82R1239 JSC-D
By: Nelson S.B. No. 232
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to wearing a secure alcohol monitoring device as a
required condition of community supervision for certain
intoxication offenses.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 13, Article 42.12, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended by adding Subsections (o), (p), and (q) to
read as follows:
(o) A judge granting community supervision to a defendant
convicted of an offense under Section 49.04, 49.045, 49.05, 49.06,
49.065, 49.07, or 49.08, Penal Code, shall require as a condition of
community supervision that the defendant abstain from the
consumption of alcohol for:
(1) the period of community supervision; or
(2) if the period of community supervision is longer
than 60 days, the first 60 days of community supervision.
(p) The judge shall order a defendant who is required as a
condition of community supervision under Subsection (o) to abstain
from the consumption of alcohol to wear a secure alcohol monitoring
device that provides continuous remote alcohol monitoring and that
cannot be removed during the period the defendant is required to
abstain from the consumption of alcohol. The judge shall require
the defendant to obtain the device at the defendant's expense and
have the device secured to the defendant before the third business
day after the date the defendant is placed on community
supervision. The judge shall require the defendant to provide
evidence to the judge, not later than the fifth business day after
the date the defendant is placed on community supervision, that the
device is secured to the defendant. If the judge determines that
the defendant is unable to pay for the device, the judge may impose
a reasonable payment schedule the period for which does not exceed
twice the period the defendant is required to wear the device.
(q) The Department of Public Safety shall approve devices
for use under Subsection (p). If the department approves a device,
the department shall notify the manufacturer of the device of that
approval in writing. The manufacturer shall reimburse the
department for any cost incurred by the department in approving the
device. The department by rule shall establish general standards
for the calibration and maintenance of the devices. The
manufacturer or an authorized representative of the manufacturer of
an approved device is responsible for calibrating and maintaining
the device according to the standards established by the
department. Written notice of the approval of a device from the
department to a manufacturer is admissible in a civil or criminal
proceeding in this state. The department is not liable in a civil
or criminal proceeding that arises from the use of an approved
device.
SECTION 2. The Department of Public Safety shall adopt the
rules required by Section 13(q), Article 42.12, Code of Criminal
Procedure, as added by this Act, not later than December 1, 2011.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an offense committed on or after January 1, 2012. An offense
committed before January 1, 2012, 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 section, an offense
was committed before January 1, 2012, if any element of the offense
occurred before that date.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2011.