76(R) HB 1939 Introduced version

HBA-NMO H.B. 1939 76(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1939
By: Grusendorf
Criminal Jurisprudence
3/5/1999
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Current law requires a person convicted of or granted deferred adjudication
for certain sexual offenses to annually register the person's address and
certain other information with local authorities. There is no current
system in place to ensure this registration is done.  H.B. 1939 requires
the court, upon convicting or granting deferred adjudication to a person
for certain sexual offenses, to order the Texas Department of Public Safety
(DPS) to revoke the person's driver's license or identification card, and
requires the court, upon sentencing the person, to confiscate the person's
license plates and impound the person's registration receipt.  This bill
further requires DPS, upon reissuing a driver's license or identification
card, to place a symbol on the driver's license or identification card of
the person indicating that the person is a sex offender; and requires the
court that sentences the sex offender to require the tax collector, upon
payment by the person, to deliver to the person a set of sex offender
license plates designed and distributed by the Texas Department of
Transportation. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Chapter 42, Code of Criminal Procedure, by adding
Articles 42.016 and 42.017, as follows: 

Art. 42.016.  REVOCATION OF DRIVER'S LICENSE ON CONVICTION OF CERTAIN SEX
OFFENSES.  (a) Requires the court, on conviction of or grant of deferred
adjudication to a defendant for an offense for which a conviction or
adjudication requires registration under Chapter 62 (Sex Offender
Registration Program), to order the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)
to revoke the defendant's driver's license or personal identification card;
require the defendant to surrender to the court the defendant's driver's
license or identification card; and inform the defendant of the consequence
of conviction as it relates to the issuance of a driver's license or
personal identification card to the defendant. 

(b) Requires DPS, on issuing a driver's license or personal identification
card to a person whose previous license or card was ordered revoked under
Subsection (a), to place a symbol on the license or card indicating that
the previous license or card was revoked under Subsection (a).  Provides
that the symbol must clearly appear on the face of each license issued to
the person. 

Art. 42.017.  CONFISCATION OF MOTOR VEHICLE LICENSE PLATES.  (a) Requires
the court that sentences the defendant, on conviction of or grant of
deferred adjudication to a defendant for an offense for which a conviction
or adjudication requires registration under Chapter 62, to confiscate the
license plates and impound the registration receipt for each motor vehicle
owned by the defendant, except as provided by Subsection (e). 

(b) Requires the court, on application of the defendant, to issue an order
to the tax collector of the county in which the court has jurisdiction to
deliver to the person named on the order, on payment of $40, in addition to
the annual registration fee, a set of sex  offender license plates for the
vehicle for which the license plates are impounded, and require the person
to affix the license plates to the vehicle and maintain them on the
vehicle.  Requires the court to notify the Texas Department of
Transportation (TxDOT) that the license plates assigned to the defendant's
vehicle have been confiscated and that the court has ordered the issuance
of sex offender license plate for the vehicle. 

(c) Prohibits a defendant from selling or transferring title to a motor
vehicle while the registration receipt for the vehicle is impounded, except
on application to the court that impounded the registration receipt.
Requires the court, if it is satisfied that the proposed sale or transfer
would be in good faith for valid consideration and would not circumvent
this article, and that the defendant will be deprived of custody or control
of the vehicle, to approve the transfer, require the owner to deliver to
the court the sex offender license plates, and return the impounded
registration  receipt to the defendant. 

(d) Requires the court to require return of the sex offender license plates
and to deliver the registration receipt to the new owner or transferee, if
after confiscation of the license plates and impoundment of the
registration, title to the vehicle is transferred by foreclosure, sale on
execution, cancellation of a conditional sales contract, or judicial order. 

(e) Prohibits the court from confiscating the license plates and impounding
the registration receipt of a vehicle if the vehicle is the only personally
owned vehicle in the defendant's immediate family (family)and is normally
driven by another member of the family. 

SECTION 2.  Amends Subchapter F, Chapter 502, Transportation Code, by
adding Section 502.299, as follows: 

Sec. 502.299.  SEX OFFENDER LICENSE PLATES.  Requires TxDOT to design
special sex offender license plates.  Provides that the license plates must
be designed so that law enforcement officials can easily determine when a
motor vehicle is owned by a sex offender. Requires TxDOT to distribute
license plates under this section on application of a county tax collector
on a form designed and supplied by TxDOT. 

SECTION 3.  Effective date: September 1, 1999.
            Makes application of this Act prospective. 

SECTION 4.  Emergency clause.