Oversight of municipal jails
Legislators may consider oversight of municipal jails and other detention facilities and whether the state should impose minimum standards.
Handguns
Legislators may debate allowing handgun licensees to carry their weapons onto college campuses, either public or private. Proposals to reduce the required $125 fee for concealed handgun permits to make them more obtainable by low-income Texans also may be considered.
Spotlight on bills filed:
HB 86 – Simpson, David – Relating to the carrying of concealed handguns on the campuses of institutions of higher education.
Alcohol
Legislators could debate proposals on driving while intoxicated, including requiring installation of ignition interlock devices after a driver’s first DWI offense. Another proposal would establish standards for local law enforcement sobriety checkpoints where officers could check motorists for signs of intoxication. Revising laws on administrative license revocations for DWI offenses and expanding deferred adjudication to include first-time DWI cases also could be considered.
Proposals could be considered to create a new criminal offense that applied to drivers with alcohol in their systems but who were below the current blood alcohol level of 0.08, as a way to route these drivers into alcohol treatment or impose other restrictions on them.
Expanding deferred adjudication to include first-time driving while intoxicated cases could be considered. A proposal may be made to allow the governor to issue a pardon to those who have successfully completed deferred adjudication. Legislators also could examine the use of and access to database records of those receiving deferred adjudication.
Spotlight on bills filed:
HB 189 – Smith, Todd – A judge granting deferred adjudication to a defendant for certain driving while intoxicated cases shall require the defendant to have an ignition interlock device installed.