81R2572 JD-D
By: Carona S.B. No. 329
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the automatic suspension of the driver's license of a
person convicted of certain organized crime offenses; providing
penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 521.343(a), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Sections 521.342(b), 521.344(a),
(b), (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), and (i), 521.345, 521.346, 521.3465,
[and] 521.351, and 521.352, a suspension under this subchapter is
for one year.
SECTION 2. Subchapter O, Chapter 521, Transportation Code,
is amended by adding Section 521.352 to read as follows:
Sec. 521.352. SUSPENSION FOR CERTAIN ORGANIZED CRIME
OFFENSES. (a) A person's license is automatically suspended on
conviction of the person for an offense under Chapter 71, Penal
Code.
(b) The department may not issue a driver's license to a
person convicted of an offense specified in Subsection (a) who, on
the date of the conviction, did not hold a license.
(c) The period of license suspension or prohibition under
this section begins on a date set by the court that is not earlier
than the date of conviction or later than the 30th day after the
date of conviction. Except as provided by Subsection (d), the
period of license suspension or prohibition under this section
expires on the first anniversary of the date the suspension or
prohibition began.
(d) If on the date of conviction the defendant is younger
than 21 years of age, the period of license suspension or
prohibition continues until the later of:
(1) the first anniversary of the date the suspension
or prohibition began; or
(2) the date on which the defendant attains the age of
21.
SECTION 3. Section 521.457, Transportation Code, is amended
by amending Subsection (e) and adding Subsection (f-2) to read as
follows:
(e) Except as provided by Subsections (f), [and] (f-1), and
(f-2), an offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.
(f-2) If it is shown on the trial of an offense under this
section that the person operated a motor vehicle on a highway during
a period that the person's driver's license was suspended under
Section 521.352 or the person was prohibited from obtaining a
driver's license under that section, the offense is a state jail
felony.
SECTION 4. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies
only to an offense committed on or after September 1, 2009.
(b) An offense committed before September 1, 2009, is
covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of
this subsection, an offense was committed before September 1, 2009,
if any element of the offense was committed before that date.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.