81R3866 JTS-F
By: Geren H.B. No. 2334
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the powers and duties of a regional tollway authority,
including the establishment of an administrative adjudication
hearing procedure; creating an offense.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 366.038, Transportation Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 366.038. TOLL COLLECTION. (a) An authority shall
provide, for reasonable compensation, customer service and other
toll collection and enforcement services for a toll project in the
boundaries of the authority, regardless of whether the toll project
is developed, financed, constructed, and operated under an
agreement, including a comprehensive development agreement, with
the authority or another entity.
(b) An authority may not provide financial security for the
performance of services it provides under Subsection (a) if:
(1) the authority determines that providing security
could restrict the amount, or increase the cost, of bonds or other
debt obligations the authority may subsequently issue under this
chapter; or
(2) the authority is not reimbursed its cost of
providing the security.
SECTION 2. Section 366.178, Transportation Code, is amended
by adding Subsection (j) to read as follows:
(j) In addition to the other powers and duties provided by
this chapter, an authority has the same powers and duties as the
department under Chapter 228, a county under Chapter 284, and a
regional mobility authority under Chapter 370, regarding the
authority's toll collection and enforcement powers for:
(1) the authority's turnpike projects; and
(2) other toll projects developed, financed,
constructed, or operated under an agreement, including a
comprehensive development agreement, with the authority.
SECTION 3. Section 366.185, Transportation Code, is amended
by adding Subsection (d-2) to read as follows:
(d-2) Notwithstanding Subsection (d-1), if the contract
amount exceeds $50 million, the rules adopted under Subsection (d)
may provide for a stipend to be offered to an unsuccessful
design-build firm that submits a response to the authority's
request for additional information, in an amount that:
(1) may exceed $250,000; and
(2) is reasonably necessary, as determined by the
authority in its sole discretion, to compensate the unsuccessful
firm for:
(A) preliminary engineering costs associated
with the development of the proposal by the firm; and
(B) the value of the work product contained in
the proposal, including the techniques, methods, processes, and
information contained in the proposal.
SECTION 4. Subchapter E, Chapter 366, Transportation Code,
is amended by adding Sections 366.186 and 366.187 to read as
follows:
Sec. 366.186. ORDER PROHIBITING OPERATION OF MOTOR VEHICLE
ON TURNPIKE PROJECT. (a) An authority by order of its executive
director may prohibit the operation of a motor vehicle on a turnpike
project if:
(1) an operator of the vehicle has failed to pay a
toll, fine, or administrative fee imposed under Section 366.178;
and
(2) the authority provides notice to the registered
owner of the vehicle of the unpaid toll, fine, or administrative
fee.
(b) The notice required by Subsection (a)(2) must be mailed
to the registered owner of the vehicle at least 30 days before the
date the prohibition takes effect.
(c) If the registered owner of the vehicle fails to pay a
toll, fine, or administrative fee before the 31st day after the
notice under Subsection (b) is mailed, the authority may impose a
reasonable cost for expenses associated with collecting the unpaid
toll, fine, and administrative fee.
Sec. 366.187. VIOLATION OF ORDER; OFFENSE. (a) A person
commits an offense if the person operates a motor vehicle or causes
or allows the operation of a motor vehicle on a turnpike project in
violation of an order issued under Section 366.186.
(b) An offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.
SECTION 5. Section 366.260, Transportation Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 366.260. CERTAIN CONTRACTS [AND SALES] PROHIBITED.
(a) A director, agent, or employee of an authority may not,
outside the person's service to that authority, otherwise[:
[(1)] contract with the authority[; or
[(2) be directly or indirectly interested in:
[(A) a contract with the authority; or
[(B) the sale of property to the authority].
(b) A person who violates Subsection (a) is liable for a
civil penalty to the authority not to exceed $1,000.
SECTION 6. Section 366.303, Transportation Code, is amended
by amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsections (f) and (g) to
read as follows:
(d) The term of an agreement under Subsections (a) through
(c) [this section] may not exceed 40 years.
(f) Except as provided by Subsection (g), a local
governmental entity may not own, construct, maintain, or operate a
turnpike project or other toll project, as that term is defined by
Section 201.001, in a county that is part of an authority unless the
local governmental entity and the authority enter into a written
agreement specifying the terms and conditions under which the
project will be undertaken.
(g) Subsection (f) does not apply to a turnpike project or
toll project located in a county to which an authority has
transferred under Section 366.036 or leased, sold, or conveyed
under Section 366.172:
(1) all turnpike projects of the authority that are
located in the county; and
(2) all work product developed by the authority in
determining the feasibility of the construction, improvement,
extension, or expansion of a turnpike project to be located in the
county.
SECTION 7. Section 366.407(g), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(g) Except as provided by this subsection, a comprehensive
development agreement with a private participant that includes the
collection by the private participant of tolls for the use of a toll
project may be for a term not longer than 50 years from the later of
the date of final acceptance of the project or the start of revenue
operations by the private participant, not to exceed a total term of
52 years. The contract must contain an explicit mechanism for
setting the price for the purchase by the authority [department] of
the interest of the private participant in the contract and related
property, including any interest in a highway or other facility
designed, developed, financed, constructed, operated, or
maintained under the contract.
SECTION 8. Chapter 366, Transportation Code, is amended by
adding Subchapter I to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER I. ADMINISTRATIVE ADJUDICATION HEARING PROCEDURE
Sec. 366.451. ADOPTION OF ADMINISTRATIVE ADJUDICATION
HEARING PROCEDURE. (a) The board of an authority may adopt an
administrative adjudication hearing procedure for a person who is
suspected of having violated an order issued under Section 366.186
on at least two separate occasions within a twelve-month period.
(b) A hearing procedure adopted under Subsection (a) must:
(1) establish a period of not less than 30 days from
the date notice of the second violation is provided as described in
Section 366.186 during which a person may:
(A) pay the toll, fine, or administrative fee; or
(B) request a hearing;
(2) provide for appointment by the authority of one or
more hearing officers to conduct administrative adjudication
hearings and authorize the officers to administer oaths and issue
orders compelling the attendance of witnesses and the production of
documents; and
(3) establish the amount and provide for the
disposition of the toll, fine, and administrative fee.
(c) An order issued under Subsection (b)(2) may be enforced
by a justice of the peace.
Sec. 366.452. NOTICE OF HEARING. (a) If a person requests a
hearing under Section 366.451(b)(1)(B), the authority shall:
(1) inform the person of the time and place of the
hearing; and
(2) notify the person that the person has the right to
a hearing without delay.
(b) The original or any copy of the summons or citation is a
record kept in the ordinary course of business of the authority and
is rebuttable proof of the facts it contains.
Sec. 366.453. ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING: PRESUMPTION;
EVIDENCE OF OWNERSHIP. (a) In an administrative adjudication
hearing under Section 366.451, it is presumed that the registered
owner of the motor vehicle that is the subject of the hearing is the
person who operated or who caused or allowed the operation of the
motor vehicle in violation of the order.
(b) In an administrative adjudication hearing under Section
366.451, a computer record of the authority or the department of the
registered vehicle owner is prima facie evidence of its contents
and that the person named in the record was the registered owner of
the vehicle at the time the violation occurred.
(c) In an administrative adjudication hearing under Section
366.451, proof of the violation of the order may be shown by
testimony of a peace officer or authority employee, video recording
or surveillance, photograph, electronic recording, or any other
reasonable evidence, including evidence obtained by automated
enforcement technology.
(d) In an administrative adjudication hearing under Section
366.451, it is a defense that the motor vehicle in question was
stolen before the failure to pay the proper toll occurred and was
not recovered by the time of the failure to pay, but only if the
theft was reported to the appropriate law enforcement authority
before the earlier of:
(1) the occurrence of the failure to pay; or
(2) eight hours after the discovery of the theft.
(e) In an administrative adjudication hearing under Section
366.451, a registered owner who is the lessor of a vehicle for which
a notice of nonpayment has been issued is not liable for a toll,
fine, or administrative fee if, not later than the 30th day after
the date the notice of nonpayment is mailed, the registered owner
provides to the authority a copy of the lease agreement covering the
vehicle on the date of the nonpayment. The name and address of the
lessee must be clearly legible. If the lessor timely provides the
required information, the lessee of the vehicle on the date of the
violation is considered to be the registered owner of the vehicle
for purposes of an administrative adjudication hearing under
Section 366.451. The lessee is subject to prosecution for failure
to pay the proper toll if the authority sends a notice of nonpayment
to the lessee by first-class mail not later than the 30th day after
the date of the receipt of the information from the lessor.
Sec. 366.454. ATTENDANCE AT HEARING. (a) A witness of a
violation of an order adopted under Section 366.186 is not required
to attend the administrative adjudication hearing related to that
violation.
(b) The failure of the person who requested the hearing to
appear at an administrative adjudication hearing under Section
366.451 is considered an admission of liability for the violation.
Sec. 366.455. DECISION OF HEARING OFFICER. (a) At the
conclusion of a hearing under this subchapter, the hearing officer
shall issue a decision stating:
(1) whether the person is liable for a violation of the
order; and
(2) the amount of the toll, fine, and administrative
fee to be assessed against the person.
(b) The hearing officer shall file the decision with the
secretary of the authority.
(c) Each decision of a hearing officer filed under
Subsection (b) must be kept in a separate index and file. The
decision may be recorded using a computer printout, microfilm,
microfiche, or a similar data processing technique.
Sec. 366.456. ENFORCEMENT OF DECISION. (a) An authority may
enforce a decision issued under Section 366.455 by any or all of the
following:
(1) requesting any peace officer or other public
servant authorized to do so to place a device that prohibits
movement of a motor vehicle on the vehicle that is the subject of
the decision;
(2) imposing an additional fee if the amount specified
in the decision is not paid within a specified time; and
(3) requesting the department to refuse to allow the
registration of the vehicle that is the subject of the decision.
(b) The department may refuse to register a vehicle as
requested by an authority under Subsection (a).
Sec. 366.457. APPEAL OF HEARING OFFICER DECISION. (a)
Except as provided by Subsection (b), a person determined by a
hearing officer to be in violation of an order may appeal the
decision to any justice court in the county in which the authority's
main administrative office is located.
(b) If applicable law either prohibits an appeal from being
filed in a justice court or instead requires the appeal to be filed
in a county court-at-law, the person may appeal the determination
to the county court-at-law in the county in which the authority's
main administrative offices are located.
(c) To appeal, the person must file a petition with the
court not later than the 30th day after the date the hearing
officer's decision is filed with the secretary of the authority.
The petition must be accompanied by payment of the costs required by
law for the court.
Sec. 366.458. HEARING ON APPEAL. The court in which a
petition is filed shall:
(1) schedule a hearing;
(2) notify all parties of the date, time, and place of
the hearing; and
(3) conduct a trial de novo.
Sec. 366.459. EFFECT OF APPEAL. Service of notice of appeal
does not stay the enforcement and collection of the decision of the
hearing officer unless the person who files the appeal posts a bond
with an agency or entity designated by the authority to accept
payment for a violation.
SECTION 9. Section 552.116(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) An audit working paper of an audit of the state auditor
or the auditor of a state agency, an institution of higher education
as defined by Section 61.003, Education Code, a county, a
municipality, a school district, [or] a joint board operating
under Section 22.074, Transportation Code, or a toll project
entity as defined by Section 371.001, Transportation Code, as added
by Chapter 103 (H.B. 570), Acts of the 80th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2007, including any audit relating to the criminal history
background check of a public school employee, is excepted from the
requirements of Section 552.021. If information in an audit
working paper is also maintained in another record, that other
record is not excepted from the requirements of Section 552.021 by
this section.
SECTION 10. Section 552.116(b)(1), Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(1) "Audit" means an audit authorized or required by a
statute of this state or the United States, the charter or an
ordinance of a municipality, an order of the commissioners court of
a county, a resolution or other action of a board of trustees of a
school district, including an audit by the district relating to the
criminal history background check of a public school employee, or a
resolution or other action of a joint board or the governing board
of a toll project entity described by Subsection (a) and includes an
investigation.
SECTION 11. Sections 366.2521 and 366.2522, Transportation
Code, are repealed.
SECTION 12. 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, 2009.