HBA-GUM, RBT H.B. 1562 76(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1562 By: Reyna, Elvira Criminal Jurisprudence 7/7/1999 Enrolled BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE H.B. 1562 clarifies a confused interpretation of two laws passed by the 75th Legislature. One bill allowed county criminal courts to refer occupational driver's license matters to magistrates. The other gave county criminal courts concurrent civil jurisdiction with the county courts at law to hear appeals of driver's license suspensions. The confusion arises in automatic license revocation (ALR) appeal hearings. In this case, the Texas Department of Public Safety contends that a magistrate cannot hear the appeal because it is a civil matter. H.B. 1562 makes conforming changes in Section 54.306 (a) of the Government Code that will allow a magistrate to hear an ALR appeal. 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 Section 54.306(a), Government Code, to include an appeal of an administrative driver's license revocation hearing among those matters a judge is authorized to refer to a magistrate. SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 3. Emergency clause.