H.B. No. 2012
AN ACT
relating to the criminal consequences of operating without a valid
driver's license a motor vehicle for which financial responsibility
is not established.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. This Act shall be known as Eric's Law.
SECTION 2. Section 521.457, Transportation Code, is amended
by amending Subsections (e) and (f) and adding Subsection (f-2) to
read as follows:
(e) Except as provided by Subsections (f), [and] (f-1), and
(f-2), an offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.
(f) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor
if [If] it is shown on the trial of the [an] offense [under this
section] that the person:
(1) has previously been convicted of an offense under
this section or an offense under Section 601.371(a), as that law
existed before September 1, 2003; or
(2) at the time of the offense, was operating the motor
vehicle in violation of Section 601.191 [, the offense is a Class B
misdemeanor].
(f-2) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor
if it is shown on the trial of the offense that at the time of the
offense the person was operating the motor vehicle in violation of
Section 601.191 and caused or was at fault in a motor vehicle
accident that resulted in serious bodily injury to or the death of
another person.
SECTION 3. 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 when the offense was committed, and
the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For the
purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
effective date of this Act if any element of the offense was
committed before that date.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2012 was passed by the House on May
15, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 133, Nays 1, 1 present, not
voting; that the House refused to concur in Senate amendments to
H.B. No. 2012 on May 29, 2009, 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. 2012 on May 31, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 135,
Nays 2, 2 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2012 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 27, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0; 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.
2012 on May 31, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor