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  S.B. No. 959
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to toll collection and enforcement.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 228.001, Transportation Code, is amended
  by adding Subdivision (3-a) to read as follows:
               (3-a)  "Registered owner" means an owner as defined in
  Section 502.001.
         SECTION 2.  Subsection (a), Section 228.054, Transportation
  Code, is amended to read as follows:
         (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (e) or Section
  228.0545, the operator of a vehicle, other than an authorized
  emergency vehicle, as defined by Section 541.201, that is driven or
  towed through a toll collection facility shall pay the proper toll.  
  The exemption from payment of a toll for an authorized emergency
  vehicle applies regardless of whether the vehicle is:
               (1)  responding to an emergency;
               (2)  displaying a flashing light; or
               (3)  marked as an emergency vehicle.
         SECTION 3.  Subchapter B, Chapter 228, Transportation Code,
  is amended by adding Section 228.0545 to read as follows:
         Sec. 228.0545.  ALTERNATIVE TOLLING METHODS. (a)  As an
  alternative to requiring payment of a toll at the time a vehicle is
  driven or towed through a toll collection facility, the department
  may use video billing or other tolling methods to permit the
  registered owner of the vehicle to pay the toll at a later date.
         (b)  The department may use automated enforcement technology
  authorized under Section 228.058 to identify the registered owner
  of the vehicle for purposes of billing, collection, and enforcement
  activities.
         (c)  The department shall send by first class mail to the
  registered owner of the vehicle a written notice of the total amount
  due. The notice must specify the date, which may not be earlier
  than the 30th day after the date the notice is mailed, by which the
  amount due must be paid. The registered owner shall pay the amount
  due on or before the date specified in the notice.
         (d)  The department shall send the notice required under
  Subsection (c) and subsequent notices to:
               (1)  the registered owner's address as shown in the
  vehicle registration records of the Texas Department of Motor
  Vehicles or the analogous department or agency of another state or
  country; or
               (2)  an alternate address provided by the owner or
  derived through other reliable means.
         SECTION 4.  Subsections (a), (b), (d), (e), and (h), Section
  228.055, Transportation Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  In the event of nonpayment of the [proper] toll as
  required by Section 228.054 or 228.0545, on issuance of a written
  notice of nonpayment, the registered owner of the nonpaying vehicle
  is liable for the payment of both the proper toll and an
  administrative fee.
         (b)  The department may impose and collect the
  administrative fee, so as to recover the cost of collecting the
  unpaid toll, not to exceed $100.  The department shall send a
  written notice of nonpayment to the registered owner of the vehicle
  at that owner's address as shown in the vehicle registration
  records of the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles or the analogous
  department or agency of another state or country or at an alternate
  address provided by the owner or derived through other reliable
  means.  The notice of nonpayment shall be sent by first class mail
  and may require payment not sooner than the 30th day after the date
  the notice was mailed.  The registered owner shall pay a separate
  toll and administrative fee for each event of nonpayment under
  Section 228.054 or 228.0545.
         (d)  It is an exception to the application of Subsection (a)
  or (c) if the registered owner of the vehicle is a lessor of the
  vehicle and not later than the 30th day after the date the notice of
  nonpayment is mailed provides to the department:
               (1)  a copy of the rental, lease, or other contract
  document covering the vehicle on the date of the nonpayment under
  Section 228.054 or the date the vehicle was driven or towed through
  a toll collection facility that results in a notice issued under
  Section 228.0545, with the name and address of the lessee clearly
  legible; or
               (2)  electronic data, in a format agreed on by the
  department and the lessor, other than a photocopy or scan of a
  rental or lease contract, that contains the information required
  under Sections 521.460(c)(1), (2), and (3) covering the vehicle on
  the date of the nonpayment under Section 228.054 or the date the
  vehicle was driven or towed through a toll collection facility that
  results in a notice issued under Section 228.0545.
         (e)  It is an exception to the application of Subsection (a)
  or (c) if the registered owner of the vehicle transferred ownership
  of the vehicle to another person before the event of nonpayment
  under Section 228.054 occurred or before the date the vehicle was
  driven or towed through a toll collection facility that results in a
  notice issued under Section 228.0545, submitted written notice of
  the transfer to the department in accordance with Section 520.023,
  and, before the 30th day after the date the notice of nonpayment is
  mailed, provides to the department the name and address of the
  person to whom the vehicle was transferred.  If the former owner of
  the vehicle provides the required information within the period
  prescribed, the department may send a notice of nonpayment to the
  person to whom ownership of the vehicle was transferred at the
  address provided by the former owner by first class mail before the
  30th day after the date of receipt of the required information from
  the former owner.  The department may send all subsequent notices of
  nonpayment associated with the vehicle to the person to whom
  ownership of the vehicle was transferred at the address provided by
  the former owner or an alternate address provided by the subsequent
  owner or derived through other reliable means. The subsequent
  owner of the vehicle for which the proper toll was not paid who is
  mailed a written notice of nonpayment under this subsection and
  fails to pay the proper toll and administrative fee within the time
  specified by the notice of nonpayment commits an offense.  The
  subsequent owner shall pay a separate toll and administrative fee
  for each event of nonpayment under Section 228.054 or 228.0545.  
  Each failure to pay a toll or administrative fee under this
  subsection is a separate offense.
         (h)  Notwithstanding the requirement in Subsections (b),
  (d-1), and (e) for payment of a separate administrative fee for each
  event of nonpayment under Section 228.054 or 228.0545, the
  department may impose one administrative fee that covers multiple
  events of nonpayment  [In this section, "registered owner" means
  the owner of a vehicle as shown on the vehicle registration records
  of the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles or the analogous
  department or agency of another state or country].
         SECTION 5.  Subsection (b), Section 228.056, Transportation
  Code, is amended to read as follows:
         (b)  In the prosecution of an offense under Section
  228.055(c), (d-1), or (e):
               (1)  it is presumed that the notice of nonpayment was
  received on the fifth day after the date of mailing;
               (2)  a computer record of the Texas Department of Motor
  Vehicles of the registered owner of the vehicle is prima facie
  evidence of its contents and that the defendant was the registered
  owner of the vehicle when the underlying event of nonpayment under
  Section 228.054 occurred or on the date the vehicle was driven or
  towed through a toll collection facility that results in a notice
  issued under Section 228.0545; and
               (3)  a copy of the rental, lease, or other contract
  document, or the electronic data provided to the department under
  Section 228.055(d), covering the vehicle on the date of the
  underlying event of nonpayment under Section 228.054 or on the date
  the vehicle was driven or towed through a toll collection facility
  that results in a notice issued under Section 228.0545 is prima
  facie evidence of its contents and that the defendant was the lessee
  of the vehicle when the underlying event of nonpayment under
  Section 228.054 occurred or when the vehicle was driven or towed
  through a toll collection facility that results in a notice issued
  under Section 228.0545.
         SECTION 6.  Section 228.057, Transportation Code, is amended
  by adding Subsections (g) and (h) to read as follows:
         (g)  The department may, following closure of an electronic
  toll collection customer account and at the request of the account
  holder, refund the balance of funds in the account after
  satisfaction of any outstanding tolls and fees.
         (h)  The department may enter into an agreement with a
  governmental or private entity regarding the use of a transponder
  issued by the department and the corresponding electronic toll
  collection customer account to pay for parking services offered by
  the entity.
         SECTION 7.  Subsection (b), Section 228.058, Transportation
  Code, is amended to read as follows:
         (b)  Automated enforcement technology approved by the
  department under Subsection (a) may be used only for the purpose of
  producing, depicting, photographing, or recording an image that
  depicts that portion of a vehicle necessary to establish the
  classification of vehicle and the proper toll to be charged, the
  license plate number, and the state of registration, including an
  image:
               (1)  of a license plate attached to the front or rear of
  a vehicle; and
               (2)  showing the vehicle dimensions, the presence of a
  trailer, and the number of axles.
         SECTION 8.  The changes in law made by this Act apply 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 governed
  by the law in effect on the date 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 occurred before that date.
         SECTION 9.  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, 2011.
 
 
 
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 959 passed the Senate on
  April 7, 2011, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays 0.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate    
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 959 passed the House on
  May 23, 2011, by the following vote:  Yeas 142, Nays 0, one
  present not voting.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
 
 
  Approved:
 
  ______________________________ 
              Date
 
 
  ______________________________ 
            Governor