Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB333 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	85R2056 GCB-D
2	2	By: West S.B. No. 333
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the administration of educational programs for persons
8	8	placed on community supervision for certain intoxication offenses.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Article 42A.403, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
11	11	amended by amending Subsections (a) and (d) and adding Subsection
12	12	(a-1) to read as follows:
13	13	(a) A judge who places on community supervision a defendant
14	14	convicted of an offense under Sections 49.04-49.08, Penal Code,
15	15	shall require as a condition of community supervision that the
16	16	defendant [attend and] successfully complete, before the 181st day
17	17	after the date community supervision is granted, an educational
18	18	program designed to rehabilitate persons who have driven while
19	19	intoxicated that is jointly approved by:
20	20	(1) the Department of State Health Services;
21	21	(2) the Department of Public Safety;
22	22	(3) the traffic safety section of the traffic
23	23	operations division of the Texas Department of Transportation; and
24	24	(4) the community justice assistance division of the
25	25	Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
26	26	(a-1) The educational program approved under Subsection (a)
27	27	may be provided through classroom instruction or in an online
28	28	format administered over the Internet.
29	29	(d) In determining good cause, the judge may consider but is
30	30	not limited to:
31	31	(1) the defendant's school and work schedule;
32	32	(2) the defendant's health; and
33	33	(3) if an educational program is not available to the
34	34	defendant in an online format administered over the Internet:
35	35	(A) the distance that the defendant must travel
36	36	to attend an educational program provided through classroom
37	37	instruction; and
38	38	(B) [(4)] the fact that the defendant resides out
39	39	of state, does not have a valid driver's license, or does not have
40	40	access to transportation.
41	41	SECTION 2. Article 42A.404, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
42	42	amended by amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsection
43	43	(a-1) to read as follows:
44	44	(a) The judge shall require a defendant who is punished
45	45	under Section 49.09, Penal Code, to [attend and] successfully
46	46	complete as a condition of community supervision an educational
47	47	program for repeat offenders that is approved by the Department of
48	48	State Health Services.
49	49	(a-1) The educational program for repeat offenders approved
50	50	under Subsection (a) may be provided through classroom instruction
51	51	or in an online format administered over the Internet.
52	52	(b) The judge may waive the educational program requirement
53	53	only if the defendant by a motion in writing shows good cause. In
54	54	determining good cause, the judge may consider:
55	55	(1) the defendant's school and work schedule;
56	56	(2) the defendant's health; and
57	57	(3) if an educational program for repeat offenders is
58	58	not available to the defendant in an online format administered
59	59	over the Internet:
60	60	(A) the distance that the defendant must travel
61	61	to attend an educational program provided through classroom
62	62	instruction; and
63	63	(B) the fact that [(4) whether] the defendant
64	64	resides out of state or does not have access to transportation.
65	65	SECTION 3. Article 42A.406(a), Code of Criminal Procedure,
66	66	is amended to read as follows:
67	67	(a) If a defendant is required as a condition of community
68	68	supervision to successfully complete [attend] an educational
69	69	program under Article 42A.403 or 42A.404, or if the court waives the
70	70	educational program requirement under Article 42A.403, the court
71	71	clerk shall immediately report that fact to the Department of
72	72	Public Safety, on a form prescribed by the department, for
73	73	inclusion in the defendant's driving record. If the court grants
74	74	an extension of time in which the defendant may complete the
75	75	educational program under Article 42A.403, the court clerk shall
76	76	immediately report that fact to the Department of Public Safety on a
77	77	form prescribed by the department. The clerk's report under this
78	78	subsection must include the beginning date of the defendant's
79	79	community supervision.
80	80	SECTION 4. Articles 42A.407(b) and (c), Code of Criminal
81	81	Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
82	82	(b) Notwithstanding Sections 521.344(d)-(i),
83	83	Transportation Code, if under Article 42A.404 the judge requires a
84	84	defendant punished under Section 49.09, Penal Code, to successfully
85	85	complete [attend] an educational program as a condition of
86	86	community supervision, or waives the required completion of
87	87	[attendance for] the program, and the defendant has previously been
88	88	required to successfully complete [attend] such an educational
89	89	program, or the required completion of [attendance at] the program
90	90	had been waived, the judge shall order the suspension of the
91	91	defendant's driver's license for a period determined by the judge
92	92	according to the following schedule:
93	93	(1) not less than 90 days or more than one year, if the
94	94	defendant is convicted under Sections 49.04-49.08, Penal Code;
95	95	(2) not less than 180 days or more than two years, if
96	96	the defendant is punished under Section 49.09(a) or (b), Penal
97	97	Code; or
98	98	(3) not less than one year or more than two years, if
99	99	the defendant is convicted of a second or subsequent offense under
100	100	Sections 49.04-49.08, Penal Code, committed within five years of
101	101	the date on which the most recent preceding offense was committed.
102	102	(c) If the Department of Public Safety receives notice that
103	103	a defendant has been required to successfully complete [attend] a
104	104	subsequent educational program under Article 42A.403 or 42A.404,
105	105	although the previously required educational program [attendance]
106	106	had been waived, but the judge has not ordered a period of
107	107	suspension, the department shall:
108	108	(1) suspend the defendant's driver's license; or
109	109	(2) issue an order prohibiting the defendant from
110	110	obtaining a license for a period of one year.
111	111	SECTION 5. Section 521.342(b), Transportation Code, is
112	112	amended to read as follows:
113	113	(b) The department shall suspend for one year the license of
114	114	a person who is under 21 years of age and is convicted of an offense
115	115	under Section 49.04, 49.045, 49.07, or 49.08, Penal Code,
116	116	regardless of whether the person is required to successfully
117	117	complete [attend] an educational program under Article 42A.403,
118	118	Code of Criminal Procedure, that is designed to rehabilitate
119	119	persons who have operated motor vehicles while intoxicated, unless
120	120	the person is placed under community supervision under Chapter 42A,
121	121	Code of Criminal Procedure, and is required as a condition of the
122	122	community supervision to not operate a motor vehicle unless the
123	123	vehicle is equipped with the device described by Article 42A.408 of
124	124	that chapter. If the person is required to successfully complete
125	125	[attend] such a program and does not successfully complete the
126	126	program before the end of the person's suspension, the department
127	127	shall suspend the person's license or continue the suspension, as
128	128	appropriate, until the department receives proof that the person
129	129	has successfully completed the program. On the person's
130	130	successful completion of the program, the person's instructor shall
131	131	give notice to the department and to the community supervision and
132	132	corrections department in the manner provided by Article
133	133	42A.406(b), Code of Criminal Procedure.
134	134	SECTION 6. Section 521.344(h), Transportation Code, is
135	135	amended to read as follows:
136	136	(h) The hearing shall be held in a municipal or justice
137	137	court in the county of the person's residence in the manner provided
138	138	for a suspension hearing under Subchapter N. The issues to be
139	139	determined at the hearing are whether the person has successfully
140	140	completed a required educational program and whether the period for
141	141	completion of the program has passed. If the presiding officer
142	142	determines that the educational program has not been completed and
143	143	the period for completion has passed, the officer shall confirm the
144	144	revocation or prohibition and shall notify the department of that
145	145	fact. The director may not revoke or prohibit the license if the
146	146	officer finds that the program has been completed, that, before the
147	147	hearing, the court that originally imposed the requirement to
148	148	successfully complete [attend] an educational program has granted
149	149	an extension that has not expired, or that the period for completion
150	150	has not passed. If the person or the person's agent fails to appear
151	151	at the hearing, the department shall revoke the person's license
152	152	until the department receives notice of successful completion of
153	153	the educational program.
154	154	SECTION 7. The change in law made by this Act applies to a
155	155	person who is placed on community supervision on or after the
156	156	effective date of this Act, regardless of whether the underlying
157	157	conduct giving rise to the placement on community supervision
158	158	occurred before, on, or after that date.
159	159	SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.