83R7006 SCL-D
 
  By: Davis S.B. No. 1418
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the authority of the Department of Public Safety and
  certain local law enforcement agencies to establish a temporary
  checkpoint on a highway or street to determine whether persons are
  driving while intoxicated.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Title 1, Code of Criminal Procedure, is amended
  by adding Chapter 65 to read as follows:
  CHAPTER 65.  SOBRIETY CHECKPOINTS
         Art. 65.01.  DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
               (1)  "Department" means the Department of Public
  Safety.
               (2)  "Highway or street" and "limited-access or
  controlled-access highway" have the meanings assigned by Section
  541.302, Transportation Code.
               (3)  "Law enforcement agency" means:
                     (A)  the department;
                     (B)  the sheriff's department of a county with a
  population of 250,000 or more; or
                     (C)  the police department of a municipality with
  a population of 350,000 or more.
               (4)  "Sobriety checkpoint" means a checkpoint
  authorized under Article 65.02.
         Art. 65.02.  AUTHORIZATION FOR OPERATION OF SOBRIETY
  CHECKPOINTS. (a)  Except as otherwise provided by Subsections (b)
  and (c), a law enforcement agency may operate on a highway or street
  a temporary sobriety checkpoint as provided by this chapter to
  determine whether motor vehicle operators are intoxicated and in
  violation of Section 49.04 or 49.045, Penal Code.
         (b)  A law enforcement agency may not operate a sobriety
  checkpoint on:
               (1)  a limited-access or controlled-access highway;
               (2)  an overpass;
               (3)  a bridge or causeway; or
               (4)  the single ingress to or egress from a designated
  area.
         (c)  The department may not operate a sobriety checkpoint in
  a county with a population of less than 250,000.
         Art. 65.03.  LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY COORDINATION.  Each law
  enforcement agency shall coordinate efforts with other law
  enforcement agencies as appropriate to implement this chapter.
         Art. 65.04.  APPROVAL OF AND PROCEDURES FOR OPERATION OF
  SOBRIETY CHECKPOINTS.  (a)  Before a law enforcement agency begins
  operating a sobriety checkpoint, the procedures to be used in the
  operation of the checkpoint must be approved by:
               (1)  a captain for the Texas Highway Patrol for a
  checkpoint operated by the department;
               (2)  the elected sheriff of a county for a checkpoint
  operated by the sheriff's department of the county; or
               (3)  the police chief of a municipality for a
  checkpoint operated by the police department of the municipality.
         (b)  The law enforcement agency must record in writing and
  publish on an appropriate publicly accessible Internet website:
               (1)  the criteria for and procedures used in selecting
  each location of a sobriety checkpoint; and
               (2)  the procedures to be used in the operation of each
  sobriety checkpoint, including procedures for selecting motor
  vehicles to be stopped.
         (c)  The procedures for the operation of a sobriety
  checkpoint must ensure that the selection of motor vehicles to be
  stopped is reasonably predictable and nonarbitrary.
         (d)  The criteria for selecting the location for a sobriety
  checkpoint must include the number of traffic accidents in the
  vicinity of the location in which the use of alcohol was a factor
  and that occurred in the preceding 12 months and the number of
  arrests for intoxication-related offenses in that vicinity in the
  preceding 12 months. The criteria for selecting the location of a
  sobriety checkpoint may not include, and the selection of the
  location of a sobriety checkpoint must be made without regard to,
  the ethnic or socioeconomic characteristics of the area in which
  the checkpoint is located.
         (e)  The law enforcement agency, in establishing the
  location, time, and design of a sobriety checkpoint, shall consider
  the safety of the public entering the checkpoint and the peace
  officers operating the checkpoint. The law enforcement agency
  shall make reasonable efforts to place signs or other devices to
  advise an operator of an oncoming motor vehicle of the existence and
  purpose of the sobriety checkpoint, to demarcate the checkpoint
  with flares, flags, or traffic cones, and to otherwise illuminate
  the checkpoint as necessary. The design of a sobriety checkpoint
  may require each motor vehicle passing through the checkpoint to be
  diverted to a location adjacent to the highway or street to ensure
  safety.
         (f)  The peace officer who makes the initial traffic
  directive to or other communication with the operator of a motor
  vehicle at the sobriety checkpoint must be wearing a uniform of the
  law enforcement agency that is distinguishable from civilian dress.
         (g)  The law enforcement agency shall establish procedures
  governing the encounters between motor vehicle operators and the
  peace officers to ensure that:
               (1)  a video and audio recording is made of each
  encounter;
               (2)  intrusion on the operator is minimized; and
               (3)  any inquiry by the peace officer is reasonably
  related to determining whether the operator is intoxicated and in
  violation of Section 49.04 or 49.045, Penal Code.
         (h)  Notwithstanding Section 521.025 or 601.053,
  Transportation Code, or Section 411.205, Government Code, a peace
  officer may not request a motor vehicle operator at the sobriety
  checkpoint to display the operator's driver's license or license to
  carry a concealed handgun or to furnish evidence of financial
  responsibility unless the officer has reasonable suspicion or
  probable cause to believe that the operator has committed or is
  committing an offense. A peace officer may not direct a motor
  vehicle operator to leave the vehicle or move the vehicle off the
  highway or street or sobriety checkpoint diversion route unless the
  officer has reasonable suspicion or probable cause to believe that
  the operator has committed or is committing an offense.
         (i)  A peace officer at the sobriety checkpoint may not
  require a motor vehicle operator to perform a sobriety test unless
  the officer has reasonable suspicion or probable cause to believe
  that the operator is in violation of Section 49.04 or 49.045, Penal
  Code. A peace officer who requests or requires an operator to
  provide a specimen of breath or blood must comply with Chapter 724,
  Transportation Code.
         (j)  Unless a peace officer has reasonable suspicion or
  probable cause to detain a motor vehicle operator for a criminal
  offense, the time during which an officer makes an inquiry of an
  operator should not exceed three minutes, and the total time during
  which the operator must wait to pass through the checkpoint should
  not exceed 10 minutes. The law enforcement agency shall make
  reasonable efforts to reduce these periods to not more than one and
  five minutes, respectively.
         (k)  Before beginning the operation of a sobriety
  checkpoint, the law enforcement agency shall publicize through the
  use of the media the date and time for the operation of that
  checkpoint but is not required to disclose the location of the
  checkpoint.
         (l)  A law enforcement agency may not operate a sobriety
  checkpoint at one location for more than four hours and may not
  operate a checkpoint at the same location more than once in a
  12-month period. For the purposes of this subsection, sobriety
  checkpoints located within one mile of each other are considered to
  be at the same location.
         (m)  For each sobriety checkpoint operated under this
  chapter, the law enforcement agency operating the checkpoint shall
  maintain:
               (1)  until at least the fifth anniversary of the date on
  which the agency concludes the operation of the checkpoint, a
  record of the operation of the checkpoint that contains:
                     (A)  the date, time, location, and duration of the
  checkpoint;
                     (B)  the procedures used in selecting the location
  for the checkpoint;
                     (C)  the number and characteristics of the motor
  vehicles stopped at the checkpoint;
                     (D)  the number and nature of any arrests made or
  citations issued at the checkpoint; and
                     (E)  the identity of each peace officer operating
  the checkpoint; and
               (2)  until at least the second anniversary of the date
  on which the agency concludes the operation of the checkpoint, any
  video or audio recording made under Subsection (g)(1) of an
  encounter between a motor vehicle operator and a peace officer at
  the checkpoint.
         Art. 65.05.  PUBLIC NOTICE. (a)  Not later than the third
  day before the date the operation of a sobriety checkpoint is
  scheduled to begin, the captain, sheriff, or police chief who
  approved the checkpoint, as applicable, shall provide public notice
  of the date, time, location, and duration of the checkpoint by:
               (1)  posting notice on the law enforcement agency's
  Internet website; or
               (2)  if the law enforcement agency does not have an
  Internet website or is otherwise unable to comply with Subdivision
  (1):
                     (A)  requesting the secretary of state to post the
  notice on the secretary of state's Internet website, if the
  department will operate the checkpoint;
                     (B)  posting the notice on a bulletin board in the
  county courthouse at a location convenient and clearly visible to
  the public, if the sheriff's department of the county will operate
  the checkpoint; or
                     (C)  posting the notice on a bulletin board in the
  city hall at a location convenient and clearly visible to the
  public, if the police department of the municipality will operate
  the checkpoint.
         (b)  On receipt of a request by the department under
  Subsection (a)(2)(A), the secretary of state shall post notice on
  the secretary of state's Internet website of the date, time,
  location, and duration of the sobriety checkpoint with respect to
  which the request is made.
         (c)  The law enforcement agency or secretary of state shall
  post a notice required by this article continuously for the
  three-day period preceding the operation of the sobriety
  checkpoint.
         Art. 65.06.  REPORT ON EFFECTIVENESS OF SOBRIETY
  CHECKPOINTS.  (a)  Not later than January 15 of each calendar year,
  each law enforcement agency that operated a sobriety checkpoint
  during the preceding calendar year shall submit a report on the
  operation of the checkpoint to the traffic safety section of the
  traffic operations division of the Texas Department of
  Transportation.
         (b)  The traffic operations division is entitled to inspect
  any information in the possession of the law enforcement agency
  that relates to the operation of a sobriety checkpoint by the
  agency.
         (c)  Not later than February 1, 2019, the traffic operations
  division shall submit a report on the effectiveness of sobriety
  checkpoints operated under this chapter to the governor, the
  lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the house of
  representatives.
         Art. 65.07.  EXPIRATION.  This chapter expires August 31,
  2019.
         SECTION 2.  A law enforcement agency authorized to operate a
  sobriety checkpoint under Chapter 65, Code of Criminal Procedure,
  as added by this Act, shall submit the first report required by
  Article 65.06, Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by this Act, not
  later than January 15, 2014.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2013.