81R7423 JSC-D
By: King of Zavala H.B. No. 1499
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the installation and disabling or 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 third 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 third 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 third 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. Subtitle J, Title 7, Transportation Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 731 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 731. IGNITION INTERLOCK DEVICE DISABLING OR REMOVAL
Sec. 731.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Department" means the Department of Public
Safety.
(2) "Ignition interlock device" means a deep-lung
breath analysis mechanism installed on a motor vehicle to make
impractical the operation of the motor vehicle if ethyl alcohol is
detected in the breath of the operator.
Sec. 731.002. DISABLING OR REMOVAL BY DEPARTMENT. (a) A
person who is no longer restricted to the use of a motor vehicle
equipped with an ignition interlock device, as indicated by the
court order imposing the restriction or by a court order removing
the restriction, may have the device disabled or removed by the
department or by a private vendor. To have the device disabled or
removed by the department, the person must submit to the
department:
(1) a written request for the department to disable or
remove the device; and
(2) a copy of a court order described by Subsection
(a), unless the department received a copy of that order directly
from the court.
(b) Not later than the third business day after receipt of a
request under Subsection (a) and a copy of the court order, if
required, the department shall disable or remove the person's
ignition interlock device. The department may require the person
to make an appointment and to deliver the vehicle to a specific
location for the disabling or removal.
(c) The department may charge a reasonable fee for the
disabling or removal of the device.
Sec. 731.003. RULES. The department may adopt rules to
implement this chapter.
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. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.