By: Wentworth	S.B. No. 1114

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the regulation of driver training schools and
	instructors.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 1001.001, Education Code, is amended by
	adding Subdivision (14-a) to read as follows:
	(14-a)  "National criminal history record information"
	has the meaning assigned by Section 22.081.
	SECTION 2.  Subchapter A, Chapter 1001, Education Code, is
	amended by adding Section 1001.006 to read as follows:
	Sec. 1001.006.  REVIEW OF AGENCY JURISDICTION AND CONTROL
	OVER DRIVER EDUCATION AND DRIVING SAFETY SCHOOLS.  During the
	Sunset Advisory Commission's review of the agency under Section
	7.004 concerning abolition of the agency on September 1, 2013, the
	commission shall review the agency's jurisdiction and control over
	driver education and driving safety schools and include in its
	report to the legislature and governor under Section 325.010,
	Government Code, a recommendation as to whether another state
	agency should have jurisdiction and control over those schools.
	This section expires January 1, 2014.
	SECTION 3.  Section 1001.055, Education Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	Sec. 1001.055.  DRIVER EDUCATION CERTIFICATES AND
	CERTIFICATE NUMBERS.  (a)  The agency shall provide [print and
	supply] to each licensed or exempt driver education school driver
	education certificates or certificate numbers to enable the school
	to print and issue agency-approved driver education certificates
	with the certificate numbers to be used for certifying completion
	of an approved driver education course to satisfy the requirements
	of Sections 521.204(a)(2) and 521.1601, Transportation Code.  [The
	certificates must be numbered serially.]
	(a-1)  A certificate printed and issued by a driver education
	school must:
	(1)  be in a form required by the agency; and
	(2)  include an identifying certificate number
	provided by the agency that may be used to verify the authenticity
	of the certificate with the driver education school.
	(a-2)  A driver education school that purchases driver
	education certificate numbers shall provide for the printing and
	issuance of original and duplicate certificates in a manner that,
	to the greatest extent possible, prevents the unauthorized
	production or the misuse of the certificates.  The driver education
	school shall electronically submit to the agency in the manner
	established by the agency data identified by the agency relating to
	issuance of agency-approved driver education certificates with the
	certificate numbers.
	(a-3)  Certificate numbers must be in serial order so that
	the number on each issued certificate is unique.
	(b)  The agency by rule shall provide for the design and
	distribution of the certificates and certificate numbers in a
	manner that, to the greatest extent possible, prevents the
	unauthorized reproduction or misuse of the certificates or
	certificate numbers.
	(c)  The agency may charge a fee of not more than $4 for each
	certificate or certificate number.
	SECTION 4.  Subchapter F, Chapter 1001, Education Code, is
	amended by adding Sections 1001.2511, 1001.2512, 1001.2513, and
	1001.2514 to read as follows:
	Sec. 1001.2511.  NATIONAL CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD
	INFORMATION REVIEW FOR DRIVER EDUCATION INSTRUCTORS.  (a)  This
	section applies to a person who is an applicant for or holder of:
	(1)  a driver education instructor license; or
	(2)  a license issued under Section 1001.255.
	(b)  The agency shall review the national criminal history
	record information of a person who holds a license described by
	Subsection (a) and who has not previously submitted fingerprints to
	the Department of Public Safety or been subject to a national
	criminal history record information review.
	(c)  The agency shall place a license described by Subsection
	(a) on inactive status for the license holder's failure to comply
	with a deadline for submitting information required under this
	section.
	(d)  The agency may allow a person who is applying for a
	license described by Subsection (a) and who currently resides in
	another state to submit the person's fingerprints and other
	required information in a manner that does not impose an undue
	hardship on the person.
	(e)  The commissioner may adopt rules to administer this
	section, including rules establishing:
	(1)  deadlines for a person to submit fingerprints and
	photographs in compliance with this section;
	(2)  sanctions for a person's failure to comply with the
	requirements of this section, including suspension or revocation of
	or refusal to issue a license described by Subsection (a); and
	(3)  notification to a driver education school of
	relevant information obtained by the agency under this section.
	(f)  The agency is not civilly or criminally liable for an
	action taken in compliance with this section.
	(g)  The commissioner by rule shall establish a schedule for
	obtaining and reviewing the information a person must provide the
	agency under this section.  Not later than September 1, 2013, the
	agency must obtain all national criminal history record information
	on all holders of licenses described by Subsection (a).  This
	subsection expires October 1, 2013.
	Sec. 1001.2512.  FEES FOR CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD
	INFORMATION REVIEW. The commissioner by rule shall require a
	person submitting to a national criminal history record information
	review under Section 1001.2511 or the driver education school
	employing the person, as determined by the agency, to pay a fee for
	the review in an amount not to exceed the amount of any fee imposed
	on an application for certification under Subchapter B, Chapter 21,
	for a national criminal history record information review under
	Section 22.0837.
	Sec. 1001.2513.  CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION.
	Information collected about a person to comply with Section
	1001.2511, including the person's name, address, phone number,
	social security number, driver's license number, other
	identification number, and fingerprint records:
	(1)  may not be released except:
	(A)  to provide relevant information to driver
	education schools or otherwise to comply with Section 1001.2511;
	(B)  by court order; or
	(C)  with the consent of the person who is the
	subject of the information;
	(2)  is not subject to disclosure as provided by
	Chapter 552, Government Code; and
	(3)  shall be destroyed by the requestor or any
	subsequent holder of the information not later than the first
	anniversary of the date the information is received.
	Sec. 1001.2514.  LICENSE HOLDERS AND APPLICANTS CONVICTED OF
	CERTAIN OFFENSES. (a)  A driver education school shall discharge
	or refuse to hire as an instructor an employee or applicant for
	employment if the agency obtains information through a criminal
	history record information review that:
	(1)  the employee or applicant has been convicted of:
	(A)  a felony offense under Title 5, Penal Code;
	(B)  an offense on conviction of which a defendant
	is required to register as a sex offender under Chapter 62, Code of
	Criminal Procedure; or
	(C)  an offense under the laws of another state or
	federal law that is equivalent to an offense under Paragraph (A) or
	(B); and
	(2)  at the time the offense occurred, the victim of the
	offense described by Subdivision (1) was under 18 years of age or
	was enrolled in a public school.
	(b)  The agency shall suspend or revoke a license described
	by Section 1001.2511(a) held by a person under this subchapter and
	shall refuse to issue or renew a license described by Section
	1001.2511(a) to a person under this subchapter if the person has
	been convicted of an offense described by Subsection (a) of this
	section.
	(c)  Subsections (a) and (b) do not apply to an offense under
	Title 5, Penal Code, if:
	(1)  more than 30 years have elapsed since the offense
	was committed; and
	(2)  the person convicted has satisfied all terms of
	the court order entered on conviction.
	(d)  A driver education school may discharge an employee who
	serves as an instructor if the school obtains information of the
	employee's conviction of a felony or of a misdemeanor involving
	moral turpitude that the employee did not disclose to the school or
	the agency.  An employee discharged under this subsection is
	considered to have been discharged for misconduct for purposes of
	Section 207.044, Labor Code.
	SECTION 5.  As soon as practicable after the effective date
	of this Act, the Texas Education Agency shall begin obtaining
	national criminal history record information for persons subject to
	a national criminal history record review under Section 1001.2511,
	Education Code, as added by this Act.
	SECTION 6.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.