HBA-CMT S.B. 1371 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisS.B. 1371
By: Brown, J. E. "Buster"
Public Safety
4/29/2001
Engrossed



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

In 1997, the legislature created the failure to appear program in which
municipal courts are allowed to report persons who fail to appear in court
to the Department of Public Safety (DPS).  DPS is allowed to turn those
reports over to a third party vendor or contractor. A person who is
reported is denied renewal of the person's driver's license until the
political subdivision notifies DPS that there is no cause to continue the
denial of renewal.  Senate Bill 1371 authorizes a political subdivision to
contract with DPS to deny renewal of a driver's license of a person who
fails to pay or satisfy a judgment involving any offense over which a
justice or municipal court has jurisdiction.  

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

Senate Bill 1371 amends the Transportation Code to authorize a political
subdivision to contract with the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to deny
renewal of the driver's license of a person who fails to appear for a
complaint or citation or fails to pay or satisfy a judgment ordering
payment of a fine and cost in the manner ordered by the court in a matter
involving any offense over which a justice or municipal court has
jurisdiction.   

The bill provides that the written warning that a peace officer is required
to give to each person issued a citation for a violation of traffic law
must state in the substance that if the person fails to pay or satisfy a
judgment ordering the payment of a fine and cost in the manner ordered by
the court, the person may be denied renewal of the person's driver's
license.    

The bill provides that if a political subdivision has contracted with DPS,
on receiving the necessary information from the political subdivision, DPS
is authorized to deny renewal of a person's driver's license for failure to
pay or satisfy a judgment ordering the payment of a fine and cost in the
manner ordered by the court in a matter involving any offense over which a
justice or municipal court has jurisdiction. 

The bill requires a political subdivision to notify DPS that there is no
cause to continue to deny renewal of a person's driver's license for
failure to pay or satisfy a judgment ordering the payment of a fine and
cost in a matter involving the perfection of an appeal of the case for
which the warrant of arrest was issued or judgment arose, the dismissal of
the charge for which the warrant of arrest was issued or judgment arose,
the discharge of the fine and cost owed on an outstanding judgment of the
court, or other suitable arrangement to pay the fine and cost within the
court's discretion.   

The bill requires the political subdivision to require a person to pay an
administrative fee of $30 for each violation reported to DPS under the
provisions of the bill unless a person has been acquitted of the offense
for which the person failed to appear for a complaint or citation involving
a violation of any offense over which a justice or municipal court has
jurisdiction. 
 EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.