Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB512 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Carona S.B. No. 512
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to authorizing the Department of Public Safety of the
7	7	State of Texas to establish a driver record monitoring pilot
8	8	program and enter into contracts for the periodic reporting of
9	9	certain information in the department's driver's license files;
10	10	providing penalties.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 521, Transportation Code,
13	13	is amended by adding Section 521.060 to read as follows:
14	14	Sec. 521.060. DRIVER RECORD MONITORING PILOT PROGRAM.
15	15	(a) The department by rule may establish a driver record
16	16	monitoring pilot program. The term of the pilot program may not
17	17	exceed one year.
18	18	(b) Under the pilot program, the department may enter into a
19	19	contract with a person to provide driver record monitoring
20	20	services, as described by Subsection (c), and certain information
21	21	from the department's driver's license records to the person, if the
22	22	person:
23	23	(1) is an employer, an insurer, an insurance support
24	24	organization, an employer support organization, or an entity that
25	25	self-insures its motor vehicles; and
26	26	(2) is eligible to receive the information under
27	27	Chapter 730.
28	28	(c) A contract entered into by the department must require:
29	29	(1) the department, during the term of the contract,
30	30	to:
31	31	(A) monitor the driver record of each holder of a
32	32	driver's license issued by the department that is requested by the
33	33	person with whom the department has contracted;
34	34	(B) identify any change in the status of a
35	35	driver's license or any conviction for a traffic offense reported
36	36	to the department during the monitoring period; and
37	37	(C) periodically, as specified in the contract,
38	38	provide reports of those individuals identified as having a change
39	39	in status or convictions to the person with whom the department has
40	40	contracted; and
41	41	(2) the person with whom the department has
42	42	contracted:
43	43	(A) to purchase under Section 521.046 a copy of
44	44	the driver record of each individual identified in a report
45	45	provided under Subdivision (1)(C);
46	46	(B) to warrant that:
47	47	(i) the person will not directly or
48	48	indirectly disclose information received from the department under
49	49	the contract to a third party without the express written consent of
50	50	the department, except as required by law or legal process; and
51	51	(ii) if a disclosure is required by law or
52	52	legal process, the person will immediately notify the department so
53	53	that the department may seek to oppose, limit, or restrict the
54	54	required disclosure; and
55	55	(C) if the person is an insurance support
56	56	organization, to warrant that the person will not seek to obtain
57	57	information about a holder of a driver's license under the contract
58	58	unless the license holder is insured by a client of the
59	59	organization, and that the person will provide the department with
60	60	the name of each client to whom the insurance support organization
61	61	provides information received from the department under the
62	62	contract.
63	63	(d) The attorney general may file a suit against a person
64	64	with whom the department has contracted under this section for:
65	65	(1) injunctive relief to prevent or restrain the
66	66	person from violating a term of the contract or from directly or
67	67	indirectly disclosing information received from the department
68	68	under the contract in a manner that violates the terms of the
69	69	contract; or
70	70	(2) a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed $2,000
71	71	for each disclosure in violation of those terms.
72	72	(e) If the attorney general brings an action against a
73	73	person under Subsection (d) and an injunction is granted against
74	74	the person or the person is found liable for a civil penalty, the
75	75	attorney general may recover reasonable expenses, court costs,
76	76	investigative costs, and attorney's fees. Each day a violation
77	77	continues or occurs is a separate violation for purposes of
78	78	imposing a penalty under Subsection (d).
79	79	(f) A violation of the terms of a contract entered into with
80	80	the department by the person with whom the department has
81	81	contracted is a false, misleading, or deceptive act or practice
82	82	under Subchapter E, Chapter 17, Business & Commerce Code.
83	83	(g) A civil action brought under this section shall be filed
84	84	in a district court:
85	85	(1) in Travis County; or
86	86	(2) in any county in which the violation occurred.
87	87	(h) A person with whom the department has contracted under
88	88	this section commits an offense if the person directly or
89	89	indirectly discloses information received from the department
90	90	under the contract in a manner that violates the terms of the
91	91	contract. An offense under this subsection is a Class B
92	92	misdemeanor. If conduct constituting an offense under this
93	93	subsection also constitutes an offense under another law, the actor
94	94	may be prosecuted under this subsection, the other law, or both.
95	95	(i) The department shall impose a fee on each person with
96	96	whom the department contracts under this section for the services
97	97	provided by the department under the contract. The fee must be
98	98	reasonable and be not less than the amount necessary to allow the
99	99	department to recover all reasonable costs to the department
100	100	associated with entering into the contract and providing services
101	101	to the person under the contract, including direct, indirect, and
102	102	administrative costs and costs related to the development and
103	103	deployment of the pilot program.
104	104	(j) The department may establish a reasonable deadline by
105	105	which a person must apply to enter into a contract with the
106	106	department under this section and may not enter into a contract with
107	107	a person who fails to apply before that deadline.
108	108	(k) To the fullest extent practicable, the services of the
109	109	department under a contract entered into under this section shall
110	110	be provided by, through, or in conjunction with the interactive
111	111	system established under Section 521.055.
112	112	(l) At the conclusion of the term of the pilot program, and
113	113	on the recommendation of the department, the commission may
114	114	authorize the department to implement the pilot program as a
115	115	permanent program.
116	116	(m) Before the department recommends that the pilot program
117	117	be implemented as a permanent program, the department shall submit
118	118	to the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of
119	119	representatives, and each member of the legislature a report that
120	120	contains an analysis of the scope, effectiveness, and cost benefits
121	121	of the pilot program. The report must include:
122	122	(1) a list of each insurance support organization with
123	123	which the department has contracted under this section; and
124	124	(2) a list of each client to whom the insurance support
125	125	organization has provided information received from the department
126	126	under this section.
127	127	SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
128	128	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
129	129	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
130	130	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
131	131	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.