Part 1.
TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
Chapter 1.
ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION
Subchapter V. DEPARTMENT FLEET VEHICLE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM
37 TAC §1.271
The Texas Department of Public Safety proposes new §1.271,
relating to Department Fleet Vehicle Management Program in order to adopt
the State Vehicle Management Plan as adopted by the Office of Vehicle Fleet
Management of the General Services Commission as mandated by Texas Government
Code, Chapter 2171.
House Bill 3125, 76th Texas Legislature, mandated the Office of Vehicle
Fleet Management, under the direction of the Council on Competitive Government,
to develop and implement a management plan to improve the administration and
operation of the state's fleet. The plan, as adopted by the Council of Competitive
Government on October 11, 2000, requires the department to adopt rules consistent
with the plan by February 28, 2001.
Tom Haas, Chief of Finance, has determined that for each year of the first
five-year period the rule is in effect there will be fiscal implications in
the amount of $81,000 in fiscal year 2001, $51,000 in fiscal year 2002, and
$15,000 in fiscal years 2003-2005 as a result of the purchase and maintenance
of the required software. There are no anticipated fiscal implications to
local government or local economies.
Mr. Haas also has determined that for each year of the first five-year
period the rule is in effect the public benefit anticipated as a result of
enforcing the rule will be the assurance of greater utilization and management
of the fleet vehicles operated by the department. There is no anticipated
adverse economic effect on individuals, small businesses, or micro-businesses.
Comments on the proposal may be submitted to Lester Mills, Chief, Staff
Support Service, Texas Department of Public Safety, Box 4087, Austin, Texas
78773-0250, (512) 424-2102.
The new section is proposed pursuant to Texas Government Code, §411.004(3),
which authorizes the Public Safety Commission to adopt rules considered necessary
for carrying out the department's work and Texas Government Code, §2171,
which directs each state agency to adopt rules implementing the plan.
Texas Government Code, §411.004(3) and §2171 are affected by
this proposal.
§1.271. Department Fleet Vehicle Management Program.
(a)
State Vehicle Management Plan. To the extent applicable,
the department adopts the State Vehicle Management Plan as adopted by the
Office of Vehicle Fleet Management of the General Services Commission as mandated
by Texas Government Code, Chapter 2171. Specifically, the department will
follow the data collection and reporting requirements for vehicles used for
law enforcement purposes, including black and white pursuit vehicles as specified
in Chapter 5 and Appendix A of the Plan, unless otherwise excepted by the
Office of Vehicle Fleet Management due to security concerns. However, the
department is exempt from all other plan requirements.
(b)
Restrictions on Assignment of Vehicles. Compliance with
the following statutorily mandated policies is required by Texas Government
Code, §2171.1045.
(1)
each department vehicle, with the exception of a vehicle
assigned to a field employee, is to be assigned to the department motor pool
and be available for check-out; and
(2)
the department may assign a vehicle to an individual administrative
or executive employee on a regular or everyday basis only if the department
makes a written determination that the assignment is critical to the needs
and mission of the department.
This agency hereby certifies that the proposal has been
reviewed by legal counsel and found to be within the agency's legal authority
to adopt.
Filed with the Office of
the Secretary of State, on January 17, 2001.
TRD-200100307
Thomas A. Davis, Jr.
Director
Texas Department of Public Safety
Earliest possible date of adoption: March 4, 2001
For further information, please call: (512) 424-2135
Subchapter G. DENIAL OF RENEWAL OF DRIVER'S LICENSE FOR FAILURE TO APPEAR FOR TRAFFIC VIOLATION
37 TAC §§15.114, 15.118 - 15.120, 15.122, 15.123
The Texas Department of Public Safety proposes amendments
to §§15.114, 15.118-15.120, 15.122, and 15.123, relating to denial
of renewal of driver's license for failure to appear for traffic violation.
Upon review of the department's current rules, it was determined that a conflict
existed between the rules and the governing statute, Texas Transportation
Code, Chapter 706. In addition, there existed a discrepancy between the current
rules and the Interlocal Cooperation Contract. Amendments to the sections
include the addition and deletion of language in §§15.114, 15.118,
15.122 and 15.123, the reformatting of §15.119 due to the deletion of
current subsection (a) and the addition of new paragraph (5) to §15.120.
The amendments to the sections are necessary to eliminate inconsistencies
with the current rules.
Tom Haas, Chief of Finance, has determined that for each year of the first
five-year period the rules are in effect there will be fiscal implications
for state or local government, or local economies. A dollar amount for the
effect on local government cannot be determined because it depends on the
number of people that fail to appear for a traffic violation within the jurisdiction
of the local government.
Mr. Haas also has determined that for each year of the first five-year
period the rules are in effect the public benefit anticipated as a result
of enforcing the rule will be consistency between Texas Transportation Code,
Chapter 706 and the administrative rules regarding the Denial Of Renewal Of
Driver's License For Failure To Appear For Traffic Violation. There is no
anticipated adverse economic effect on small businesses or micro-businesses.
The anticipated cost to individuals will be the cost of paying the administrative
fee for a failure to appear for a traffic violation as provided in Texas Transportation
Code, Chapter 706, regardless of whether they have good cause for failure
to appear.
Comments on the proposal may be submitted to Angela Parker, Director of
Hearings, Texas Department of Public Safety, P.O. Box 4087, Austin, Texas
78773-0380, (512) 424-5235.
The amendments are proposed pursuant to Texas Government Code, §411.004(3),
which authorizes the Public Safety Commission to adopt rules considered necessary
for carrying out the department's work; and Texas Transportation Code, §706.012,
which authorizes the Texas Department of Public Safety to adopt rules to implement
Chapter 706 of the Texas Transportation Code.
Texas Government Code, §411.004(3) and Texas Transportation Code, §706.012
are affected by this proposal.
§15.114.Originating Court To File Failure To Appear Report.
If a person violated a promise to appear for an offense listed in §15.111
of this title (relating to Purpose and Scope), [
(1)
the name of the political subdivision submitting the report;
(2)
the jurisdiction in which the alleged offense occurred;
(3)
the name, date of birth, and the Texas driver's license
number of the person alleged to have committed the violation;
(4)
the date of the alleged violation;
(5)
the offense title or a brief description of the alleged
violation;
(6)
a statement that the person promised to appear and failed
to appear as promised, and the date on which the person failed to appear;
and
(7)
any other information required by the department.
§15.118.Clearance Report.
A clearance report is required to be filed by the political subdivision
when there is no cause to continue to deny renewal of a person's driver's
license based on the person's previous failure to appear. In all cases when
a clearance report is required, the political subdivision shall notify the
department or the department's designee within
a reasonable time not
to exceed five
[
(1)
the name of the political subdivision submitting the report;
(2)
the jurisdiction in which offense occurred;
(3)
the name, date of birth, and the Texas driver's license
number of the person alleged to have committed the offense;
(4)
the date of the alleged violation;
(5)
the offense title or a brief description of the alleged
violation;
(6)
the basis for the clearance;
(7)
whether a fee was required;
(8)
whether a required fee was paid; and
(9)
any other information required by the department
§15.119.Clearance Report When No Fee Is Required.
[(a)
If the court finds that the license holder
has established good cause for having previously failed to appear, the court
shall file an appropriate clearance report to the department without requiring
the license holder to pay a fee. For purposes of this section, "good cause"
means a reasonable excuse such as would constitute a defense to a criminal
prosecution for failure to appear. Examples of good cause are: death of a
close family member; a serious, sudden accident or illness; required military
service; or confinement.]
[(b)]
If the person who failed to appear is acquitted
of the underlying[
§15.120.Clearance Report When Fee is Required.
A clearance report shall be filed upon payment of a fee of $30 and
one or more of the following conditions:
(1)
the entry of a judgment against the person;
(2)
the perfection of an appeal of the case for which the failure
to appear report was submitted;
(3)
the posting of bond, an agreed setting or resetting of
the case, or the giving of security to reinstate the charges for which the
warrant was issued[
(4)
the payment of fines owed on an outstanding court order
to pay a fine
; or
[
(5)
the dismissal of the charge for which
the warrant of arrest was issued.
§15.122.Right to Appeal.
[
§15.123.Accounting Procedures.
(a)
An officer collecting fees due under this section shall
keep separate records of the funds collected under this section and shall
deposit the funds in the appropriate municipal or county treasury. The custodian
of the municipal or county treasury may deposit fees collected under this
section in an interest-bearing account and retain for the municipality or
county the interest earned on the account. The custodian shall keep records
of funds received and disbursed under this section and shall provide a yearly
report of all funds received and disbursed to the comptroller, the department,
and other entities as provided by interlocal contract. The comptroller shall
approve the form of the report.
(b)
The custodian of a municipal or county treasury shall remit
$20 of each fee collected under this section to the comptroller on or before
the last day [
(c)
All administrative fees collected by a political subdivision
pursuant to Texas Transportation Code, Chapter 706, shall be distributed by
the last day of the month following the end of the calendar quarter after
collection.
This section does not apply to the distribution of administrative
fees to the Comptroller.
This agency hereby certifies that the proposal has been reviewed
by legal counsel and found to be within the agency's legal authority to adopt.
Filed with the Office of
the Secretary of State, on January 17, 2001.
TRD-200100305
Thomas A. Davis, Jr.
Director
Texas Department of Public Safety
Earliest possible date of adoption: March 4, 2001
For further information, please call: (512) 424-2135
37 TAC §15.121
(Editor's note: The text of the following section proposed for
repeal will not be published. The section may be examined in the offices of
the Texas Department of Public Safety or in the Texas Register office, Room
245, James Earl Rudder Building, 1019 Brazos Street, Austin.)
The Texas Department of Public Safety proposes the
repeal of §15.121, concerning denial of renewal of driver's license for
failure to appear for traffic violation. Upon review of the current rule,
it was determined that a conflict existed between the rule and the governing
statute, Texas Transportation Code, Chapter 706. The repeal will eliminate
this inconsistency.
Tom Haas, Chief of Finance, has determined that for each year of the first
five-year period the repeal is in effect, there will be no fiscal implications
for state or local government, or local economies.
Mr. Haas also has determined that for each year of the first five-year
period the repeal is in effect the public benefit anticipated as a result
of enforcing the repeal will be current and updated rules. There is no anticipated
adverse economic effect on individuals, small businesses, or micro-businesses.
Comments on the repeal may be submitted to Angela Parker, Director of Hearings,
Texas Department of Public Safety, P.O. Box 4087, Austin, Texas 78773-0380,
(512) 424-5235.
The repeal is proposed pursuant to Texas Government Code, §411.004(3),
which authorizes the Public Safety Commission to adopt rules considered necessary
for carrying out the department's work and Texas Transportation Code, §706.012,
which authorizes the Texas Department of Public Safety to adopt rules to implement
Chapter 706 of the Texas Transportation Code.
Texas Government Code, §411.004(3) and Texas Transportation Code, §706.012
are affected by this repeal.
§15.121.Right to Hearing.
This agency hereby certifies that the proposal has been
reviewed by legal counsel and found to be within the agency's legal authority
to adopt.
Filed with the Office of
the Secretary of State, on January 17, 2001.
TRD-200100306
Thomas A. Davis, Jr.
Director
Texas Department of Public Safety
Earliest possible date of adoption: March 4, 2001
For further information, please call: (512) 424-2135
Subchapter A. LICENSING REQUIREMENTS, QUALIFICATIONS, RESTRICTIONS, AND ENDORSEMENTS
37 TAC §16.3
The Texas Department of Public Safety proposes an amendment
to §16.3, concerning Commercial Drivers License. Amendment adds and deletes
language to paragraph (2)(A), reformats current paragraph (B) as paragraph
(C) and adds new paragraph (B). The amendment to paragraph (A) is necessary
to delete the reference to Texas Transportation Code, §541.201, which
only allowed for drivers to be exempt when responding to emergency situations
and no return trip. The amendments to this section will allow drivers to be
exempt from the commercial driver's license (CDL) requirements when responding
to, returning from and for training exercises with these types of vehicles.
Tom Haas, Chief of Finance, has determined that for each year of the first
five-year period the rule is in effect there will be no fiscal implications
for state or local government, or local economies.
Mr. Haas also has determined that for each year of the first five-year
period the rule is in effect the public benefit anticipated as a result of
enforcing the rule will be to ensure the public is aware of an additional
exempt group of drivers under the commercial driver's license law. There is
no anticipated adverse economic effect on individuals, small businesses, or
micro-businesses.
Comments on the proposal may be submitted to Frank Elder, Assistant Chief
of Driver License, Texas Department of Public Safety, Box 4087, Austin, Texas
78773-0300, (512) 424-2768.
The amendment is proposed pursuant to Texas Government Code, §411.004(3),
which authorizes the Public Safety Commission to adopt rules considered necessary
for carrying out the department's work and Texas Transportation Code, §522.005.
Texas Government Code, §411.004(3) and Texas Transportation Code, §522.005
are affected by this proposal.
§16.3.Persons Exempted.
Persons exempted from commercial driver's license (CDL) requirements
are:
(1)
A person operating a vehicle that is controlled and operated
by a farmer which is used to transport agricultural products, farm machinery,
or farm supplies to or from a farm and which is not used in the operations
of a common or contract carrier and used within 150 miles of the person's
farm.
(A)
Under this exemption, a rancher is considered a farmer.
(B)
A farmer and his farmhands are equally exempt when the
farmhands are in the employ of the farmer.
(C)
One who purchases a crop in a field and only harvests and
transports the produce, but takes no part in the planting and cultivating
of the product, is not considered a farmer.
(D)
One who purchases acres of growing timber and cultivates
and harvests it over a period of months or years is considered a farmer.
(2)
A person operating a fire fighting or emergency vehicle
necessary to the preservation of life or property or the execution of emergency
governmental functions, whether operated by an employee of a political subdivision
or by a volunteer fire fighter, or a fire fighter employed by a private company,
for example, a refinery. This would not exempt operators of vehicles used
by utility companies.
(A)
Drivers of industrial emergency response vehicles,
including an industrial ambulance are exempt only if the vehicle is operated
in compliance with criteria established by the Texas Industrial Fire Training
Board or the State Firemen's and Fire Marshall's Association of Texas.
[
(B)
Drivers of public or private ambulances
are exempt only if they have been issued a license by the Texas Department
of Health.
(C)
[
(3)
A person operating a military vehicle, when operated for
military purposes by military personnel, members of the reserves and national
guard on active duty (including personnel on full-time national guard duty),
personnel on part-time training duty, and national guard military technicians.
This exemption includes the operation of vehicles leased by the United States
government for use by the military branches of government.
(4)
A person operating a vehicle that is a recreational vehicle
that is driven for personal use.
(A)
For purposes of this exemption recreational vehicle means
a vehicular type unit primarily designed as temporary living quarters for
recreational camping or travel use that either has its own motive power or
is mounted on or towed by another vehicle.
(B)
This exemption includes travel trailers, camping trailers,
truck campers, and motor homes.
(5)
A person operating a vehicle that is owned, leased, or
controlled by an air carrier, as defined by Texas Transportation Code, §21.155(d),
and that is driven or operated exclusively by an employee of the air carrier
only on the premises of an airport, as defined by Texas Transportation Code, §22.001(2),
on service roads to which the public does not have access.
(6)
A person operating a vehicle used exclusively to transport
seed cotton modules or cotton burrs.
This agency hereby certifies that the proposal has been
reviewed by legal counsel and found to be within the agency's legal authority
to adopt.
Filed with the Office of
the Secretary of State, on January 17, 2001.
TRD-200100304
Thomas A. Davis, Jr.
Director
Texas Department of Public Safety
Earliest possible date of adoption: March 4, 2001
For further information, please call: (512) 424-2135
Chapter 15.
DRIVERS LICENSE RULES
without good cause,
]
a political subdivision
may
[
shall
] submit a failure
to appear report to the department. The political subdivision shall make reasonable
efforts to ensure that each failure to appear report is accurate, complete,
and nonduplicative. The report shall include the following information:
one
] business
days
[
day
].
The clearance report shall contain the following information:
traffic
] charge for which the failure to appear
report was filed, the court shall file an appropriate clearance report without
requiring the license holder to pay a fee. Acquittal means an official fact-finding
made in the context of the adversary proceeding by an individual or group
of individuals with the legal authority to decide the question of guilt or
innocence. For purposes of this section, acquittal also includes a
discharge
[
dismissal
] by the court upon proof of actual innocence.
A person is not considered to have been acquitted [
of the traffic charge
] if the court imposes any conditions upon
discharge
[
dismissal
] of the
offense
[
traffic complaint
],
such as penalties, court costs, educational programs, a period of probation,
or any other sanction. For purposes of this section, a person is not considered
to have been acquitted, and the prescribed administrative fee shall apply,
in all cases that are dismissed under Texas Code of Criminal Procedure.
; or
]
.
]
A license holder may appeal denial as provided by Texas Transportation
Code, §521.302.
]Filing an appeal does not stay the denial of renewal
pending final disposition of the case.
of the month following the end
] of
each
[
the
] calendar quarter and retain $10 of each fee collected under this
section for deposit to the credit of the general fund of the municipal or
county treasury. The amounts received by the comptroller under this section
shall be deposited to the credit of the general revenue fund.
Chapter 16.
COMMERCIAL DRIVERS LICENSE
For purposes of this exemption drivers of authorized emergency vehicles defined
in Texas Transportation Code, §541.201 are exempt.
]
(B)
] Electric company employees
repairing downed power lines are not exempt.
Chapter 31.
STANDARDS FOR AN APPROVED MOTORCYCLE OPERATOR TRAINING COURSE