Bill Text: TX HB556 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to suspension of a driver's license for persons convicted of certain offenses and the educational program required for reinstatement of a license following certain convictions; authorizing a fine.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-03-01 - Referred to Homeland Security & Public Safety [HB556 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-HB556-Introduced.html

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87R2547 JSC-F
By: White H.B. No. 556

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to suspension of a driver's license for persons convicted
of certain offenses and the educational program required for
reinstatement of a license following certain convictions;
authorizing a fine.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 102, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended by adding Article 102.0179 to read as
follows:
Art. 102.0179. FINE FOR CERTAIN DRUG AND TEXAS CONTROLLED
SUBSTANCE ACT CONVICTIONS. (a) In this article, "convicted"
includes an adjudication under juvenile proceedings.
(b) In addition to any other fees and fines imposed under
this subchapter, a defendant convicted of an offense described by
Section 521.372(a), Transportation Code, shall pay a fine in an
amount that is equivalent to the sum of all fees applicable to a
suspension and reinstatement of a driver's license under Chapter
521, Transportation Code. The Department of Public Safety shall
annually calculate and make available the amount of the fine
described by this subsection.
(c) The court shall waive imposition of a fine under this
article if the defendant's driver's license is suspended under
Section 521.3725(c), Transportation Code, or under another
provision of that code as a result of the conviction of:
(1) an offense described by Section 521.372(a),
Transportation Code; or
(2) another offense arising from the same criminal
episode.
(d) A fine imposed under this article is due regardless of
whether the defendant is granted community supervision in the case.
The court shall collect the fine under this article in the same
manner as court costs are collected in the case.
(e) A fine collected under this article shall be deposited
to the credit of the Texas mobility fund.
SECTION 2. Section 521.372(c), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(c) Except as provided by Section 521.374(b), the period of
suspension under this section is the 90 [180] days after the date of
a final conviction, and the period of license denial is the 90 [180]
days after the date the person applies to the department for
reinstatement or issuance of a driver's license.
SECTION 3. Subchapter P, Chapter 521, Transportation Code,
is amended by adding Section 521.3725 to read as follows:
Sec. 521.3725. DISCRETIONARY LICENSE SUSPENSION.
(a) This section applies only to a person:
(1) who is convicted of an offense described by
Section 521.372(a); and
(2) whose driver's license is not subject to
suspension for:
(A) the offense described by Section 521.372(a)
under a provision other than Section 521.372; or
(B) another offense arising from the same
criminal episode.
(b) A person described by Subsection (a) of this section is
not subject to automatic license suspension under Section 521.372,
notwithstanding Subsection (a) of that section.
(c) A court may order the department to suspend the license
of a person described by Subsection (a) if the court determines that
suspending the person's license is in the interest of public
safety. The court must make the determination in writing and
include a justification for the determination.
(d) A person whose license is suspended under Subsection (c)
is subject to the same fees and other conditions as a person whose
license is automatically suspended under Section 521.372.
SECTION 4. Section 521.374(a), Transportation Code, as
amended by Chapters 838 (S.B. 202), 851 (S.B. 1070), and 1004 (H.B.
642), Acts of the 84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015, is
reenacted and amended to read as follows:
(a) A person whose license is suspended under Section
521.372 may:
(1) successfully complete [attend] an in-person or
online educational program, approved by the Texas Department of
Licensing and Regulation [Department of State Health Services]
under rules adopted by the Texas Commission of Licensing and
Regulation [executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services
Commission] and the department, that is designed to educate persons
on the dangers of drug abuse; or
(2) successfully complete education on the dangers of
drug abuse approved by the Department of State Health Services as
equivalent to the educational program described by Subdivision (1),
while the person is a resident of a facility for the treatment of
drug abuse or chemical dependency, including:
(A) a substance abuse treatment facility or
substance abuse felony punishment facility operated by the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice under Section 493.009, Government
Code;
(B) a community corrections facility, as defined
by Section 509.001, Government Code; or
(C) a chemical dependency treatment facility
licensed under Chapter 464, Health and Safety Code.
SECTION 5. Section 521.374, Transportation Code, is amended
by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
follows:
(b) The period of suspension or prohibition under Section
521.372(c) continues for an indefinite period until the individual
successfully completes the in-person or online educational program
under Subsection (a)(1) or is released from the residential
treatment facility at which the individual successfully completed
equivalent education under Subsection (a)(2), as applicable.
(c) The department shall provide to a person whose license
is suspended under this subchapter a list of providers of
educational programs under Subsection (a)(1).
SECTION 6. Section 521.375, Transportation Code, as amended
by Chapters 838 (S.B. 202) and 851 (S.B. 1070), Acts of the 84th
Legislature, Regular Session, 2015, is reenacted and amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 521.375. JOINT ADOPTION OF RULES. (a) The Texas
Commission of Licensing and Regulation and the department shall
jointly adopt rules for the qualification and approval of providers
of in-person and online educational programs under Section
521.374(a)(1) [521.374].
(a-1) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human
Services Commission and the department shall jointly adopt rules
for the qualification and approval of[:
[(1) providers of educational programs under Section
521.374(a)(1); and
[(2)] equivalent education provided in a residential
treatment facility described by Section 521.374(a)(2).
(b) The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation shall
publish the jointly adopted rules under Subsection (a).
(c) The Department of State Health Services shall publish
the jointly adopted rules under Subsection (a-1).
SECTION 7. Section 521.376, Transportation Code, as amended
by Chapters 838 (S.B. 202) and 851 (S.B. 1070), Acts of the 84th
Legislature, Regular Session, 2015, is reenacted and amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 521.376. DUTIES OF TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF LICENSING AND
REGULATION AND DEPARTMENT OF STATE HEALTH SERVICES; APPLICATION AND
RENEWAL FEES. (a) The Texas Department of Licensing and
Regulation:
(1) shall monitor, coordinate, and provide training to
persons who provide in-person and online educational programs under
Section 521.374(a)(1) [521.374];
(2) shall administer the approval of those in-person
and online educational programs; and
(3) may charge a nonrefundable application fee to the
provider of an in-person or online educational program under
Section 521.374(a)(1) for:
(A) initial certification of approval; and
(B) renewal of the certification.
(b) The Department of State Health Services:
(1) shall monitor, coordinate, and provide training
to[:
[(A) persons who provide educational programs
under Section 521.374(a)(1); and
[(B)] residential treatment facilities described
by Section 521.374(a)(2) providing equivalent education; and
(2) shall administer the approval of the [educational
programs and the] equivalent education provided in a residential
treatment facility[; and
[(3) may charge a nonrefundable application fee to the
provider of an educational program under Section 521.374(a)(1) for:
[(A) initial certification of approval; and
[(B) renewal of the certification].
SECTION 8. Not later than September 1, 2022, the Texas
Commission of Licensing and Regulation and the Texas Department of
Motor Vehicles shall adopt rules to implement Sections 521.374,
521.375, and 521.376, Transportation Code, as amended by this Act.
SECTION 9. (a) Except as otherwise provided by this
section, this Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
(b) Article 102.0179, Code of Criminal Procedure, and
Section 521.3725, Transportation Code, as added by this Act, take
effect on the 91st day after the date the office of the attorney
general publishes in the Texas Register a finding that:
(1) the legislature of this state has adopted a
resolution expressing the legislature's opposition to a law meeting
the requirements of 23 U.S.C. Section 159 in suspending, revoking,
or denying the driver's license of a person convicted of a drug
offense for a period of six months;
(2) the governor has submitted to the United States
secretary of transportation:
(A) a written certification of the governor's
opposition to the enactment or enforcement of a law required under
23 U.S.C. Section 159; and
(B) a written certification that the legislature
has adopted the resolution described by Subdivision (1) of this
subsection; and
(3) the United States secretary of transportation has
responded to the governor's submission and certified that highway
funds will not be withheld from this state in response to the
modification or full or partial repeal of the law required under 23
U.S.C. Section 159.
(c) On the 180th day after the date described in Subsection
(b) of this section, the Department of Public Safety shall
reinstate any driver's license that:
(1) was suspended under Section 521.372,
Transportation Code, before the date described by Subsection (b) of
this section; and
(2) remains subject to suspension under that section
on the 180th day after the date described in Subsection (b) of this
section.