Bill Text: TX HB2678 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Engrossed

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relating to driver training and education.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Passed) 2011-06-17 - Effective on 9/1/11 [HB2678 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-HB2678-Engrossed.html

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By: Smith of Tarrant H.B. No. 2678

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to driver training and education.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 1001.001, Education Code, is amended by
adding Subdivision (14-a) to read as follows:
(14-a) "National criminal history record information"
has the meaning assigned by Section 22.081.
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 1001, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 1001.006 to read as follows:
Sec. 1001.006. REVIEW OF AGENCY JURISDICTION AND CONTROL
OVER DRIVER EDUCATION AND DRIVING SAFETY SCHOOLS. During the
Sunset Advisory Commission's review of the agency under Section
7.004 concerning abolition of the agency on September 1, 2013, the
commission shall review the agency's jurisdiction and control over
driver education and driving safety schools and include in its
report to the legislature and governor under Section 325.010,
Government Code, a recommendation as to whether another state
agency should have jurisdiction and control over those schools.
This section expires January 1, 2014.
SECTION 3. Section 1001.055, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 1001.055. DRIVER EDUCATION CERTIFICATES AND
CERTIFICATE NUMBERS. (a) The agency shall provide [print and
supply] to each licensed or exempt driver education school driver
education certificates or certificate numbers to enable the school
and each approved parent-taught course provider (approved by the
Texas Department of Public Safety under Section 521.205 of the
Transportation Code) to print and issue agency-approved driver
education certificates with the certificate numbers to be used for
certifying completion of an approved driver education course to
satisfy the requirements of Sections 521.204(a)(2) and 521.1601,
Transportation Code. [The certificates must be numbered serially.]
(a-1) A certificate printed and issued by a driver education
school or Department of Public Safety approved course provider
must:
(1) be in a form required by the agency; and
(2) include an identifying certificate number
provided by the agency that may be used to verify the authenticity
of the certificate with the driver education school or Department
of Public Safety approved course provider.
(a-2) A driver education school or Department of Public
Safety approved course provider that purchases driver education
certificate numbers shall provide for the printing and issuance of
original and duplicate certificates in a manner that, to the
greatest extent possible, prevents the unauthorized production or
the misuse of the certificates. The driver education school or
Department of Public Safety approved course provider shall
electronically submit to the agency in the manner established by
the agency data identified by the agency relating to issuance of
agency-approved driver education certificates with the certificate
numbers.
(a-3) Certificate numbers must be in serial order so that
the number on each issued certificate is unique.
(b) The agency by rule shall provide for the design and
distribution of the certificates and certificate numbers in a
manner that, to the greatest extent possible, prevents the
unauthorized reproduction or misuse of the certificates or
certificate numbers.
(c) The agency may charge a fee of not more than $4 for each
certificate or certificate number.
SECTION 4. Subchapter F, Chapter 1001, Education Code, is
amended by adding Sections 1001.2511, 1001.2512, 1001.2513, and
1001.2514 to read as follows:
Sec. 1001.2511. NATIONAL CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD
INFORMATION REVIEW FOR DRIVER EDUCATION INSTRUCTORS. (a) This
section applies to a person who is an applicant for or holder of:
(1) a driver education instructor license; or
(2) a license issued under Section 1001.255.
(b) The agency shall review the national criminal history
record information of a person who holds a license described by
Subsection (a).
(c) The agency shall place a license described by Subsection
(a) on inactive status for the license holder's failure to comply
with a deadline for submitting information required under this
section.
(d) The agency may allow a person who is applying for a
license described by Subsection (a) and who currently resides in
another state to submit the person's fingerprints and other
required information in a manner that does not impose an undue
hardship on the person.
(e) The commissioner may adopt rules to administer this
section, including rules establishing:
(1) deadlines for a person to submit fingerprints and
photographs in compliance with this section;
(2) sanctions for a person's failure to comply with the
requirements of this section, including suspension or revocation of
or refusal to issue a license described by Subsection (a); and
(3) notification to a driver education school of
relevant information obtained by the agency under this section.
(f) The agency is not civilly or criminally liable for an
action taken in compliance with this section.
(g) The commissioner by rule shall establish a schedule for
obtaining and reviewing the information a person must provide the
agency under this section. Not later than September 1, 2013, the
agency must obtain all national criminal history record information
on all holders of licenses described by Subsection (a). This
subsection expires October 1, 2013.
Sec. 1001.2512. FEES FOR CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD
INFORMATION REVIEW. The commissioner by rule shall require a
person submitting to a national criminal history record information
review under Section 1001.2511 or the driver education school
employing the person, as determined by the agency, to pay a fee for
the review in an amount not to exceed the amount of any fee imposed
on an application for certification under Subchapter B, Chapter 21,
for a national criminal history record information review under
Section 22.0837.
Sec. 1001.2513. CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION.
Information collected about a person to comply with Section
1001.2511, including the person's name, address, phone number,
social security number, driver's license number, other
identification number, and fingerprint records:
(1) may not be released except:
(A) to provide relevant information to driver
education schools or otherwise to comply with Section 1001.2511;
(B) by court order; or
(C) with the consent of the person who is the
subject of the information;
(2) is not subject to disclosure as provided by
Chapter 552, Government Code; and
(3) shall be destroyed by the requestor or any
subsequent holder of the information not later than the first
anniversary of the date the information is received.
Sec. 1001.2514. LICENSE HOLDERS AND APPLICANTS CONVICTED OF
CERTAIN OFFENSES. (a) A driver education school shall discharge or
refuse to hire as an instructor an employee or applicant for
employment if the agency obtains information through a criminal
history record information review that:
(1) the employee or applicant has been convicted of:
(A) a felony offense under Title 5, Penal Code;
(B) an offense on conviction of which a defendant
is required to register as a sex offender under Chapter 62, Code of
Criminal Procedure; or
(C) an offense under the laws of another state or
federal law that is equivalent to an offense under Paragraph (A) or
(B); and
(2) at the time the offense occurred, the victim of the
offense described by Subdivision (1) was under 18 years of age or
was enrolled in a public school.
(b) The agency shall suspend or revoke a license described
by Section 1001.2511(a) held by a person under this subchapter and
shall refuse to issue or renew a license described by Section
1001.2511(a) to a person under this subchapter if the person has
been convicted of an offense described by Subsection (a) of this
section.
(c) Subsections (a) and (b) do not apply to an offense under
Title 5, Penal Code, if:
(1) more than 30 years have elapsed since the offense
was committed; and
(2) the person convicted has satisfied all terms of
the court order entered on conviction.
(d) A driver education school may discharge an employee who
serves as an instructor if the school obtains information of the
employee's conviction of a felony or of a misdemeanor involving
moral turpitude that the employee did not disclose to the school or
the agency. An employee discharged under this subsection is
considered to have been discharged for misconduct for purposes of
Section 207.044, Labor Code.
SECTION 5. Section 1001.253, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (g) to read as
follows:
(d) Except as provided by Subsection (g) or Section
1001.254, a driver education instructor license authorizing a
person to teach or provide classroom training may not be issued
unless the person:
(1) has completed nine semester hours of driver and
traffic safety education or a program of study in driver education
approved by the commissioner from an approved driver education
school; and
(2) holds a teaching certificate and any additional
certification required to teach driver education.
(g) A driver education instructor license authorizing a
person to teach or provide classroom training may be issued to a
person who satisfies the requirements of Subsection (d)(1) but does
not satisfy the requirements of Subsection (d)(2), except that such
a license may authorize the license holder to teach or provide
classroom training only for a driver education school that is
located in a county that has a population of at least 275,000 but
not more than 285,000 and is operated by a private primary or
secondary school or open-enrollment charter school. This section
does not affect any law or school policy that requires a review of
criminal history record information.
SECTION 6. As soon as practicable after the effective date
of this Act, the Texas Education Agency shall begin obtaining
national criminal history record information for persons subject to
a national criminal history record review under Section 1001.2511,
Education Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.