By: Wray (Senate Sponsor - RodrÃguez) H.B. No. 3272
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 10, 2017;
May 12, 2017, read first time and referred to Committee on
Transportation; May 17, 2017, reported favorably by the following
vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; May 17, 2017, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the suspension, revocation, or cancellation of a
driver's license or personal identification certificate and to
certain conduct constituting contempt of court that may result in
the suspension or denial of a driver's license.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Article 45.050, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
Art. 45.050. FAILURE TO PAY FINE; FAILURE TO APPEAR;
CONTEMPT: JUVENILES.
SECTION 2. Article 45.050(b), Code of Criminal Procedure,
is amended to read as follows:
(b) A justice or municipal court may not order the
confinement of a child for:
(1) the failure to pay all or any part of a fine or
costs imposed for the conviction of an offense punishable by fine
only; [or]
(2) the failure to appear for an offense committed by
the child; or
(3) contempt of another order of a justice or
municipal court.
SECTION 3. Section 521.292(a), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The department shall suspend the person's license if the
department determines that the person:
(1) has operated a motor vehicle on a highway while the
person's license was suspended, canceled, disqualified, or
revoked, or without a license after an application for a license was
denied;
(2) is a habitually reckless or negligent operator of
a motor vehicle;
(3) is a habitual violator of the traffic laws;
(4) has permitted the unlawful or fraudulent use of
the person's license;
(5) has committed an offense in another state or
Canadian province that, if committed in this state, would be
grounds for suspension;
(6) has been convicted of two or more separate
offenses of a violation of a restriction imposed on the use of the
license;
(7) has been responsible as a driver for any accident
resulting in serious personal injury or serious property damage;
(8) is under 18 years of age [the holder of a
provisional license issued under Section 521.123] and has been
convicted of two or more moving violations committed within a
12-month period; or
(9) has committed an offense under Section 545.421.
SECTION 4. Section 521.294, Transportation Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 521.294. DEPARTMENT'S DETERMINATION FOR LICENSE
REVOCATION. The department shall revoke the person's license if
the department determines that the person:
(1) is incapable of safely operating a motor vehicle;
(2) has not complied with the terms of a citation
issued by a jurisdiction that is a party to the Nonresident Violator
Compact of 1977 for a traffic violation to which that compact
applies;
(3) has failed to provide medical records or has
failed to undergo medical or other examinations as required by a
panel of the medical advisory board;
(4) has failed to pass an examination required by the
director under this chapter; or
(5) [has been reported by a court under Section
521.3452 for failure to appear unless the court files an additional
report on final disposition of the case;
[(6) has been reported within the preceding two years
by a justice or municipal court for failure to appear or for a
default in payment of a fine for a misdemeanor punishable only by
fine, other than a failure reported under Section 521.3452,
committed by a person who is at least 14 years of age but younger
than 17 years of age when the offense was committed, unless the
court files an additional report on final disposition of the case;
or
[(7)] has committed an offense in another state or
Canadian province that, if committed in this state, would be
grounds for revocation.
SECTION 5. Section 521.300, Transportation Code, is amended
by adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
(a-1) A hearing under this subchapter may be conducted by
telephone or video conference call if the presiding officer
provides notice to the affected parties.
SECTION 6. Section 521.314, Transportation Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 521.314. CANCELLATION AUTHORITY. The department may
cancel a license or certificate if it determines that the holder:
(1) is [was] not entitled to the license or
certificate; [or]
(2) failed to give required information in the
application for the license or certificate; or
(3) paid the required fee for the license or
certificate by check or credit card that was returned to the
department or not honored by the funding institution or credit card
company due to insufficient funds, a closed account, or any other
reason.
SECTION 7. The changes in law made by this Act to Sections
521.292, 521.294, and 521.314, Transportation Code, apply only to a
determination to suspend, revoke, or cancel a driver's license or
personal identification certificate made by the Department of
Public Safety on or after the effective date of this Act. A
determination to suspend, revoke, or cancel a driver's license or
personal identification certificate made before the effective date
of this Act is governed by the law in effect when the determination
was made, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
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