81R9575 TRH-F
By: Turner of Harris H.B. No. 3056
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the driver responsibility program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 708.151, Transportation Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 708.151. NOTICE OF SURCHARGE. (a) The department
shall send notices as required by Subsection (b) to [notify] the
holder of a driver's license when [of the assessment of] a surcharge
is assessed on that license. Each notice must:
(1) be sent by first class mail [sent] to the person's
most recent address as shown on the records of the department;
(2)[. The notice must] specify the date by which the
surcharge must be paid; and
(3) state the consequences of a failure to pay the
surcharge.
(b) The department shall send a first notice not later than
the fifth day after the date the surcharge is assessed. If before
the 30th day after the date the first notice was sent the person
fails to pay the amount of the surcharge or fails to enter into an
installment payment agreement with the department, the department
shall send a second notice. If before the 30th day after the date
the second notice was sent the person fails to pay the amount of the
surcharge or fails to enter into an installment payment agreement
with the department, the department shall send a third notice.
SECTION 2. Section 708.152(a), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) If before the 30th day after the date the department
sends a third notice under Section 708.151 the person fails to pay
the amount of a surcharge on the person's license or fails to enter
into an installment payment agreement with the department, the
license of the person is automatically suspended.
SECTION 3. Section 708.153(b), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) A rule under this section:
(1) may not require [permit] a person to pay a
surcharge over a period of less [more] than 36 consecutive months;
and
(2) may provide that if the person fails to make a
required installment payment, the department may reestablish the
installment plan or declare the amount of the unpaid surcharge
immediately due and payable.
SECTION 4. Subchapter D, Chapter 708, Transportation Code,
is amended by adding Section 708.158 to read as follows:
Sec. 708.158. JURISDICTION. (a) For the time a surcharge
under this chapter is outstanding, the court in which a person is
convicted of the offense that is the basis for the surcharge has
jurisdiction over the person, the department, and all agents of the
department regarding all matters relating to the surcharge.
(b) The court may reduce or waive a surcharge under this
chapter. A person who is assessed a surcharge may file a pleading,
request a hearing, or otherwise invoke the jurisdiction of the
court described by Subsection (a) at any time the person is required
to pay a surcharge or is subject to any other enforcement procedure
described by this chapter.
(c) The department may not assess a surcharge against a
person who is indigent. For purposes of this section, a person is
presumed to be indigent if the person was represented by appointed
counsel at the person's trial for the offense that is the basis for
the surcharge.
SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
a surcharge that is assessed on or after the effective date of this
Act. A surcharge that was assessed before the effective date of
this Act is subject to the law in effect on the date the surcharge
was assessed, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.