By: Carona S.B. No. 1097
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the establishment and determination of financial
responsibility for a motor vehicle; providing a penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 601.052, Transportation
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) Section 601.051 does not apply to:
(1) the operation of a motor vehicle that:
(A) is a former military vehicle or is at least 25
years old;
(B) is used only for exhibitions, club
activities, parades, and other functions of public interest and not
for regular transportation; and
(C) for which the owner files with the Texas
Department of Insurance [department] an affidavit, signed by the
owner, stating that the vehicle is a collector's item and used only
as described by Paragraph (B);
(2) the operation of a golf cart not required to be
registered under Section 502.0071 [502.284]; or
(3) a volunteer fire department for the operation of a
motor vehicle the title of which is held in the name of a volunteer
fire department.
SECTION 2. Section 601.053, Transportation Code, is amended
by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
follows:
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), an [An] operator
who does not exhibit evidence of financial responsibility under
Subsection (a) is presumed to have operated the vehicle in
violation of Section 601.051.
(c) Subsection (b) does not apply if the peace officer
determines through use of the verification program established
under Subchapter N that financial responsibility has been
established for the vehicle.
SECTION 3. Subsections (a), (d), and (e), Section 601.121,
Transportation Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) A person may establish financial responsibility by
filing with the Texas Department of Insurance [department] a bond:
(1) with at least two individual sureties, each of
whom owns real property in this state that is not exempt from
execution under the constitution or laws of this state;
(2) conditioned for payment in the amounts and under
the same circumstances as required under a motor vehicle liability
insurance policy;
(3) that is not cancelable before the sixth day after
the date that [the] department receives written notice of the
cancellation; and
(4) [accompanied by the fee required by Subsection
(e); and
[(5)] approved by that [the] department.
(d) On filing of a bond, the Texas Department of Insurance
[department] shall issue to the person who filed the bond a
certificate of compliance with this section.
(e) The Texas Department of Insurance [department] shall
file notice of the bond in the office of the county clerk of the
county in which the real property is located. The notice must
include a description of the property described in the bond. The
county clerk or the county clerk's deputy, on receipt of the notice,
shall acknowledge the notice and record it in the lien records. The
recording of the notice is notice in accordance with statutes
governing the recordation of a lien on real property.
SECTION 4. Subsection (c), Section 601.122, Transportation
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(c) The comptroller may not accept the deposit and the Texas
Department of Insurance [department] may not accept the certificate
unless the deposit or certificate is accompanied by evidence that
an unsatisfied judgment of any character against the person making
the deposit does not exist in the county in which the person making
the deposit resides.
SECTION 5. Subsection (c), Section 601.123, Transportation
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(c) On receipt of the deposit, the county judge shall issue
to the person making the deposit a certificate stating that a
deposit complying with this section has been made. The certificate
must be acknowledged by the sheriff of that county and filed with
the Texas Department of Insurance [department].
SECTION 6. Subsections (a), (b), and (d), Section 601.124,
Transportation Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) A person in whose name more than 25 motor vehicles are
registered may qualify as a self-insurer by obtaining a certificate
of self-insurance issued by the Texas Department of Insurance
[department] as provided by this section.
(b) The Texas Department of Insurance [department] may
issue a certificate of self-insurance to a person if:
(1) the person applies for the certificate; and
(2) that [the] department is satisfied that the person
has and will continue to have the ability to pay judgments obtained
against the person.
(d) The Texas Department of Insurance [department] for
cause may cancel a certificate of self-insurance after a hearing.
The self-insurer must receive at least five days' notice of the
hearing. Cause includes failure to pay a judgment before the 31st
day after the date the judgment becomes final.
SECTION 7. Subchapter N, Chapter 601, Transportation Code,
as added by Chapter 892 (S.B. 1670), Acts of the 79th Legislature,
Regular Session, 2005, is amended by adding Sections 601.455 and
601.456 to read as follows:
Sec. 601.455. EVIDENCE OF FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
PROVIDED BY ALTERNATE METHOD. The Texas Department of Insurance
shall provide the agent selected under Section 601.453 of this
subchapter with information regarding financial responsibility
that is established under Section 601.121, 601.122, 601.123, or
601.124 as necessary for the agent to carry out this subchapter,
subject to the agent's contract with the implementing agencies and
rules adopted under this subchapter.
Sec. 601.456. CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION; PENALTY.
(a) Except as otherwise provided by this subchapter or another law
of this state, information obtained by the agent under this
subchapter is confidential. The agent may use the information only
as authorized under this subchapter and is prohibited from using
the information for a commercial purpose.
(b) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly
discloses or uses information obtained under this subchapter for a
purpose that is not authorized under this subchapter or another law
of this state.
(c) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor.
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.