Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB805 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Quintanilla, Fletcher, Flynn H.B. No. 805
2	2	(Senate Sponsor - Carona)
3	3	(In the Senate - Received from the House May 13, 2009;
4	4	May 14, 2009, read first time and referred to Committee on
5	5	Transportation and Homeland Security; May 23, 2009, reported
6	6	adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the following
7	7	vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; May 23, 2009, sent to printer.)
8	8	COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 805 By: Carona
9	9
10	10
11	11	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
12	12	AN ACT
13	13	relating to the definitions of police vehicle and authorized
14	14	emergency vehicle for the purposes of certain traffic laws.
15	15	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
16	16	SECTION 1. Sections 541.201(1) and (13-a), Transportation
17	17	Code, are amended to read as follows:
18	18	(1) "Authorized emergency vehicle" means:
19	19	(A) a fire department or police vehicle;
20	20	(B) a public or private ambulance operated by a
21	21	person who has been issued a license by the Texas Department of
22	22	Health;
23	23	(C) a municipal department or public service
24	24	corporation emergency vehicle that has been designated or
25	25	authorized by the governing body of a municipality;
26	26	(D) a private vehicle of a volunteer firefighter
27	27	or a certified emergency medical services employee or volunteer
28	28	when responding to a fire alarm or medical emergency;
29	29	(E) an industrial emergency response vehicle,
30	30	including an industrial ambulance, when responding to an emergency,
31	31	but only if the vehicle is operated in compliance with criteria in
32	32	effect September 1, 1989, and established by the predecessor of the
33	33	Texas Industrial Emergency Services Board of the State Firemen's
34	34	and Fire Marshals' Association of Texas; [or]
35	35	(F) a vehicle of a blood bank or tissue bank,
36	36	accredited or approved under the laws of this state or the United
37	37	States, when making emergency deliveries of blood, drugs,
38	38	medicines, or organs; or
39	39	(G) a vehicle operated by an employee of a
40	40	district attorney's office, criminal district attorney's office,
41	41	county attorney's office, or medical examiner's office, other than
42	42	a vehicle operated in the manner described by Section 546.001(2) or
43	43	(4), Section 284.070, Section 366.178, or Section 370.177(a) or
44	44	(k), that:
45	45	(i) is registered to the appropriate office
46	46	and authorized by that office for use in performing the official
47	47	duties of the office; or
48	48	(ii) is a private vehicle of an employee of
49	49	the appropriate office for which the person has received written
50	50	authority from that office to use the vehicle in performing
51	51	official duties, provided that use of the private vehicle must, if
52	52	applicable, comply with any rule adopted by the commissioners court
53	53	of a county under Section 170.001, Local Government Code.
54	54	(13-a) "Police vehicle" means a vehicle [of a
55	55	governmental entity primarily] used by a peace officer, as defined
56	56	by Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, for law enforcement
57	57	purposes that:
58	58	(A) is owned or leased by a governmental entity;
59	59	(B) is owned or leased by the police department
60	60	of a private institution of higher education that commissions peace
61	61	officers under Section 51.212, Education Code; or
62	62	(C) is:
63	63	(i) a private vehicle owned or leased by the
64	64	peace officer; and
65	65	(ii) approved for use for law enforcement
66	66	purposes by the head of the law enforcement agency that employs the
67	67	peace officer, or by that person's designee, provided that use of
68	68	the private vehicle must, if applicable, comply with any rule
69	69	adopted by the commissioners court of a county under Section
70	70	170.001, Local Government Code.
71	71	SECTION 2. Section 545.421(b), Transportation Code, is
72	72	amended to read as follows:
73	73	(b) A signal under this section that is given by a police
74	74	officer pursuing a vehicle may be by hand, voice, emergency light,
75	75	or siren. The officer giving the signal must be in uniform and
76	76	prominently display the officer's badge of office. The officer's
77	77	vehicle must bear the insignia of a law enforcement agency,
78	78	regardless of whether the vehicle displays an emergency light [be
79	79	appropriately marked as an official police vehicle].
80	80	SECTION 3. Section 284.070, Transportation Code, is amended
81	81	by amending Subsection (e) and adding Subsection (f) to read as
82	82	follows:
83	83	(e) An authorized emergency vehicle[, as defined by Section
84	84	541.201,] is exempt from payment of a toll imposed under this
85	85	chapter regardless of whether the vehicle is:
86	86	(1) responding to an emergency;
87	87	(2) displaying a flashing light; or
88	88	(3) marked as an emergency vehicle.
89	89	(f) In this section, "authorized emergency vehicle" has the
90	90	meaning assigned by Section 541.201.
91	91	SECTION 4. Section 366.178, Transportation Code, is amended
92	92	by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (j) to read as
93	93	follows:
94	94	(a) A motor vehicle other than an authorized emergency
95	95	vehicle[, as defined by Section 541.201,] that passes through a
96	96	toll collection facility, whether driven or towed, shall pay the
97	97	proper toll. The exemption from payment of a toll for an
98	98	authorized emergency vehicle applies regardless of whether the
99	99	vehicle is:
100	100	(1) responding to an emergency;
101	101	(2) displaying a flashing light; or
102	102	(3) marked as a police or emergency vehicle.
103	103	(j) In this section, "authorized emergency vehicle" has the
104	104	meaning assigned by Section 541.201.
105	105	SECTION 5. Sections 370.177(a) and (k), Transportation
106	106	Code, are amended to read as follows:
107	107	(a) Except as provided by Subsection (a-1), the operator of
108	108	a vehicle, other than an authorized emergency vehicle [as defined
109	109	by Section 541.201], that is driven or towed through a toll
110	110	collection facility of a turnpike project shall pay the proper
111	111	toll. The operator of a vehicle who drives or tows a vehicle
112	112	through a toll collection facility and does not pay the proper toll
113	113	commits an offense. An offense under this subsection is a
114	114	misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed $250. The exemption
115	115	from payment of a toll for an authorized emergency vehicle applies
116	116	regardless of whether the vehicle is:
117	117	(1) responding to an emergency;
118	118	(2) displaying a flashing light; or
119	119	(3) marked as an emergency vehicle.
120	120	(k) In this section:
121	121	(1) "Authorized emergency vehicle" has the meaning
122	122	assigned by Section 541.201.
123	123	(2) "Registered [, "registered] owner" means the owner
124	124	of a vehicle as shown on the vehicle registration records of the
125	125	department or the analogous department or agency of another state
126	126	or country.
127	127	SECTION 6. Section 170.001(a), Local Government Code, is
128	128	amended to read as follows:
129	129	(a) The commissioners court of a county may adopt rules
130	130	prohibiting or regulating the use of a privately owned motor
131	131	vehicle for the performance of county business or law enforcement
132	132	duties by a sheriff or constable or a deputy or employee of a
133	133	district attorney, criminal district attorney, county attorney,
134	134	medical examiner, sheriff, or constable.
135	135	SECTION 7. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
136	136	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
137	137	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
138	138	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
139	139	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
140	140	* * * * *