subject of a court order issued under Section 49.09(i), Penal Code.

SECTION 5. Section 521.242, Transportation Code, is amended by adding Subsection (g) to read as follows:

(g) A court may not grant an occupational license to a person whose driver's license or permit is the subject of a court order issued under Section 49.09(i), Penal Code.

SECTION 6. Section 521.294, Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 521.294. DEPARTMENT'S DETERMINATION FOR LICENSE REVOCATION. The department shall revoke the person's license if the department determines that the person:

(1) is incapable of safely operating a motor vehicle;

(2) has not complied with the terms of a citation issued by a jurisdiction that is a party to the Nonresident Violator Compact of 1977 for a traffic violation to which that compact applies;

(3) has failed to provide medical records or has failed to undergo medical or other examinations as required by a panel of the medical advisory board;

(4) has failed to pass an examination required by the director under this chapter;

(5) has been reported by a court under Section 521.3452 for failure to appear unless the court files an additional report on final disposition of the case;

(6) has been reported within the preceding two years by a justice or municipal court for failure to appear or for a default in payment of a fine for a misdemeanor punishable only by fine, other than a failure reported under Section 521.3452, committed by a person who is at least 14 years of age but younger than 17 years of age when the offense was committed, unless the court files an additional report on final disposition of the case; [or]

(7) has committed an offense in another state or Canadian province that, if committed in this state, would be grounds for revocation; or

(8) holds a license or permit that is the subject of a court order issued under Section 49.09(i), Penal Code.

SECTION 7. Section 521.312, Transportation Code, is amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:

(d) The department may not reinstate a license revoked under Section 49.09(i), Penal Code.

SECTION 8. Sections 521.344(a), (b), and (d), Transportation Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) Except as provided by Sections 521.342(b) and 521.345, and by Subsections (d)-(i), if a person is convicted of an offense under Section 49.04, 49.045, or 49.07, Penal Code, and the person's license is not revoked under Section 49.09(i), Penal Code, the license suspension:

(1) begins on a date set by the court that is not earlier than the date of the conviction or later than the 30th day after the date of the conviction, as determined by the court; and

(2) continues for a period set by the court according to the following schedule:

(A) not less than 90 days or more than one year, if the person is punished under Section 49.04, 49.045, or 49.07, Penal Code, except that if the person's license is suspended for a second or subsequent offense under Section 49.07 committed within five years of the date on which the most recent preceding offense was committed, the suspension continues for a period of one year;

(B) not less than 180 days or more than two years, if the person is punished under Section 49.09(a) or (b), Penal Code; or

(C) not less than one year or more than two years, if the person is punished under Section 49.09(a) or (b), Penal Code, and is subject to Section 49.09(h) of that code.

(b) Except as provided by Section 521.342(b), if a person is convicted of an offense under Section 49.08, Penal Code, and the person's license is not revoked under Section 49.09(i), Penal Code, the license suspension:

(1) begins on a date set by the court that is not earlier than the date of the conviction or later than the 30th day after the date of the conviction, as determined by the court; and

(2) continues for a period set by the court of not less than 180 days or more than two years, except that if the person's license is suspended for a second or subsequent offense under Section 49.08, Penal Code, committed within 10 years of the date on which the most recent preceding offense was committed, the suspension continues for a period set by the court of not less than one year or more than two years.

(d) Except as provided by Subsection (e) and Section 521.342(b), during a period of community supervision, [probation] the department may not revoke the person's license if the person is required under Section 13(h) or (j), Article 42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, to successfully complete an educational program designed to rehabilitate persons who have operated motor vehicles while intoxicated, unless the person was punished under Section 49.09(a) or (b), Penal Code, and was subject to Section 49.09(h) of that code or the person's license or permit is the subject of a court order issued under Section 49.09(i), Penal Code. The department may not revoke the license of a person:

(1) for whom the jury has recommended that the license not be revoked under Section 13(g), Article 42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure; or

(2) who is placed under community supervision under that article and is required as a condition of community supervision to not operate a motor vehicle unless the vehicle is equipped with the device described by Section 13(i) of that article, unless the person was punished under Section 49.09(a) or (b), Penal Code, and was subject to Section 49.09(h) [49.09(g)] of that code.

SECTION 9. Section 524.015, Transportation Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:

(a) Except as provided by Subsections (b) and (c) [Subsection (b)], the disposition of a criminal charge does not affect a driver's license suspension under this chapter and does not bar any matter in issue in a driver's license suspension proceeding under this chapter.

(c) If the disposition of a criminal charge results in a conviction with respect to which the person's driver's license or permit is the subject of a court order issued under Section 49.09(i), Penal Code, the department shall make a note in the person's computerized driving record that the person's license or permit is permanently revoked.

SECTION 10. The change in law made by this Act applies only to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date.

SECTION 11. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.