Bicycle Austin forum

MichaelBluejay

Webmaster

From: Austin, TX

Registered: 2008-05-26

Posts: 1,466

Website

San Marcos ends arrests for driving with invalid license

San Marcos will no longer arrest people for driving with an invalid license.  Now, it's just cite-and-release.

I don't know if "invalid license" includes "suspended license", but if so, the most common reason that a person's license is suspended is because of DWI.

https://communityimpact.com/austin/san- … -in-texas/

dougmc

Administrator

Registered: 2008-06-01

Posts: 631

Re: San Marcos ends arrests for driving with invalid license

"Driving with an invalid license" is a bit vague, but it's probably a seperate charge from "driving with a suspended license".

The relevant laws would probably include :

§ 521.025. License to be Carried and Exhibited on Demand;  Criminal Penalty -- this is driving without a license, class C misdemeanor.   This is what you get when you never had a license, or you let it lapse.

§ 521.457. Driving While License Invalid, this is "driving while license is suspended", a class B misdemeanor or worse.  This is what you get when you lose your license due to something like a DWI.

Class C misdemeanors never carry jail time, so citing the offending party vs. arresting them certainly makes sense.  That said, if a driver is cited for such a thing, they certainly shouldn't be permitted to drive home -- the car should be driven home by somebody else or impounded.