By: Pickett (Senate Sponsor - Nichols) H.B. No. 1252
         (In the Senate - Received from the House April 14, 2015;
  April 30, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on
  Transportation; May 14, 2015, reported favorably by the following
  vote:  Yeas 8, Nays 0; May 14, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to uniform weighing procedures requirements for motor
  vehicle weight enforcement officers.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 621.402, Transportation Code, is amended
  by adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
         (e)  The Department of Public Safety:
               (1)  shall establish by rule uniform weighing
  procedures for weight enforcement officers to ensure an accurate
  weight is obtained for a motor vehicle; and
               (2)  may revoke or rescind the authority of:
                     (A)  a weight enforcement officer who fails to
  comply with those rules; or
                     (B)  weight enforcement officers of a municipal
  police department, sheriff's department, or constable's office that
  fails to comply with those rules.
         SECTION 2.  Section 621.508, Transportation Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         Sec. 621.508.  AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE FOR OPERATING VEHICLE
  OVER MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE [AXLE] WEIGHT. (a) It is an affirmative
  defense to prosecution of, or an action under Subchapter F for, the
  offense of operating a vehicle with a single axle weight or tandem
  axle weight heavier than the axle weight authorized by law that at
  the time of the offense the vehicle:
               (1)  had a single axle weight or tandem axle weight that
  was not heavier than the axle weight authorized by law plus 12
  percent;
               (2)  was loaded with timber, pulp wood, wood chips, or
  cotton, livestock, or other agricultural products that are:
                     (A)  in their natural state; and
                     (B)  being transported from the place of
  production to the place of first marketing or first processing; and
               (3)  was not being operated on a portion of the national
  system of interstate and defense highways.
         (b)  It is an affirmative defense to prosecution of, or an
  action under Subchapter F for, the offense of operating a vehicle
  with a single axle weight, tandem axle weight, or gross weight
  heavier than the weight authorized by law that at the time of the
  offense the weight enforcement officer failed to follow the
  weighing procedures established under Section 621.402(e) when
  determining the weight of the vehicle.
         SECTION 3.  (a)  Not later than January 1, 2016, the
  Department of Public Safety shall adopt rules necessary to
  implement Section 621.402(e), Transportation Code, as added by this
  Act.
         (b)  Section 621.508(b), Transportation Code, as added by
  this Act, applies only to an offense committed on or after the
  effective date of a rule adopted by the Department of Public Safety
  under this section. For purposes of this section, an offense was
  committed before the effective date of a rule adopted by the
  Department of Public Safety under this section if any element of the
  offense occurred before that date.
         (c)  An offense committed before the effective date of a rule
  adopted by the Department of Public Safety under this section 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.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
 
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