Texas 2011 - 82nd Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB959 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Wentworth S.B. No. 959
2	2	(Pickett)
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to toll collection and enforcement.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Section 228.001, Transportation Code, is amended
10	10	by adding Subdivision (3-a) to read as follows:
11	11	(3-a) "Registered owner" means an owner as defined in
12	12	Section 502.001.
13	13	SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 228.054, Transportation
14	14	Code, is amended to read as follows:
15	15	(a) Except as provided by Subsection (e) or Section
16	16	228.0545, the operator of a vehicle, other than an authorized
17	17	emergency vehicle, as defined by Section 541.201, that is driven or
18	18	towed through a toll collection facility shall pay the proper toll.
19	19	The exemption from payment of a toll for an authorized emergency
20	20	vehicle applies regardless of whether the vehicle is:
21	21	(1) responding to an emergency;
22	22	(2) displaying a flashing light; or
23	23	(3) marked as an emergency vehicle.
24	24	SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 228, Transportation Code,
25	25	is amended by adding Section 228.0545 to read as follows:
26	26	Sec. 228.0545. ALTERNATIVE TOLLING METHODS. (a) As an
27	27	alternative to requiring payment of a toll at the time a vehicle is
28	28	driven or towed through a toll collection facility, the department
29	29	may use video billing or other tolling methods to permit the
30	30	registered owner of the vehicle to pay the toll at a later date.
31	31	(b) The department may use automated enforcement technology
32	32	authorized under Section 228.058 to identify the registered owner
33	33	of the vehicle for purposes of billing, collection, and enforcement
34	34	activities.
35	35	(c) The department shall send by first class mail to the
36	36	registered owner of the vehicle a written notice of the total amount
37	37	due. The notice must specify the date, which may not be earlier
38	38	than the 30th day after the date the notice is mailed, by which the
39	39	amount due must be paid. The registered owner shall pay the amount
40	40	due on or before the date specified in the notice.
41	41	(d) The department shall send the notice required under
42	42	Subsection (c) and subsequent notices to:
43	43	(1) the registered owner's address as shown in the
44	44	vehicle registration records of the Texas Department of Motor
45	45	Vehicles or the analogous department or agency of another state or
46	46	country; or
47	47	(2) an alternate address provided by the owner or
48	48	derived through other reliable means.
49	49	SECTION 4. Subsections (a), (b), (d), (e), and (h), Section
50	50	228.055, Transportation Code, are amended to read as follows:
51	51	(a) In the event of nonpayment of the [proper] toll as
52	52	required by Section 228.054 or 228.0545, on issuance of a written
53	53	notice of nonpayment, the registered owner of the nonpaying vehicle
54	54	is liable for the payment of both the proper toll and an
55	55	administrative fee.
56	56	(b) The department may impose and collect the
57	57	administrative fee, so as to recover the cost of collecting the
58	58	unpaid toll, not to exceed $100. The department shall send a
59	59	written notice of nonpayment to the registered owner of the vehicle
60	60	at that owner's address as shown in the vehicle registration
61	61	records of the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles or the analogous
62	62	department or agency of another state or country or at an alternate
63	63	address provided by the owner or derived through other reliable
64	64	means. The notice of nonpayment shall be sent by first class mail
65	65	and may require payment not sooner than the 30th day after the date
66	66	the notice was mailed. The registered owner shall pay a separate
67	67	toll and administrative fee for each event of nonpayment under
68	68	Section 228.054 or 228.0545.
69	69	(d) It is an exception to the application of Subsection (a)
70	70	or (c) if the registered owner of the vehicle is a lessor of the
71	71	vehicle and not later than the 30th day after the date the notice of
72	72	nonpayment is mailed provides to the department:
73	73	(1) a copy of the rental, lease, or other contract
74	74	document covering the vehicle on the date of the nonpayment under
75	75	Section 228.054 or the date the vehicle was driven or towed through
76	76	a toll collection facility that results in a notice issued under
77	77	Section 228.0545, with the name and address of the lessee clearly
78	78	legible; or
79	79	(2) electronic data, in a format agreed on by the
80	80	department and the lessor, other than a photocopy or scan of a
81	81	rental or lease contract, that contains the information required
82	82	under Sections 521.460(c)(1), (2), and (3) covering the vehicle on
83	83	the date of the nonpayment under Section 228.054 or the date the
84	84	vehicle was driven or towed through a toll collection facility that
85	85	results in a notice issued under Section 228.0545.
86	86	(e) It is an exception to the application of Subsection (a)
87	87	or (c) if the registered owner of the vehicle transferred ownership
88	88	of the vehicle to another person before the event of nonpayment
89	89	under Section 228.054 occurred or before the date the vehicle was
90	90	driven or towed through a toll collection facility that results in a
91	91	notice issued under Section 228.0545, submitted written notice of
92	92	the transfer to the department in accordance with Section 520.023,
93	93	and, before the 30th day after the date the notice of nonpayment is
94	94	mailed, provides to the department the name and address of the
95	95	person to whom the vehicle was transferred. If the former owner of
96	96	the vehicle provides the required information within the period
97	97	prescribed, the department may send a notice of nonpayment to the
98	98	person to whom ownership of the vehicle was transferred at the
99	99	address provided by the former owner by first class mail before the
100	100	30th day after the date of receipt of the required information from
101	101	the former owner. The department may send all subsequent notices of
102	102	nonpayment associated with the vehicle to the person to whom
103	103	ownership of the vehicle was transferred at the address provided by
104	104	the former owner or an alternate address provided by the subsequent
105	105	owner or derived through other reliable means. The subsequent
106	106	owner of the vehicle for which the proper toll was not paid who is
107	107	mailed a written notice of nonpayment under this subsection and
108	108	fails to pay the proper toll and administrative fee within the time
109	109	specified by the notice of nonpayment commits an offense. The
110	110	subsequent owner shall pay a separate toll and administrative fee
111	111	for each event of nonpayment under Section 228.054 or 228.0545.
112	112	Each failure to pay a toll or administrative fee under this
113	113	subsection is a separate offense.
114	114	(h) Notwithstanding the requirement in Subsections (b),
115	115	(d-1), and (e) for payment of a separate administrative fee for each
116	116	event of nonpayment under Section 228.054 or 228.0545, the
117	117	department may impose one administrative fee that covers multiple
118	118	events of nonpayment [In this section, "registered owner" means
119	119	the owner of a vehicle as shown on the vehicle registration records
120	120	of the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles or the analogous
121	121	department or agency of another state or country].
122	122	SECTION 5. Subsection (b), Section 228.056, Transportation
123	123	Code, is amended to read as follows:
124	124	(b) In the prosecution of an offense under Section
125	125	228.055(c), (d-1), or (e):
126	126	(1) it is presumed that the notice of nonpayment was
127	127	received on the fifth day after the date of mailing;
128	128	(2) a computer record of the Texas Department of Motor
129	129	Vehicles of the registered owner of the vehicle is prima facie
130	130	evidence of its contents and that the defendant was the registered
131	131	owner of the vehicle when the underlying event of nonpayment under
132	132	Section 228.054 occurred or on the date the vehicle was driven or
133	133	towed through a toll collection facility that results in a notice
134	134	issued under Section 228.0545; and
135	135	(3) a copy of the rental, lease, or other contract
136	136	document, or the electronic data provided to the department under
137	137	Section 228.055(d), covering the vehicle on the date of the
138	138	underlying event of nonpayment under Section 228.054 or on the date
139	139	the vehicle was driven or towed through a toll collection facility
140	140	that results in a notice issued under Section 228.0545 is prima
141	141	facie evidence of its contents and that the defendant was the lessee
142	142	of the vehicle when the underlying event of nonpayment under
143	143	Section 228.054 occurred or when the vehicle was driven or towed
144	144	through a toll collection facility that results in a notice issued
145	145	under Section 228.0545.
146	146	SECTION 6. Section 228.057, Transportation Code, is amended
147	147	by adding Subsections (g) and (h) to read as follows:
148	148	(g) The department may, following closure of an electronic
149	149	toll collection customer account and at the request of the account
150	150	holder, refund the balance of funds in the account after
151	151	satisfaction of any outstanding tolls and fees.
152	152	(h) The department may enter into an agreement with a
153	153	governmental or private entity regarding the use of a transponder
154	154	issued by the department and the corresponding electronic toll
155	155	collection customer account to pay for parking services offered by
156	156	the entity.
157	157	SECTION 7. Subsection (b), Section 228.058, Transportation
158	158	Code, is amended to read as follows:
159	159	(b) Automated enforcement technology approved by the
160	160	department under Subsection (a) may be used only for the purpose of
161	161	producing, depicting, photographing, or recording an image that
162	162	depicts that portion of a vehicle necessary to establish the
163	163	classification of vehicle and the proper toll to be charged, the
164	164	license plate number, and the state of registration, including an
165	165	image:
166	166	(1) of a license plate attached to the front or rear of
167	167	a vehicle; and
168	168	(2) showing the vehicle dimensions, the presence of a
169	169	trailer, and the number of axles.
170	170	SECTION 8. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
171	171	an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An
172	172	offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed
173	173	by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the
174	174	former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of
175	175	this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of
176	176	this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date.
177	177	SECTION 9. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
178	178	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
179	179	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
180	180	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
181	181	Act takes effect September 1, 2011.