H.B. No. 1517
AN ACT
relating to the disposition of fines for traffic violations
collected by certain counties and municipalities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 542.402, Transportation Code, is amended
by amending Subsections (a), (c), and (e) and adding Subsections
(b-1), (b-2), (d-1), (f), and (g) to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b-1), a [A]
municipality or county shall use a fine collected for a violation of
a highway law in this title to:
(1) construct and maintain roads, bridges, and
culverts in the municipality or county;
(2) enforce laws regulating the use of highways by
motor vehicles; and
(3) defray the expense of county traffic officers.
(b-1) Subject to Subsection (b-2), a county may use a fine
collected for a violation of a highway law as the county determines
appropriate if:
(1) the county has a population of less than 5,000; and
(2) the commissioners court of the county by
resolution elects to spend the revenue in a manner other than as
provided by Subsection (a).
(b-2) In each fiscal year, a county described by Subsection
(b-1) may retain, from fines collected for violations of this title
and from special expenses collected under Article 45.051, Code of
Criminal Procedure, in cases in which a violation of this title is
alleged, an amount equal to 30 percent of the county's revenue for
the preceding fiscal year from all sources, other than federal
funds and bond proceeds, as shown by an audit performed under
Chapter 115, Local Government Code. After a county has retained
that amount, the county shall send to the comptroller any portion of
a fine or a special expense collected that exceeds $1.
(c) The comptroller shall enforce Subsections [Subsection]
(b) and (b-2).
(d-1) In a fiscal year in which a county retains from fines
and special expenses collected for violations of this title an
amount equal to at least 20 percent of the county's revenue for the
preceding fiscal year from all sources other than federal funds and
bond proceeds, not later than the 120th day after the last day of
the county's fiscal year, the county shall send to the comptroller:
(1) a copy of the county's financial statement; and
(2) a report that shows the total amount collected for
that fiscal year from fines and special expenses under Subsection
(b-1).
(e) If an audit is conducted by the comptroller under
Subsection (c) and it is determined that the municipality or county
is retaining more than 20 percent of the amounts under Subsection
(b) or (b-2), as applicable, and has not complied with Subsection
(d) or (d-1), as applicable, the municipality or county shall pay
the costs incurred by the comptroller in conducting the audit.
(f) A municipality may include the revenue generated from
services provided in the municipality by a utility company
operating within the municipality as municipal revenue for a fiscal
year under Subsection (b) if:
(1) the municipality has a population of more than
1,000 but less than 1,200; and
(2) part of the municipality's boundary is a river that
forms part of the boundary between two counties.
(g) This subsection and Subsection (f) expire on September
1, 2021.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act in amending
Section 542.402(e), Transportation Code, and in adding Sections
542.402(b-2) and (d-1), Transportation Code, applies only to the
fiscal year of a county that begins on or after the effective date
of this Act.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1517 was passed by the House on May 5,
2011, by the following vote: Yeas 142, Nays 4, 1 present, not
voting; that the House refused to concur in Senate amendments to
H.B. No. 1517 on May 26, 2011, and requested the appointment of a
conference committee to consider the differences between the two
houses; and that the House adopted the conference committee report
on H.B. No. 1517 on May 29, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 140,
Nays 3, 1 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1517 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 24, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 29, Nays
1
; at the request of the House, the Senate appointed a conference
committee to consider the differences between the two houses; and
that the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.B. No.
1517 on May 28, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor