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Texas Transportation Code - Section 720.002. Prohibition On Traffic-Offense Quotas

Legal Research Home > Texas Laws > Transportation Code > Texas Transportation Code - Section 720.002. Prohibition On Traffic-Offense Quotas

§ 720.002. PROHIBITION ON TRAFFIC-OFFENSE QUOTAS.  (a) A 
political subdivision or an agency of this state may not establish 
or maintain, formally or informally, a plan to evaluate, promote, 
compensate, or discipline:
		(1)  a peace officer according to the officer's 
issuance of a predetermined or specified number of any type or 
combination of types of traffic citations;  or
		(2)  a justice of the peace or a judge of a county 
court, statutory county court, municipal court, or municipal court 
of record according to the amount of money the justice or judge 
collects from persons convicted of a traffic offense.
	(b)  A political subdivision or an agency of this state may 
not require or suggest to a peace officer, a justice of the peace, 
or a judge of a county court, statutory county court, municipal 
court, or municipal court of record:
		(1)  that the peace officer is required or expected to 
issue a predetermined or specified number of any type or 
combination of types of traffic citations within a specified 
period;  or
		(2)  that the justice or judge is required or expected 
to collect a predetermined amount of money from persons convicted 
of a traffic offense within a specified period.
	(c)  Subsection (a) does not prohibit a municipality from 
considering the source and amount of money collected from a 
municipal court or a municipal court of record when evaluating the 
performance of a judge employed by the municipality.
	(d)  This section does not prohibit a municipality from 
obtaining budgetary information from a municipal court or a 
municipal court of record, including an estimate of the amount of 
money the court anticipates will be collected in a budget year.
	(e)  A violation of this section by an elected official is 
misconduct and a ground for removal from office.  A violation of 
this section by a person who is not an elected official is a ground 
for removal from the person's position.
	(f)  In this section:                                                          
		(1)  "Conviction" means the rendition of an order by a 
court imposing a punishment of incarceration or a fine.
		(2)  "Traffic offense" means an offense under:                                
			(A)  Chapter 521;  or                                                        
			(B)  Subtitle C.                                                             

Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 165, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.                    

Last modified: August 11, 2007