Bill Text: TX HB99 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: Relating to the punishment for certain intoxication-related offenses; creating the offense of aggravated driving while intoxicated.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-05-02 - Committee report sent to Calendars [HB99 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-HB99-Comm_Sub.html

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82R24364 JSC-D
By: Martinez Fischer H.B. No. 99
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 99:
By: Gallego C.S.H.B. No. 99

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the punishment for certain intoxication-related
offenses; creating the offense of aggravated driving while
intoxicated.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 49, Penal Code, is amended by adding
Section 49.046 to read as follows:
Sec. 49.046. AGGRAVATED DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED. (a) A
person commits an offense if:
(1) the person is intoxicated while operating a motor
vehicle in a public place; and
(2) the person:
(A) has an alcohol concentration of 0.16 or more;
or
(B) has an alcohol concentration of 0.02 or more
and is operating a commercial motor vehicle, as defined by Section
522.003, Transportation Code.
(b) Except as provided by Section 49.09, an offense under
this section is a Class A misdemeanor, with a minimum term of
confinement of 30 days. As provided by Article 42.033, Code of
Criminal Procedure, the judge of the sentencing court may permit
the person to serve the person's term of confinement
intermittently.
SECTION 2. Section 49.09, Penal Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (b) and (h) and adding Subsection (b-4) to
read as follows:
(b) An offense under Section 49.04, 49.05, 49.06, or 49.065
is a felony of the third degree if it is shown on the trial of the
offense that the person has previously been convicted:
(1) one time of an offense under Section 49.08 or an
offense under the laws of another state if the offense contains
elements that are substantially similar to the elements of an
offense under Section 49.08; [or]
(2) one time of an offense under Section 49.046 or an
offense under the laws of another state if the offense contains
elements that are substantially similar to the elements of an
offense under Section 49.046; or
(3) two times of any other offense relating to the
operating of a motor vehicle while intoxicated, operating an
aircraft while intoxicated, operating a watercraft while
intoxicated, or operating or assembling an amusement ride while
intoxicated.
(b-4) An offense under Section 49.046 is a felony of the
third degree if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the
person has previously been convicted:
(1) one time of an offense under Section 49.08 or an
offense under the laws of another state if the offense contains
elements that are substantially similar to the elements of an
offense under Section 49.08; or
(2) one time of an offense relating to the operating of
a motor vehicle while intoxicated, an offense of operating an
aircraft while intoxicated, an offense of operating a watercraft
while intoxicated, or an offense of operating or assembling an
amusement ride while intoxicated.
(h) This subsection applies only to a person convicted of an
offense under Section 49.046 or a second or subsequent offense
relating to the operating of a motor vehicle while intoxicated
committed within five years of the date on which the most recent
preceding offense was committed. The court shall enter an order
that requires the defendant to have a device installed, on each
motor vehicle owned or operated by the defendant, that uses a
deep-lung breath analysis mechanism to make impractical the
operation of the motor vehicle if ethyl alcohol is detected in the
breath of the operator, and that requires that before the first
anniversary of the ending date of the period of license suspension
under Section 521.344, Transportation Code, the defendant not
operate any motor vehicle that is not equipped with that device.
The court shall require the defendant to obtain the device at the
defendant's own cost on or before that ending date, require the
defendant to provide evidence to the court on or before that ending
date that the device has been installed on each appropriate
vehicle, and order the device to remain installed on each vehicle
until the first anniversary of that ending date. If the court
determines the offender is unable to pay for the device, the court
may impose a reasonable payment schedule not to extend beyond the
first anniversary of the date of installation. The Department of
Public Safety shall approve devices for use under this subsection.
Section 521.247, Transportation Code, applies to the approval of a
device under this subsection and the consequences of that approval.
Failure to comply with an order entered under this subsection is
punishable by contempt. For the purpose of enforcing this
subsection, the court that enters an order under this subsection
retains jurisdiction over the defendant until the date on which the
device is no longer required to remain installed. To the extent of
a conflict between this subsection and Section 13(i), Article
42.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, this subsection controls.
SECTION 3. Subchapter I, Chapter 545, Transportation Code,
is amended by adding Section 545.429 to read as follows:
Sec. 545.429. CONVICTION FOR AGGRAVATED DRIVING WHILE
INTOXICATED; IMPOUNDMENT OR IMMOBILIZATION OF VEHICLE. (a) A
court that convicts a person for an offense under Section 49.046,
Penal Code, shall order the sheriff of the county in which the court
has jurisdiction to impound or immobilize the motor vehicle
operated by the person at the time of the offense for a period of
seven days beginning on the day after the date the court enters the
conviction if the person:
(1) was an owner of the motor vehicle at the time of
the offense;
(2) is an owner of the motor vehicle on the date the
court enters the conviction; and
(3) is the primary operator of the motor vehicle on the
date the court enters the conviction.
(b) A sheriff acting under a court order issued under
Subsection (a) may require that the motor vehicle, prior to
immobilization, be taken to:
(1) a garage or other place of safety; or
(2) a garage designated or maintained by the county.
(c) Notwithstanding Article 18.23, Code of Criminal
Procedure, the person convicted of an offense under Section 49.046,
Penal Code, is liable for all removal and storage fees incurred as a
result of the impoundment or immobilization of the motor vehicle
and is not entitled to take possession of the vehicle until those
fees are paid.
SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
covered by the law in effect when the offense was committed, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of
this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of
this Act if any element of the offense was committed before that
date.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.