HBA-JLV H.B. 2250 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2250 By: Smith Criminal Jurisprudence 77/26/2001 Enrolled BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Prior to the 77th Legislature, state law provided that the offense of felony driving, flying, boating, or assembling or operating an amusement ride while intoxicated requires two prior convictions for offenses relating to the operating of a motor vehicle, aircraft, watercraft, or assembling or operating an amusement ride, while intoxicated. Because of this a person could have been convicted for causing the death of an individual while driving while intoxicated yet only be charged for a misdemeanor DWI for a subsequent DWI offense. House Bill 2250 establishes that if a person has caused the death of another individual by driving, flying, boating, or assembling or operating an amusement ride while intoxicated, the person's next offense is a felony, not a misdemeanor. 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. ANALYSIS House Bill 2250 amends the Penal Code to establish that an offense of driving, flying, boating, or assembling or operating an amusement ride while intoxicated is a third degree felony offense if that person has previously been convicted of intoxication manslaughter. The bill increases the time period in which a conviction may be used for purposes of enhancement. The bill prohibits the enhancement of a conviction if the offense for which the person is being tried was committed more than 10 years after the latest of: _the date on which the judgment was entered for the previous conviction; _the date on which the person was discharged from any period of community supervision on which the person was placed for the previous conviction; _the date on which the person successfully completed any period of parole on which the person was released after serving a portion of the term to which the person was sentenced for the previous conviction; or _the date on which the person completed serving any term for which the person was confined or imprisoned for the previous conviction. The bill provides that a conviction may be used for the purposes of enhancement regardless of whether the conviction occurred if the conviction was for the offense of intoxication manslaughter involving the operation of a motor vehicle. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.