The department must decide whether to suspend a driver's license after a report, and must suspend it in specified alcohol-related cases unless a listed exception applies.
Sec. 524.012. DEPARTMENT'S DETERMINATION FOR DRIVER'S LICENSE SUSPENSION. (a) On receipt of a report under Section 524.011, if the officer did not serve a notice of suspension of driver's license at the time the results of the analysis of a breath or blood specimen were obtained, the department shall determine from the information in the report whether to suspend the person's driver's license. (b) The department shall suspend the person's driver's license if the department determines that: (1) the person had an alcohol concentration of a level specified by Section 49.01(2)(B), Penal Code, while operating a motor vehicle in a public place or while operating a watercraft; or (2) the person was a minor on the date that the breath or blood specimen was obtained and had any detectable amount of alcohol in the minor's system while operating a motor vehicle in a public place or while operating a watercraft. (c) The department may not suspend a person's driver's license if: (1) the person is an adult and the analysis of the person's breath or blood specimen determined that the person had an alcohol concentration of a level below that specified by Section 49.01(2)(B), Penal Code, at the time the specimen was taken; or (2) the person is a minor and the department does not determine that the minor had any detectable amount of alcohol in the minor's system when the minor was arrested. (d) A determination under this section is final unless a hearing is requested under Section 524.031. (e) A determination under this section: (1) is a civil matter; (2) is independent of and is not an estoppel to any matter in issue in an adjudication of a criminal charge arising from the occurrence that is the basis for the suspension; and (3) does not preclude litigation of the same or similar facts in a criminal prosecution. Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995. Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 30.102, eff. Sept. 1, 1997; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1013, Sec. 23, eff. Sept. 1, 1997. Amended by: Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 1348 (S.B. 328), Sec. 12, eff. September 1, 2009.