H.B. No. 1517

	AN ACT
	relating to the disposition of fines for traffic violations
	collected by certain counties and municipalities.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 542.402, Transportation Code, is amended
	by amending Subsections (a), (c), and (e) and adding Subsections
	(b-1), (b-2), (d-1), (f), and (g) to read as follows:
	(a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b-1), a [A]
	municipality or county shall use a fine collected for a violation of
	a highway law in this title to:
	(1)  construct and maintain roads, bridges, and
	culverts in the municipality or county;
	(2)  enforce laws regulating the use of highways by
	motor vehicles; and
	(3)  defray the expense of county traffic officers.
	(b-1)  Subject to Subsection (b-2), a county may use a fine
	collected for a violation of a highway law as the county determines
	appropriate if:
	(1)  the county has a population of less than 5,000; and
	(2)  the commissioners court of the county by
	resolution elects to spend the revenue in a manner other than as
	provided by Subsection (a).
	(b-2)  In each fiscal year, a county described by Subsection
	(b-1) may retain, from fines collected for violations of this title
	and from special expenses collected under Article 45.051, Code of
	Criminal Procedure, in cases in which a violation of this title is
	alleged, an amount equal to 30 percent of the county's revenue for
	the preceding fiscal year from all sources, other than federal
	funds and bond proceeds, as shown by an audit performed under
	Chapter 115, Local Government Code. After a county has retained
	that amount, the county shall send to the comptroller any portion of
	a fine or a special expense collected that exceeds $1.
	(c)  The comptroller shall enforce Subsections [Subsection]
	(b) and (b-2).
	(d-1)  In a fiscal year in which a county retains from fines
	and special expenses collected for violations of this title an
	amount equal to at least 20 percent of the county's revenue for the
	preceding fiscal year from all sources other than federal funds and
	bond proceeds, not later than the 120th day after the last day of
	the county's fiscal year, the county shall send to the comptroller:
	(1)  a copy of the county's financial statement; and
	(2)  a report that shows the total amount collected for
	that fiscal year from fines and special expenses under Subsection
	(b-1).
	(e)  If an audit is conducted by the comptroller under
	Subsection (c) and it is determined that the municipality or county
	is retaining more than 20 percent of the amounts under Subsection
	(b) or (b-2), as applicable, and has not complied with Subsection
	(d) or (d-1), as applicable, the municipality or county shall pay
	the costs incurred by the comptroller in conducting the audit.
	(f)  A municipality may include the revenue generated from
	services provided in the municipality by a utility company
	operating within the municipality as municipal revenue for a fiscal
	year under Subsection (b) if:
	(1)  the municipality has a population of more than
	1,000 but less than 1,200; and
	(2)  part of the municipality's boundary is a river that
	forms part of the boundary between two counties.
	(g)  This subsection and Subsection (f) expire on September
	1, 2021.
	SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act in amending
	Section 542.402(e), Transportation Code, and in adding Sections
	542.402(b-2) and (d-1), Transportation Code, applies only to the
	fiscal year of a county that begins on or after the effective date
	of this Act.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
	______________________________	______________________________
	President of the Senate	Speaker of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 1517 was passed by the House on May 5,
	2011, by the following vote:  Yeas 142, Nays 4, 1 present, not
	voting; that the House refused to concur in Senate amendments to
	H.B. No. 1517 on May 26, 2011, and requested the appointment of a
	conference committee to consider the differences between the two
	houses; and that the House adopted the conference committee report
	on H.B. No. 1517 on May 29, 2011, by the following vote:  Yeas 140,
	Nays 3, 1 present, not voting.
	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 1517 was passed by the Senate, with
	amendments, on May 24, 2011, by the following vote:  Yeas 29, Nays
	1
	; at the request of the House, the Senate appointed a conference
	committee to consider the differences between the two houses; and
	that the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.B. No.
	1517 on May 28, 2011, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays 0.
	______________________________
	Secretary of the Senate
	APPROVED: __________________
	Date
	__________________
	Governor