| (a) Certain peace officers from an authorized municipality
or county may be trained and certified to enforce the federal safety
regulations provided the municipality or county:
(1) executes a Memorandum of Understanding with the
department concerning the working policies and procedures of the inspection
program whereby the resources of all agencies will be maximized, duplication
of efforts will be minimized, and uniformity in the inspection program
will be maintained;
(2) implements a program that ensures only their certified
officers are conducting the inspections, utilizing only department
approved forms, and following the inspection program guidelines approved
by the department;
(3) implements a program that ensures their officers
perform the required number of inspections annually and successfully
complete the required annual certification training to maintain the
officers' certification;
(4) agrees to immediately suspend, from performing
commercial vehicle inspection and enforcement activities, authorized
in this chapter, any officer that fails to maintain their certification
or that fails to perform the inspections following the guidelines
approved by the department;
(5) agrees to notify the department within 10 days
of a change in an officer's certification and provides a list to the
department by January 31st of each year of the officers that have
been suspended and are no longer certified;
(6) provides all roadside inspection data to the department
through electronic systems that are compatible with the department's
system within 10 days of the inspection, and forwards paper copies
immediately thereafter;
(7) agrees to forward crash reports involving commercial
motor vehicles to the Texas Department of Transportation no later
than 10 days after the date of the crash investigation;
(8) agrees to investigate and determine whether a correction
to the data needs to be made when that data is challenged; to notify
the motor carrier and the department in writing of the results of
the investigation within 10 days; and then to make any needed corrections
and forward the corrected reports to the department immediately;
(9) acknowledges that the department may conduct random
in-person observation of inspections conducted in order to ensure
that the officers maintain practical proficiency in the commercial
vehicle inspection program;
(10) acknowledges that the primary purpose of certification
to enforce federal safety regulations is to improve commercial vehicle
safety and ensure voluntary compliance with applicable laws and regulations;
(11) acknowledges that certification to enforce federal
safety regulations may not be used as a primary method to generate
program revenue through enforcement penalties or enhance criminal
interdiction activities; and
(12) acknowledges that officers certified to enforce
federal safety regulations will not participate in secondary employment
activities that present a conflict of interest related to their commercial
vehicle enforcement duties.
(b) Non-compliance with the provisions of the Memorandum
of Understanding or the training, officer certification, or data-sharing
requirements by the municipality or county, including timeliness of
reporting data, or any other provision of this section, will constitute
grounds to decertify the municipality's or county's authority to enforce
the federal safety regulations.
(c) The failure of a municipality or county to show
activity to the department within a six (6) month period will constitute
grounds to decertify the municipality or county.
(d) Each municipality or county that has peace officers
trained and certified to enforce the federal safety regulations shall
be required to update and renew their Memorandum of Understanding
with the department every two years on a staggered schedule to be
determined by the department. If the initial Memorandum of Understanding
with the department does not have an effective date shown, then the
effective date shall be the date of acceptance by the department.
(e) In determining whether a municipality meets the
population threshold requirements of Texas Transportation Code, §644.101,
the department will use either:
(1) the most recent federal decennial census, or
(2) a resolution or proclamation issued under the authority
of the governing body of the municipality that attests and certifies
that the population of the municipality, including the authorized
extraterritorial jurisdiction of the municipality, meets or exceeds
the population threshold amounts listed in Texas Transportation Code, §644.101.
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| Source Note: The provisions of this §4.14 adopted to be effective March 9, 2004, 29 TexReg 2376; amended to be effective January 4, 2005, 29 TexReg 12235; amended to be effective May 22, 2005, 30 TexReg 3031; amended to be effective May 30, 2006, 31 TexReg 4442; amended to be effective October 1, 2006, 31 TexReg 8109; amended to be effective June 11, 2008, 33 TexReg 4527; amended to be effective May 10, 2011, 36 TexReg 2995; amended to be effective June 26, 2012, 37 TexReg 4602 |
