| 2 | + | (In the Senate - Filed March 8, 2017; March 21, 2017, read |
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| 3 | + | first time and referred to Committee on Transportation; |
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| 4 | + | April 20, 2017, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 8, |
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| 5 | + | Nays 0; April 20, 2017, sent to printer.) |
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| 6 | + | Click here to see the committee vote |
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| 2 | 7 | | |
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| 3 | 8 | | |
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| 4 | 9 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 5 | 10 | | AN ACT |
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| 6 | 11 | | relating to the offense of operating certain vehicles without a |
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| 7 | 12 | | license plate. |
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| 8 | 13 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 9 | 14 | | SECTION 1. Section 504.943, Transportation Code, is amended |
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| 10 | 15 | | by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (b-1) to read as |
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| 11 | 16 | | follows: |
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| 12 | 17 | | (b) A person commits an offense if the person operates on a |
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| 13 | 18 | | public highway during a registration period a road tractor, a |
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| 14 | 19 | | motorcycle, a trailer, a [or] semitrailer, or a motor vehicle |
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| 15 | 20 | | equipped by the manufacturer with not more than one area to display |
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| 16 | 21 | | a license plate that does not display a license plate that: |
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| 17 | 22 | | (1) has been assigned by the department for the |
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| 18 | 23 | | period; and |
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| 19 | 24 | | (2) complies with department rules regarding the |
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| 20 | 25 | | placement of license plates. |
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| 21 | 26 | | (b-1) In this section, "area to display a license plate" |
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| 22 | 27 | | means a feature of the exterior front or rear of a motor vehicle to |
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| 23 | 28 | | which a person can fasten a license plate as required by rules |
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| 24 | 29 | | regarding the placement of license plates adopted by the board |
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| 25 | 30 | | under Section 504.010(c). The term does not include a feature if a |
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| 26 | 31 | | person can only fasten a license plate to the feature after drilling |
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| 27 | 32 | | through the exterior of the vehicle. |
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| 28 | 33 | | SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
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| 29 | 34 | | to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. |
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| 30 | 35 | | An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is |
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| 31 | 36 | | governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, |
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| 32 | 37 | | and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For |
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| 33 | 38 | | purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the |
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| 34 | 39 | | effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred |
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| 35 | 40 | | before that date. |
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| 36 | 41 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017. |
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