88R14411 AJZ-F
By: Guillen H.B. No. 3224
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the status of the registration of a vehicle after a
failure to establish financial responsibility.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Subchapter H, Chapter 601,
Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER H. FAILURE TO MAINTAIN EVIDENCE OF FINANCIAL
RESPONSIBILITY; SUSPENSION OF DRIVER'S LICENSE [AND MOTOR VEHICLE
REGISTRATION]
SECTION 2. The heading to Section 601.231, Transportation
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 601.231. SUSPENSION OF DRIVER'S LICENSE [AND VEHICLE
REGISTRATION].
SECTION 3. Section 601.231(a), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) If a person is convicted of an offense under Section
601.191 and a prior conviction of that person under that section has
been reported to the department by a magistrate or the judge or
clerk of a court, the department shall suspend the driver's license
[and vehicle registrations] of the person unless the person files
and maintains evidence of financial responsibility with the
department until the second anniversary of the date of the
subsequent conviction.
SECTION 4. Section 601.232, Transportation Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 601.232. NOTICE OF SUSPENSION. (a) The department
shall send in a timely manner a notice to each person whose driver's
license is [and vehicle registrations are] suspended under Section
601.231.
(b) The notice must state that the person's driver's license
is [and registration are] suspended and that the person may apply
for reinstatement of the license [and vehicle registration] or
issuance of a new license [and registration] as provided by
Sections 601.162 and 601.376.
SECTION 5. Section 601.233(a), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) A citation for an offense under Section 601.191 issued
as a result of Section 601.053 must include, in type larger than
other type on the citation, the following statement:
"A second or subsequent conviction of an offense under the Texas
Motor Vehicle Safety Responsibility Act will result in the
suspension of your driver's license [and motor vehicle
registration] unless you file and maintain evidence of financial
responsibility with the Department of Public Safety for two years
from the date of conviction. The department may waive the
requirement to file evidence of financial responsibility if you
file satisfactory evidence with the department showing that at the
time this citation was issued, the vehicle was covered by a motor
vehicle liability insurance policy or that you were otherwise
exempt from the requirements to provide evidence of financial
responsibility."
SECTION 6. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a vehicle registration suspended for an offense committed on or
after the effective date of this Act. A vehicle registration
suspended for an offense committed before the effective date of
this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was
committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense was committed
before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense
occurred before that date.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.