84R5252 AJZ-F
By: Turner of Harris H.B. No. 1567
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the offense of driving while license invalid.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 521.457(d), (e), (f), and (f-1),
Transportation Code, are amended to read as follows:
(d) Except as provided by Subsection (c), it is an
affirmative defense to prosecution of an offense, other than an
offense under Section 521.341, that the person did not receive
actual notice of a cancellation, suspension, revocation, or
prohibition order relating to the person's license. For purposes
of this section, actual notice is presumed if the notice was mailed
in accordance with law. A person may rebut the presumption of actual
notice established under this subsection by presenting evidence
that the person to whom the notice was mailed moved to a new
residence address on or before the date the notice was considered
received, unless evidence is presented that the notice was
forwarded to the person's new address.
(e) Except as provided by Subsections (f)[, (f-1),] and
(f-2), an offense under this section is a Class C misdemeanor.
(f) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor
if it is shown on the trial of the offense that [the person:
[(1) has previously been convicted of an offense under
this section or an offense under Section 601.371(a), as that law
existed before September 1, 2003; or
[(2) at the time of the offense, was operating the
motor vehicle in violation of Section 601.191.
[(f-1) If it is shown on the trial of an offense under this
section that] the license of the person has previously been
suspended as the result of an offense involving the operation of a
motor vehicle while intoxicated [, the offense is a Class B
misdemeanor].
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date 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 the
effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
before that date.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.