HBA-NMO H.B. 1939 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1939 By: Grusendorf Criminal Jurisprudence 3/5/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Current law requires a person convicted of or granted deferred adjudication for certain sexual offenses to annually register the person's address and certain other information with local authorities. There is no current system in place to ensure this registration is done. H.B. 1939 requires the court, upon convicting or granting deferred adjudication to a person for certain sexual offenses, to order the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) to revoke the person's driver's license or identification card, and requires the court, upon sentencing the person, to confiscate the person's license plates and impound the person's registration receipt. This bill further requires DPS, upon reissuing a driver's license or identification card, to place a symbol on the driver's license or identification card of the person indicating that the person is a sex offender; and requires the court that sentences the sex offender to require the tax collector, upon payment by the person, to deliver to the person a set of sex offender license plates designed and distributed by the Texas Department of Transportation. 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. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Chapter 42, Code of Criminal Procedure, by adding Articles 42.016 and 42.017, as follows: Art. 42.016. REVOCATION OF DRIVER'S LICENSE ON CONVICTION OF CERTAIN SEX OFFENSES. (a) Requires the court, on conviction of or grant of deferred adjudication to a defendant for an offense for which a conviction or adjudication requires registration under Chapter 62 (Sex Offender Registration Program), to order the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) to revoke the defendant's driver's license or personal identification card; require the defendant to surrender to the court the defendant's driver's license or identification card; and inform the defendant of the consequence of conviction as it relates to the issuance of a driver's license or personal identification card to the defendant. (b) Requires DPS, on issuing a driver's license or personal identification card to a person whose previous license or card was ordered revoked under Subsection (a), to place a symbol on the license or card indicating that the previous license or card was revoked under Subsection (a). Provides that the symbol must clearly appear on the face of each license issued to the person. Art. 42.017. CONFISCATION OF MOTOR VEHICLE LICENSE PLATES. (a) Requires the court that sentences the defendant, on conviction of or grant of deferred adjudication to a defendant for an offense for which a conviction or adjudication requires registration under Chapter 62, to confiscate the license plates and impound the registration receipt for each motor vehicle owned by the defendant, except as provided by Subsection (e). (b) Requires the court, on application of the defendant, to issue an order to the tax collector of the county in which the court has jurisdiction to deliver to the person named on the order, on payment of $40, in addition to the annual registration fee, a set of sex offender license plates for the vehicle for which the license plates are impounded, and require the person to affix the license plates to the vehicle and maintain them on the vehicle. Requires the court to notify the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) that the license plates assigned to the defendant's vehicle have been confiscated and that the court has ordered the issuance of sex offender license plate for the vehicle. (c) Prohibits a defendant from selling or transferring title to a motor vehicle while the registration receipt for the vehicle is impounded, except on application to the court that impounded the registration receipt. Requires the court, if it is satisfied that the proposed sale or transfer would be in good faith for valid consideration and would not circumvent this article, and that the defendant will be deprived of custody or control of the vehicle, to approve the transfer, require the owner to deliver to the court the sex offender license plates, and return the impounded registration receipt to the defendant. (d) Requires the court to require return of the sex offender license plates and to deliver the registration receipt to the new owner or transferee, if after confiscation of the license plates and impoundment of the registration, title to the vehicle is transferred by foreclosure, sale on execution, cancellation of a conditional sales contract, or judicial order. (e) Prohibits the court from confiscating the license plates and impounding the registration receipt of a vehicle if the vehicle is the only personally owned vehicle in the defendant's immediate family (family)and is normally driven by another member of the family. SECTION 2. Amends Subchapter F, Chapter 502, Transportation Code, by adding Section 502.299, as follows: Sec. 502.299. SEX OFFENDER LICENSE PLATES. Requires TxDOT to design special sex offender license plates. Provides that the license plates must be designed so that law enforcement officials can easily determine when a motor vehicle is owned by a sex offender. Requires TxDOT to distribute license plates under this section on application of a county tax collector on a form designed and supplied by TxDOT. SECTION 3. Effective date: September 1, 1999. Makes application of this Act prospective. SECTION 4. Emergency clause.