By: Watson S.B. No. 1792
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to remedies for nonpayment of tolls; for the use of certain
toll projects; authorizing a fee and certain investigative and
court costs; creating an offense.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 370.177, Transportation Code, is amended
by adding Subsection (c-1) to read as follows:
(c-1) The notice under Subsection (c) must include a warning
that the failure to pay the amounts specified in the notice may
result in the authority's exercise of habitual violator remedies
under Subchapter L.
SECTION 2. Subchapter E, Chapter 370, Transportation Code,
is amended by adding Section 370.1771 to read as follows:
Sec. 370.1771. NONPAYMENT BY VEHICLES NOT REGISTERED IN
THIS STATE. (a) An authority may, in lieu of mailing a written
notice of nonpayment under Section 370.177(c), serve with a written
notice of nonpayment in person an owner of a vehicle that is not
registered in this state, including the owner of a vehicle
registered in another state of the United States, the United
Mexican States, a state of the United Mexican States, or another
country or territory. A notice of nonpayment may also be served by
an employee of a governmental entity operating an international
bridge at the time a vehicle with a record of nonpayment seeks to
enter or leave this state.
(b) Each written notice of nonpayment issued under
Subsection (a) shall include a warning that the failure to pay the
amounts in the notice may result in the authority's exercise of the
habitual violator remedies under Section 370.455.
(c) A person who is served a written notice of nonpayment
under Subsection (a) and fails to pay the proper toll and
administrative fee within the time specified in the notice commits
an offense. Each failure to pay a toll or administrative fee under
this subsection is a separate offense.
(d) An offense under Subsection (c) is a misdemeanor
punishable by a fine not to exceed $250. The court in which a person
is convicted of an offense under this section shall also collect the
proper toll and administrative fee and forward the toll and fee to
the authority.
(e) Section 370.177(e) applies to an offense under
Subsection (c), except that the person must provide the contract
document or electronic data not later than the 30th day after the
date notice is served under Subsection (a).
(f) Sections 370.177(i) and (j) apply to an offense under
this section.
SECTION 3. Chapter 370, Transportation Code, is amended by
adding Subchapter L to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER L. HABITUAL VIOLATOR REMEDIES
Sec. 370.451. NOTICE OF INTENTION TO SEEK ADMINISTRATIVE
DECISION REGARDING HABITUAL VIOLATOR REMEDIES. (a) An authority
may seek an administrative decision to determine whether habitual
violator remedies under this subchapter may be exercised against
the registered owner of a vehicle if the authority sends to the
owner:
(1) one or more notices of nonpayment containing the
warning under Section 370.177(c-1) indicating that a vehicle or
vehicles of the owner incurred 100 or more tolls that were not paid
in full by the dates specified in the notices and that remain not
fully paid; and
(2) notice of the authority's intent to seek an
administrative decision by first class mail to:
(A) the last address of the owner known to the
authority; or
(B) the owner's address as recorded in the Texas
Department of Motor Vehicles vehicle registration records.
(b) A notice issued under Subsection (a)(2) must:
(1) include the total amount of unpaid tolls and fees
not paid in full as specified in one or more notices of nonpayment;
and
(2) advise the registered owner that:
(A) the registered owner is entitled to a hearing
under Section 370.452 to contest a proposed administrative
decision; and
(B) the authority may exercise habitual violator
remedies against the owner if the administrative decision
authorizes the exercise of those remedies, and the administrative
decision will remain in effect until all unpaid tolls and fees owed
to the authority by the owner are paid or are otherwise addressed to
the satisfaction of the authority in the authority's sole
discretion.
Sec. 370.452. HEARING. (a) A registered owner may, not
later than the 30th day after the date of the notice under Section
370.451, request a hearing on the issue of whether the authority may
exercise habitual violator remedies.
(b) An authority shall by written policy establish a hearing
process under this section. The policy must:
(1) specify issues that are germane to a hearing;
(2) include reasonable rules of procedure;
(3) include the process through which an
administrative decision is issued;
(4) prohibit an administrative decision from going
into effect before the opportunity for a hearing has expired;
(5) require that a hearing officer be an independent
contractor retained by the authority solely to serve as a hearing
officer;
(6) prohibit compensation of the hearing officer by
the authority that is related to the outcome of the hearings before
the hearing officer;
(7) provide that the registered owner has a right to:
(A) be represented by an attorney; and
(B) offer witnesses and evidence, cross-examine
witnesses, and make opening and closing statements; and
(8) vest the hearing officer with discretion to
control the scope and duration of the proceedings and to exclude
oral or written evidence that the hearing officer determines is
irrelevant, immaterial, or unduly repetitious.
(c) A registered owner who fails to request a hearing within
the time specified or appear at a scheduled hearing is considered to
have waived the right to a hearing and consented to the
administrative decision, and:
(1) the hearing officer shall issue an administrative
decision authorizing the exercise of habitual violator remedies
under this subchapter if the hearing officer makes the findings
described by Section 370.453(a); and
(2) if the hearing officer issues an administrative
decision authorizing the exercise of habitual violator remedies,
the authority may exercise the habitual violator remedies without
further proceedings or action.
Sec. 370.453. ADMINISTRATIVE DECISION. (a) A hearing
officer may issue an administrative decision authorizing the
authority to exercise habitual violator remedies only if a
preponderance of the evidence demonstrates that:
(1) one or more notices of nonpayment containing the
warning under Section 370.177(c-1) were sent to the registered
owner indicating that a vehicle or vehicles of the owner incurred
100 or more unpaid authority tolls, not including any unpaid tolls
for which the defense of theft of the vehicle has been proven under
Section 370.177(j);
(2) the vehicle or vehicles were owned by the
registered owner at the time of passage through a toll collection
facility; and
(3) the amounts in the notice or notices of nonpayment
were not paid in full by the dates specified in the notices and
remain not fully paid.
(b) Proof under Subsection (a) may be by testimony of a
peace officer or authority employee, video surveillance, other
evidence establishing that a vehicle owned by a registered owner
passed through a toll collection facility, or any other reasonable
evidence, including, for the purposes of pursuing habitual violator
remedies against a lessee under Section 370.457, a copy of a
contract document or electronic data described by Section
370.177(e).
Sec. 370.454. APPEAL. (a) A registered owner may appeal an
administrative decision authorizing the exercise of habitual
violator remedies by:
(1) filing, not later than the 30th day after the date
on which the decision is rendered, a petition with the clerk of a
district court in the county in which the authority's
administrative offices are located; and
(2) paying the costs required by law for that court.
(b) The court in which an appeal petition is filed shall
schedule a hearing and notify each party of the date, time, and
place of the hearing.
(c) Neither the filing of the appeal petition nor service of
notice of the appeal stays the authority's exercise of the habitual
violator remedies unless the person who files the appeal posts a
bond with the authority issued by a sufficient surety in the total
amount of unpaid tolls and fees owed by the registered owner to the
authority.
Sec. 370.455. HABITUAL VIOLATOR REMEDY: CRIMINAL TRESPASS.
(a) When an administrative decision authorizing the exercise of
habitual violator remedies is in effect, the authority may provide
the registered owner by any means the notice required under Section
30.05, Penal Code, for the offense of criminal trespass, including
by service on the registered owner by a peace officer who stops or
detains a vehicle for a traffic or other violation or who renders
aid to the vehicle. The notice may forbid the registered owner's
entry onto any portion of a turnpike project designated by the
authority as a controlled-access toll road under Section 370.179,
and the owner commits an offense under Section 30.05, Penal Code, by
the owner's entry onto the turnpike project without effective
consent.
(b) In addition to an authority's exercise of its rights
under Subsection (a) against a registered owner, the authority may
exercise those rights against a person who drives a vehicle owned by
the registered owner by providing the driver with the criminal
trespass notice described in Subsection (a). The driver commits an
offense under Section 30.05, Penal Code, by the driver's subsequent
entry onto the portion of the turnpike project described in the
notice while driving the vehicle owned by the registered owner.
(c) Nothing in this section limits an authority's rights
under Section 30.05, Penal Code.
Sec. 370.456. HABITUAL VIOLATOR REMEDY: REFUSAL TO REGISTER
VEHICLE. (a) An authority may notify a county assessor-collector
or the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles under Section 502.011
that the owner of a vehicle is subject to an administrative decision
authorizing the exercise of habitual violator remedies by the
authority.
(b) For the purposes of this section, a vehicle is
considered to be owned by a person if the person holds legal title
to the vehicle, regardless of whether the person obtains legal
title before or after an administrative decision is issued.
Sec. 370.457. HABITUAL VIOLATOR REMEDIES AGAINST LESSEE OF
VEHICLE. (a) An authority may seek an administrative decision
authorizing the exercise of habitual violator remedies against a
lessee of a vehicle and not the registered owner if the authority,
as authorized under Section 370.177(e-1), sends to the lessee one
or more notices of nonpayment containing the warning under Section
370.177(c-1) indicating that a vehicle or vehicles of the owner
incurred 100 or more tolls that:
(1) were not paid in full by the dates specified in the
notice or notices and that remain not fully paid; and
(2) were incurred during the period of the lease as
shown in the contract document or electronic data submitted to the
authority under Section 370.177(e).
(b) An authority seeking an administrative decision against
a lessee under Subsection (a) shall use the procedures of this
subchapter as if the lessee were the registered owner.
Sec. 370.458. HABITUAL VIOLATOR REMEDIES AGAINST OWNERS OF
VEHICLES NOT REGISTERED IN THIS STATE. (a) An authority may seek an
administrative decision under Section 370.453 to determine whether
habitual violator remedies under Section 370.455 may be exercised
against a person described by Section 370.1771(a) if:
(1) the person is served with five or more written
notices of nonpayment under Section 370.1771(a) and the amount
owing under the notices was not paid in full by the dates specified
in the notices and remains not fully paid; and
(2) notice of the authority's intent to seek an
administrative decision containing the information under Section
370.451(b) was served on the person in the manner described by
Section 370.1771(a) for a notice of nonpayment.
(b) A person described by Section 370.1771(a) may request a
hearing under Section 370.452 not later than the 30th day after the
date of the notice under Subsection (a)(2).
(c) In making an administrative decision under Section
370.453 against a person described by Section 370.1771(a), a
hearing officer must find that the requirements of Subsection
(a)(1) have been meet in lieu of the finding otherwise required
under Section 370.453(a)(1).
Sec. 370.459. USE OF HABITUAL VIOLATOR REMEDIES OPTIONAL.
An authority's use of habitual violator remedies under this
subchapter is optional, and nothing in this subchapter prohibits an
authority from exercising any other enforcement remedies available
under this chapter or other law, including Section 370.177(l).
SECTION 4. Subchapter A, Chapter 502, Transportation Code,
is amended by adding Section 502.011 to read as follows:
Sec. 502.011. REFUSAL TO REGISTER VEHICLE FOR NONPAYMENT OF
TOLL OR ADMINISTRATIVE FEE. (a) A county assessor-collector or the
department shall refuse to register or renew the registration of a
motor vehicle if it has received written notice from a regional
mobility authority that the owner of the vehicle is subject to an
administrative decision under Section 370.453 that authorizes the
use of habitual violator remedies against the owner.
(b) A regional mobility authority shall notify a county
assessor-collector or the department, as applicable, that:
(1) a person for whom the assessor-collector or the
department has refused to register a vehicle is no longer subject to
an administrative decision under Section 370.453; or
(2) an appeal of an administrative decision under
Section 370.454 has been perfected and the appellant has posted a
bond sufficient to stay the authority's exercise of habitual
violator remedies pending the appeal.
SECTION 5. 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, 2013.