86R2223 JSC-F
By: White H.B. No. 162
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to suspending the driver's licenses of certain persons
convicted of driving while intoxicated offenses.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. 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:
(A) while the person's license was suspended,
canceled, disqualified, or revoked as the result of a conviction of
an offense involving the operation of a motor vehicle while
intoxicated;[,] or
(B) without a license after an application for a
license was denied as the result of a conviction of an offense
involving the operation of a motor vehicle while intoxicated;
(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 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 2. Section 521.293, Transportation Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 521.293. PERIOD OF SUSPENSION UNDER SECTION 521.292.
If [(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), if] the person does
not request a hearing, the period of license suspension under
Section 521.292 is 90 days.
[(b) If the department determines that the person engaged in
conduct described by Section 521.292(a)(1), the period of license
suspension is extended for an additional period of the lesser of:
[(1) the term of the original suspension; or
[(2) one year.]
SECTION 3. Section 521.312(b), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c)[, Section
521.293(b),] or Subchapter O, the department may not suspend a
license for a period that exceeds one year.
SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a determination to suspend a driver's license made by the
Department of Public Safety on or after the effective date of this
Act. A determination to suspend a driver's license 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 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.