By: Hinojosa S.B. No. 1070
(Moody)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to allowing certain defendants to successfully complete
education at a substance abuse treatment facility in lieu of
attending an education program; changing required conditions of
community supervision for certain defendants.
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 amending Subsections (h) and (j) and
adding Subsection (o) to read as follows:
(h) If a person convicted of an offense under Sections
49.04-49.08, Penal Code, is placed on community supervision, the
judge shall require, as a condition of the community supervision,
that the defendant attend and successfully complete before the
181st day after the day community supervision is granted an
educational program jointly approved by the Department of State
Health Services [Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse], the
Department of Public Safety, the Traffic Safety Section of the
Texas Department of Transportation, and the community justice
assistance division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice
designed to rehabilitate persons who have driven while
intoxicated. The executive commissioner of the Health and Human
Services [Texas] Commission [on Alcohol and Drug Abuse] shall
publish the jointly approved rules and the Department of State
Health Services shall monitor, coordinate, and provide training to
persons providing the educational programs. The Department of
State Health Services [Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse]
is responsible for the administration of the certification of
approved educational programs and may charge a nonrefundable
application fee for the initial certification of approval and for
renewal of a certificate. The judge may waive the educational
program requirement or may grant an extension of time to
successfully complete the program that expires not later than one
year after the beginning date of the person's community
supervision, however, if the defendant by a motion in writing shows
good cause. In determining good cause, the judge may consider but
is not limited to: the defendant's school and work schedule, the
defendant's health, the distance that the defendant must travel to
attend an educational program, and the fact that the defendant
resides out of state, has no valid driver's license, or does not
have access to transportation. The judge shall waive the
educational program requirement if the defendant successfully
completes equivalent education at a residential treatment facility
under Subsection (o). The judge shall set out in the judgment the
finding of good cause for waiver or the finding that the defendant
has successfully completed equivalent education as provided by
Subsection (o), as applicable [in the judgment]. If a defendant is
required, as a condition of community supervision, to attend an
educational program or if the court waives the educational program
requirement or the defendant successfully completes equivalent
education under Subsection (o), the court clerk shall immediately
report that fact to the Department of Public Safety, on a form
prescribed by the department, for inclusion in the person's driving
record. If the court grants an extension of time in which the
person may complete the program, the court clerk shall immediately
report that fact to the Department of Public Safety on a form
prescribed by the department. The report must include the
beginning date of the person's community supervision. Upon the
person's successful completion of the educational program, the
person's instructor shall give notice to the Department of Public
Safety for inclusion in the person's driving record and to the
community supervision and corrections department. The community
supervision and corrections department shall then forward the
notice to the court clerk for filing. Upon release from a
residential treatment facility at which the person successfully
completed equivalent education under Subsection (o), at the request
of the court clerk, the director of the residential treatment
facility shall give notice to the Department of Public Safety for
inclusion in the person's driving record. If the Department of
Public Safety does not receive notice that a defendant required to
complete an educational program has successfully completed the
program within the period required by this section, as shown on
department records, the department shall revoke the defendant's
driver's license, permit, or privilege or prohibit the person from
obtaining a license or permit, as provided by Sections 521.344(e)
and (f), Transportation Code. The Department of Public Safety may
not reinstate a license suspended under this subsection unless the
person whose license was suspended makes application to the
department for reinstatement of the person's license and pays to
the department a reinstatement fee of $100. The Department of
Public Safety shall remit all fees collected under this subsection
to the comptroller for deposit in the general revenue fund. This
subsection does not apply to a defendant if a jury recommends
community supervision for the defendant and also recommends that
the defendant's driver's license not be suspended.
(j) The judge shall require a defendant who is punished
under Section 49.09, Penal Code, as a condition of community
supervision, to attend and successfully complete an educational
program for repeat offenders approved by the Department of State
Health Services [Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse]. The
executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services [Texas]
Commission [on Alcohol and Drug Abuse] shall adopt rules and the
Department of State Health Services shall monitor, coordinate, and
provide training to persons providing the educational programs.
The Department of State Health Services [Texas Commission on
Alcohol and Drug Abuse] is responsible for the administration of
the certification of approved educational programs and may charge a
nonrefundable application fee for initial certification of
approval or for renewal of the certification. The judge may waive
the educational program requirement [only] if the defendant by a
motion in writing shows good cause. In determining good cause, the
judge may consider the defendant's school and work schedule, the
defendant's health, the distance that the defendant must travel to
attend an educational program, and whether the defendant resides
out of state or does not have access to transportation. The judge
shall waive the educational program requirement if the defendant
successfully completes equivalent education at a residential
treatment facility under Subsection (o). The judge shall set out in
the judgment the finding of good cause for waiver or the finding
that the defendant has successfully completed equivalent education
as provided by Subsection (o), as applicable [in the judgment]. If
a defendant is required, as a condition of community supervision,
to attend an educational program, the court clerk shall immediately
report that fact to the Department of Public Safety, on a form
prescribed by the department, for inclusion in the defendant's
driving record. The report must include the beginning date of the
defendant's community supervision. On the defendant's successful
completion of the educational program for repeat offenders, the
defendant's instructor shall give notice to the Department of
Public Safety for inclusion in the defendant's driving record and
to the community supervision and corrections department. The
community supervision and corrections department shall then
forward the notice to the court clerk for filing. If the Department
of Public Safety does not receive notice that a defendant required
to complete an educational program has successfully completed the
program for repeat offenders within the period required by the
judge, as shown on department records, the department shall revoke
the defendant's driver's license, permit, or privilege or prohibit
the defendant from obtaining a license or permit, as provided by
Sections 521.344(e) and (f), Transportation Code.
(o) A judge shall waive the educational requirement under
Subsection (h) or (j) for a defendant who is required to receive
treatment as a resident of a substance abuse treatment facility as a
condition of community supervision if the defendant successfully
completes equivalent education while the defendant is confined to
the residential treatment facility. The Department of State Health
Services shall approve equivalent education provided at substance
abuse treatment facilities and the executive commissioner of the
Health and Human Services Commission shall adopt rules to implement
this subsection. For purposes of this subsection, a substance
abuse treatment facility includes:
(1) a substance abuse treatment facility or substance
abuse felony punishment facility operated by the Texas Department
of Criminal Justice under Section 493.009, Government Code;
(2) a community corrections facility, as defined by
Section 509.001, Government Code; or
(3) a chemical dependency treatment facility licensed
under Chapter 464, Health and Safety Code.
SECTION 2. Sections 521.374, 521.375, and 521.376,
Transportation Code, are amended to read as follows:
Sec. 521.374. EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM OR EQUIVALENT EDUCATION.
(a) A person whose license is suspended under Section 521.372 may:
(1) attend an educational program, approved by the
Department of State Health Services [Texas Commission on Alcohol
and Drug Abuse] under rules adopted by the executive commissioner
of the Health and Human Services Commission [commission] and the
department, that is designed to educate persons on the dangers of
drug abuse; or
(2) successfully complete education on the dangers of
drug abuse approved by the Department of State Health Services as
equivalent to the educational program described by Subdivision (1),
while the person is a resident of a facility for the treatment of
drug abuse or chemical dependency, including:
(A) a substance abuse treatment facility or
substance abuse felony punishment facility operated by the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice under Section 493.009, Government
Code;
(B) a community corrections facility, as defined
by Section 509.001, Government Code; or
(C) a chemical dependency treatment facility
licensed under Chapter 464, Health and Safety Code.
(b) The period of suspension or prohibition under Section
521.372(c) continues for an indefinite period until the individual
successfully completes the educational program or is released from
the residential treatment facility at which the individual
successfully completed equivalent education, as applicable.
Sec. 521.375. JOINT ADOPTION OF RULES. (a) The executive
commissioner of the Health and Human Services [Texas] Commission
[on Alcohol and Drug Abuse] and the department shall jointly adopt
rules for the qualification and approval of:
(1) providers of educational programs under Section
521.374(a)(1); and
(2) equivalent education provided in a residential
treatment facility described by Section 521.374(a)(2) [521.374].
(b) The Department of State Health Services [Texas
Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse] shall publish the jointly
adopted rules.
Sec. 521.376. DUTIES OF DEPARTMENT OF STATE HEALTH SERVICES
[TEXAS COMMISSION ON ALCOHOL AND DRUG ABUSE]; APPLICATION AND
RENEWAL FEES. The Department of State Health Services [Texas
Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse]:
(1) shall monitor, coordinate, and provide training
to:
(A) persons who provide educational programs
under Section 521.374(a)(1) [521.374]; and
(B) residential treatment facilities described
by Section 521.374(a)(2) providing equivalent education;
(2) shall administer the approval of the [those]
educational programs and the equivalent education provided in a
residential treatment facility; and
(3) may charge a nonrefundable application fee to the
provider of an educational program under Section 521.374(a)(1) for:
(A) initial certification of approval; and
(B) renewal of the certification.
SECTION 3. Section 521.377(a), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The department, on payment of the applicable fee, shall
reinstate a person's license or, if the person otherwise qualifies
for a license, issue the license, if:
(1) the department receives notification from the
clerk of the court in which the person was convicted that the person
has successfully completed an educational program under Section
521.374(a)(1) or equivalent education in a residential treatment
facility under Section 521.374(a)(2) [this subchapter]; and
(2) the person's driver's license has been suspended
or license application denied for at least the period provided by
Section 521.372(c).
SECTION 4. (a) The change in law made by this Act to
Section 13, Article 42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, applies to a
defendant placed on community supervision on or after the effective
date of this Act, regardless of whether the offense for which the
defendant was placed on community supervision occurred before, on,
or after that date.
(b) The change in law made by this Act to Subchapter P,
Chapter 521, Transportation Code, applies to a person whose
driver's license is suspended on final conviction of an offense on
or after the effective date of this Act, regardless of whether the
offense occurred before, on, or after that date.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.