Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1097 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Carona S.B. No. 1097
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to the establishment and determination of financial
7	7	responsibility for a motor vehicle; providing a penalty.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 601.052, Transportation
10	10	Code, is amended to read as follows:
11	11	(a) Section 601.051 does not apply to:
12	12	(1) the operation of a motor vehicle that:
13	13	(A) is a former military vehicle or is at least 25
14	14	years old;
15	15	(B) is used only for exhibitions, club
16	16	activities, parades, and other functions of public interest and not
17	17	for regular transportation; and
18	18	(C) for which the owner files with the Texas
19	19	Department of Insurance [department] an affidavit, signed by the
20	20	owner, stating that the vehicle is a collector's item and used only
21	21	as described by Paragraph (B);
22	22	(2) the operation of a golf cart not required to be
23	23	registered under Section 502.0071 [502.284]; or
24	24	(3) a volunteer fire department for the operation of a
25	25	motor vehicle the title of which is held in the name of a volunteer
26	26	fire department.
27	27	SECTION 2. Section 601.053, Transportation Code, is amended
28	28	by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
29	29	follows:
30	30	(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), an [An] operator
31	31	who does not exhibit evidence of financial responsibility under
32	32	Subsection (a) is presumed to have operated the vehicle in
33	33	violation of Section 601.051.
34	34	(c) Subsection (b) does not apply if the peace officer
35	35	determines through use of the verification program established
36	36	under Subchapter N that financial responsibility has been
37	37	established for the vehicle.
38	38	SECTION 3. Subsections (a), (d), and (e), Section 601.121,
39	39	Transportation Code, are amended to read as follows:
40	40	(a) A person may establish financial responsibility by
41	41	filing with the Texas Department of Insurance [department] a bond:
42	42	(1) with at least two individual sureties, each of
43	43	whom owns real property in this state that is not exempt from
44	44	execution under the constitution or laws of this state;
45	45	(2) conditioned for payment in the amounts and under
46	46	the same circumstances as required under a motor vehicle liability
47	47	insurance policy;
48	48	(3) that is not cancelable before the sixth day after
49	49	the date that [the] department receives written notice of the
50	50	cancellation; and
51	51	(4) [accompanied by the fee required by Subsection
52	52	(e); and
53	53	[(5)] approved by that [the] department.
54	54	(d) On filing of a bond, the Texas Department of Insurance
55	55	[department] shall issue to the person who filed the bond a
56	56	certificate of compliance with this section.
57	57	(e) The Texas Department of Insurance [department] shall
58	58	file notice of the bond in the office of the county clerk of the
59	59	county in which the real property is located. The notice must
60	60	include a description of the property described in the bond. The
61	61	county clerk or the county clerk's deputy, on receipt of the notice,
62	62	shall acknowledge the notice and record it in the lien records. The
63	63	recording of the notice is notice in accordance with statutes
64	64	governing the recordation of a lien on real property.
65	65	SECTION 4. Subsection (c), Section 601.122, Transportation
66	66	Code, is amended to read as follows:
67	67	(c) The comptroller may not accept the deposit and the Texas
68	68	Department of Insurance [department] may not accept the certificate
69	69	unless the deposit or certificate is accompanied by evidence that
70	70	an unsatisfied judgment of any character against the person making
71	71	the deposit does not exist in the county in which the person making
72	72	the deposit resides.
73	73	SECTION 5. Subsection (c), Section 601.123, Transportation
74	74	Code, is amended to read as follows:
75	75	(c) On receipt of the deposit, the county judge shall issue
76	76	to the person making the deposit a certificate stating that a
77	77	deposit complying with this section has been made. The certificate
78	78	must be acknowledged by the sheriff of that county and filed with
79	79	the Texas Department of Insurance [department].
80	80	SECTION 6. Subsections (a), (b), and (d), Section 601.124,
81	81	Transportation Code, are amended to read as follows:
82	82	(a) A person in whose name more than 25 motor vehicles are
83	83	registered may qualify as a self-insurer by obtaining a certificate
84	84	of self-insurance issued by the Texas Department of Insurance
85	85	[department] as provided by this section.
86	86	(b) The Texas Department of Insurance [department] may
87	87	issue a certificate of self-insurance to a person if:
88	88	(1) the person applies for the certificate; and
89	89	(2) that [the] department is satisfied that the person
90	90	has and will continue to have the ability to pay judgments obtained
91	91	against the person.
92	92	(d) The Texas Department of Insurance [department] for
93	93	cause may cancel a certificate of self-insurance after a hearing.
94	94	The self-insurer must receive at least five days' notice of the
95	95	hearing. Cause includes failure to pay a judgment before the 31st
96	96	day after the date the judgment becomes final.
97	97	SECTION 7. Subchapter N, Chapter 601, Transportation Code,
98	98	as added by Chapter 892 (S.B. 1670), Acts of the 79th Legislature,
99	99	Regular Session, 2005, is amended by adding Sections 601.455 and
100	100	601.456 to read as follows:
101	101	Sec. 601.455. EVIDENCE OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
102	102	PROVIDED BY ALTERNATE METHOD. The Texas Department of Insurance
103	103	shall provide the agent selected under Section 601.453 of this
104	104	subchapter with information regarding financial responsibility
105	105	that is established under Section 601.121, 601.122, 601.123, or
106	106	601.124 as necessary for the agent to carry out this subchapter,
107	107	subject to the agent's contract with the implementing agencies and
108	108	rules adopted under this subchapter.
109	109	Sec. 601.456. CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION; PENALTY.
110	110	(a) Except as otherwise provided by this subchapter or another law
111	111	of this state, information obtained by the agent under this
112	112	subchapter is confidential. The agent may use the information only
113	113	as authorized under this subchapter and is prohibited from using
114	114	the information for a commercial purpose.
115	115	(b) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly
116	116	discloses or uses information obtained under this subchapter for a
117	117	purpose that is not authorized under this subchapter or another law
118	118	of this state.
119	119	(c) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor.
120	120	SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.