81R117 JD-D
By: Berman H.B. No. 259
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the impoundment of motor vehicle license plates and the
suspension of the vehicle registration for failure to maintain
financial responsibility.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Subchapter I, Chapter 601,
Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER I. FAILURE TO MAINTAIN EVIDENCE OF FINANCIAL
RESPONSIBILITY; IMPOUNDMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLE OR LICENSE PLATES
SECTION 2. Subchapter I, Chapter 601, Transportation Code,
is amended by adding Sections 601.268 and 601.269 to read as
follows:
Sec. 601.268. IMPOUNDMENT OF LICENSE PLATES BY PEACE
OFFICER. (a) If a person required by Section 601.053 to provide to
a peace officer evidence of financial responsibility for a motor
vehicle fails to provide that evidence, the officer shall:
(1) remove each license plate that is attached to the
vehicle, require the operator of or a passenger in the vehicle to
remove each license plate, or require the vehicle to be driven or
towed, at the operator's expense, to a location where each license
plate may be safely removed from the vehicle;
(2) issue the person:
(A) written notice, which shall be included on
the form required by Paragraph (B), that registration of the
vehicle from which the license plate was removed will be suspended
by the Texas Department of Transportation if the owner or operator
of the vehicle does not:
(i) recover the removed license plate
before the 11th calendar day after the date the license plate was
removed; or
(ii) after the 11th calendar day after the
date the license plate was removed but not later than the 60th day
after the date of removal, apply for replacement license plates;
(B) a written explanation, on a form designed by
the department, as to how:
(i) within 10 calendar days after the date
of impoundment, the owner or operator of the vehicle may recover a
removed license plate from the law enforcement agency that employs
the peace officer; or
(ii) on or after the 11th calendar day after
the date of impoundment but not later than the 60th day after the
date of impoundment, the owner of the vehicle may apply for
replacement license plates through the appropriate county
assessor-collector; and
(C) a temporary license plate designed by the
Texas Department of Transportation that:
(i) when attached to the rear of the
vehicle, authorizes the operation of the vehicle for a period that
expires on the 10th calendar day after its date of issuance; and
(ii) shows on its face the expiration date
of the temporary license plate; and
(3) provide for the secure impoundment of each removed
plate for the vehicle at the offices of the law enforcement agency
that employs the peace officer.
(b) Before the 11th day after the date of impoundment, the
law enforcement agency that impounds a license plate under
Subsection (a) shall release the plate to the owner or operator of
the vehicle from which the plate was removed if the owner or
operator:
(1) provides to the law enforcement agency evidence
consistent with:
(A) Section 601.053, showing that on the date the
plate was removed, the motor vehicle was in compliance with Section
601.051;
(B) Section 601.052, showing that on that date
the vehicle was exempt from the requirements of Section 601.051; or
(C) Section 601.053, showing that financial
responsibility for the vehicle has been obtained and is valid, at a
minimum, for the 180-day period that begins on the date that release
of the impounded license plate is applied for; and
(2) pays the applicable administrative fee to the law
enforcement agency in the amount established by department rule.
(c) If on or after the 11th calendar day after the date of
impoundment but not later than the 60th day after the date of
impoundment, the owner or operator of the vehicle provides proof
described by Subsection (b) to the law enforcement agency that
impounded the license plates under Subsection (a), that law
enforcement agency, shall, in the manner specified by the Texas
Department of Transportation, authorize the owner of the vehicle
from which the plates were removed to apply for replacement license
plates through the appropriate county assessor-collector.
(d) If an impounded license plate is not recovered by the
owner or operator of the vehicle under Subsection (b) before the
11th calendar day after the date the plate was removed from the
vehicle, the impounding law enforcement agency shall destroy the
license plate and notify the department or the analogous authority
in the jurisdiction that issued the plate, in the manner specified
by the department, that the law enforcement agency impounded and
subsequently destroyed the plate under this section.
(e) Not later than the 10th business day after receipt of
notice under Subsection (d), the department shall notify the Texas
Department of Transportation that the license plate described in
the notice was impounded and subsequently destroyed by the law
enforcement agency under this section. The Texas Department of
Transportation shall note on the applicable vehicle registration
record that a suspension of the vehicle registration under this
section is pending.
(f) If before the 61st day after the date of impoundment of
the license plates the Texas Department of Transportation has not
received evidence described by Subsection (b)(1), the Texas
Department of Transportation shall:
(1) suspend the registration of the vehicle for which
the license plate was issued; and
(2) mail the owner of the vehicle, at the owner's last
known address as shown by the vehicle registration records of that
department, notice of the suspension of the vehicle's registration.
(g) The department shall set separate fees to be imposed on
the owner or operator of a license plate released under Subsection
(b)(1)(A) or (B) or on the owner or operator of a license plate
released under Subsection (b)(1)(C). The fees must be reasonable
and may not exceed the amount that the department determines is
sufficient for a law enforcement agency in this state to recover the
actual cost of enforcing this section, provided that the amount of
the fee to be imposed in connection with a license plate released
under Subsection (b)(1)(A) or (B) may not exceed 50 percent of the
fee to be imposed in connection with a license plate released under
Subsection (b)(1)(C).
Sec. 601.269. REINSTATEMENT OF SUSPENDED REGISTRATION. (a)
A vehicle registration suspended under Section 601.268(f) may not
be reinstated and a new registration issued to the owner of the
vehicle until the owner of the vehicle:
(1) provides to the Texas Department of Transportation
through the county assessor-collector of the county in which the
owner resides, evidence of compliance as described by Section
601.268(b)(1); and
(2) pays to that county assessor-collector:
(A) a $100 reinstatement fee; and
(B) the fee required by Section 502.184 for the
issuance of a replacement vehicle registration.
(b) Of each $100 reinstatement fee, the county
assessor-collector may retain $10 and shall send $90 to the
comptroller for deposit to the credit of the state highway fund.
SECTION 3. Section 601.374, Transportation Code, is amended
by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) This section does not apply to a vehicle registration
suspended under Section 601.268.
SECTION 4. Section 601.376, Transportation Code, is amended
by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) This section does not apply to a vehicle registration
suspended under Section 601.268.
SECTION 5. (a) The Texas Department of Transportation
shall:
(1) not later than November 30, 2009, adopt rules
necessary for that department to implement and administer Section
601.268, Transportation Code, as added by this Act; and
(2) not later than December 31, 2009, provide to each
law enforcement agency in this state that employs a peace officer
who enforces Section 601.053, Transportation Code, a sufficient
number of the temporary license plates described by Section
601.268(a)(2)(C) of that code, as added by this Act.
(b) The Texas Department of Public Safety shall:
(1) not later than November 30, 2009, adopt rules
necessary for that department to implement and administer Section
601.268, Transportation Code, as added by this Act; and
(2) not later than December 31, 2009, provide to each
law enforcement agency in this state that employs a peace officer
who enforces Section 601.053, Transportation Code, a sufficient
number of the written forms described by Section 601.268(a)(2) of
that code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 6. (a) Sections 1-4 of this Act take effect January
1, 2010.
(b) Section 5 and this section of this Act take effect
September 1, 2009.