| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the eligibility for indigent status for purposes of the |
|
|
driver responsibility program. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 708.158(a), Transportation Code, is |
|
|
amended to read as follows: |
|
|
(a) The department shall waive all surcharges assessed |
|
|
under this chapter for a person who is indigent. For the purposes |
|
|
of this section, a person is considered to be indigent if the |
|
|
person: |
|
|
(1) was determined to be indigent for the purpose of |
|
|
appointing counsel under Article 26.04, Code of Criminal Procedure, |
|
|
for the offense that is the basis for the surcharge, and the court |
|
|
did not make a subsequent finding that the person had the ability to |
|
|
pay, wholly or partly, the cost of the appointed counsel; or |
|
|
(2) provides the evidence described by Subsection (b) |
|
|
to the court. |
|
|
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act to Section |
|
|
708.158, Transportation Code, applies only to a surcharge assessed |
|
|
on or after the effective date of this Act, including a surcharge |
|
|
assessed for a conviction for an offense that occurred before the |
|
|
effective date of this Act. The state is not required to refund a |
|
|
surcharge collected before the effective date of this Act. |
|
|
SECTION 3. 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, 2015. |