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Dallas Municipal Court

Hidden in the deep, dark trenches of the Transportation Code are little known and rarely discussed conditions of interlocks regarding occupational license orders.  When so ordered, an interlock must be installed on any vehicle driven by an occupational license holder. This condition is usually required when a license is suspended for certain alcohol related convictions. Interlock devices can be expensive to install and maintain and tedious to operate.

The Texas Transportation Code does offer a glimmer of hope when this is a condition of an occupational license. As follows:

c)  The person shall obtain the ignition interlock device at the person’s own expense unless the court finds that to do so is not in the best interest of justice and enters that finding in the record.  If the court determines that the person is unable to pay for the device, the court may impose a reasonable payment schedule for a term not to exceed twice the period of the court’s order.

Notice, that the court has the jurisdiction to determine if paying for an interlock device would be against the best interest of justice and enters the finding on the record.  The court can enter the person into the a payment schedule.

Additionally:

(d)  The court shall order the ignition interlock device to remain installed for at least half of the period of supervision.

Dallas ODL Attorney

So, according to this provision, the device does not necessarily have to be installed on the vehicle for the entire period of the occupational license order.

The point of these provisions is to provide reasonable conditions when requiring an interlock as part of an occupational license order. More importantly, it is best that an experienced attorney present the petition and argue for these conditions, if appropriate, in the best interest of the client.