82R22313 VOO-D
By: Gallego H.B. No. 132
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 132:
By: Fletcher C.S.H.B. No. 132
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the issuance of a driver's license to a person who is
younger than 24 years of age and who has not obtained a high school
diploma or its equivalent.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 521.201, Transportation Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 521.201. LICENSE INELIGIBILITY IN GENERAL. (a) The
department may not issue any license to a person who:
(1) is under 15 years of age;
(2) is under 18 years of age unless the person complies
with the requirements imposed by Section 521.204;
(3) is shown to be addicted to the use of alcohol, a
controlled substance, or another drug that renders a person
incapable of driving;
(4) holds a driver's license issued by this state or
another state or country that is revoked, canceled, or under
suspension;
(5) has been determined by a judgment of a court to be
totally incapacitated or incapacitated to act as the operator of a
motor vehicle unless the person has, by the date of the license
application, been:
(A) restored to capacity by judicial decree; or
(B) released from a hospital for the mentally
incapacitated on a certificate by the superintendent or
administrator of the hospital that the person has regained
capacity;
(6) the department determines to be afflicted with a
mental or physical disability or disease that prevents the person
from exercising reasonable and ordinary control over a motor
vehicle while operating the vehicle on a highway, except that a
person may not be refused a license because of a physical defect if
common experience shows that the defect does not incapacitate a
person from safely operating a motor vehicle;
(7) has been reported by a court under Section
521.3452 for failure to appear unless the court has filed an
additional report on final disposition of the case; [or]
(8) has been reported by a court for failure to appear
or default in payment of a fine for a misdemeanor that is not
covered under Subdivision (7) and that is punishable by a fine only,
including a misdemeanor under a municipal ordinance, committed by a
person who was under 17 years of age at the time of the alleged
offense, unless the court has filed an additional report on final
disposition of the case; or
(9) except as provided by Section 521.207, is younger
than 24 years of age and:
(A) has not obtained a high school diploma or its
equivalent; or
(B) is a student:
(i) enrolled in a public school or private
school, including a home school, who attended school for at least 80
days in the fall or spring semester preceding the date of the
driver's license application; or
(ii) who has been enrolled for at least 45
days, and is enrolled as of the date of the application, in a
program to prepare persons to pass the high school equivalency
exam.
(b) Subsection (a)(9) does not apply to the renewal of a
license issued before January 1, 2012.
SECTION 2. Subchapter J, Chapter 521, Transportation Code,
is amended by adding Section 521.207 to read as follows:
Sec. 521.207. RESTRICTIONS ON CERTAIN PERSONS WITHOUT HIGH
SCHOOL DIPLOMA OR EQUIVALENT. (a) The department may issue a
restricted license to an applicant who is younger than 24 years of
age and who has not obtained a high school diploma or its equivalent
that allows the holder to travel between the holder's residence and
another place for the purpose of:
(1) school;
(2) work;
(3) any school-sponsored educational or athletic
activity;
(4) any non-school-sponsored community service or
volunteer activity;
(5) religious services;
(6) essential household duties, including obtaining
child care; and
(7) obtaining emergency medical care.
(b) The department shall adopt rules to implement this
section, including:
(1) defining types of acceptable documentation of
obtaining a high school diploma or its equivalent, including
documentation from the applicant's parent or a person standing in
parental relation; and
(2) designing a license with a marking to indicate the
restricted status described by this section.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect January 1, 2012.