. . 

The Attorney General of Texas 

October 30, 1980 

Colonel James B. Adams 

Director 

Department of Public Safety 

5805 N. Lamar 

Austin, Texas 78773 

Dear Colonel Adams: 

Opinion No. M.V-260 

Re: Whether conviction of involuntary 

manslaughter results in automatic 

suspension of a driver’s license 

You ask whether article 668713, V.T.C.S, requires the automatic 

suspension of a driver’s license when the licensee is convicted of involuntary 

manslaughter under section 19.05 of the Penal Code. You have limited your 

inquiry to subsections (a)(l) and (a)(3) of section 24, article 6687b, V.T.C.S., 

which provide that: 

(a) The license of any person shall be automatically 

suspended lpcn f&l conviction of any of th; 

following offenses: 

1. 

3. 

Negligent homicide result@ from the operation 

of a motor vehicle;. . . 

Any offense punishable as a felony under the 

motor vehicle laws of this State. . . . 

Acts 1941, 47th Leg., ch. 173, at 245. Section 19.05 of the Penal Code 

provides that: 

(a) A person commits an offense if he: 

(1) recklessly causes the death of an individual; or 

(2) by accident or mistake when operating a motor 

vehicle while intoxicated and, by reason of such 

intoxication, causes the death of an individual. 

Acts 1973, 63rd Leg., ch. 426, art. 2, 51, at 1123. An offense under this 

section constitutes a third degree felony. 

The Texas Penal Code, which became effective January 1, 1974, was 

the product of a massive undertaking designed to overhaul and codify Texas 

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Colonel James B. Adams - Page Two (m-260) 

penal law. Acts 1973, 63rd Leg., ch. 399, Sl, at ,883. A significant accomplishment of 

the code is its clear expression of the mens rea concept in criminal homicide cases in 

terms of intentional, knowing, reckless>~minally negligent conduct. See Penal 

- 

Code SS19.01-.07, 6.03. 

We first consider whether involuntary manslaughter constitutes an offense 

“punishable as a felony under the motor vehicle laws of this State.” V.T.C.S. art. 

6687b, S24(a)(3). Traffic regulations are contained in articles 6701d to 670m-2, 

V.T.C.S. In 1971, the legislature added section 50A to article 6701d; on its face, section 

50A duplicated the offense of involuntary manslaughter. However, the legislature 

repealed that section in 1975, apparently because it intended that the Penal Code 

should deal with the entire stiject of criminal homicide. Acts 1975, 64th Leg., ch. 342, 

S16, at 918. Our attention has not been directed to any current traffic regulation which 

provides that involuntary manslaughter constitutes a felony under state motor vehicle 

laws. Thus, we conclude that involuntary manslaughter, while certainly a felony 

offense, is not an offense punishable as a felony “under the motor vehicle laws of this 

State.” 

We next consider whether a driver’s license may be suspended automatically 

pursuant to article 6687b, section 24(a)(l), upon conviction of involuntary manslaughter. Sections 19.04 and 19.05 of the Penal Code deal, respectively, with 

voluntary and involuntary manslaughter. Section 19.05(a)(l) provides that a person 

commits involuntary manslaughter if he “recklessly” causes the death of another 

(whether or not he was operating a motor vehicle); subsection (a)(2) thereof pertains to 

death resulting from a driver’s accident or mistake while operating a motor vehicle 

while intoxicated. An individual is considered “intoxicated” when he “does not have 

the normal use of his mental or physical faculties by reason of the voluntary 

introduction of any s&stance into his body.” Section 19.05(b) (Emphasis added). The 

underlined language indicates that the legislature intended that the conduct specified 

in section 19.05(a)(2) should constitute recklessness per se. See also Penal Code S6.03. 

It is clear, therefore, that in order to commit involuntary manslaughter, a person 

must act recklessly rather than negligently. See Moore v. State, 574 S.W. 2d 122 (Tex. 

Crim. App. 1978); Mendez v. State, 575 S.W.2d36 (Tex. Crim. App. 1979); Brooks v. 

State, 548 S.W. 2d 680 (Tex. Crim. App. 1977); cf, section 19.07. Article 6687b, section 

m(l) provides, however, that a driver’s license may automatically be suspended upon 

final conviction of “ne li ent homicide resulting 

vehicle.” (Emphasis a* 

from the operation of a motor 

While a hteral construction of this provision yields the 

anomalous result that a license may automatically be suspended when a driver commits 

vehicular homicide with the least culpable of the four mental states prescribed in the 

Penal Code, but not when he acts intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly, we think this 

is a matter which the legislature, and not this office, should correct. The relevant 

pmvisions of article 6687b, section 24 have not been amended since 1941, and thus do 

not take into account the many changes in the criminal law area brought about by the 

new Penal Code, which was enacted in 1973. However, the legislature is the body 

which properly should effect a reconciliation between article 6687b, section 24, and 

the Penal Code. We thus conclude that under the present state of the law, conviction 

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Colonel James B. Adams - Page Three (MV-260) 

of involuntary manslaughter &es not result in automatic suspension of a ckiver’s 

license under article 6687b, section 24(a)(l). 

. 

It is important to note, however, that although involuntary manslaughter &es not 

result in automatic suspension of a driver’s license, it may well result in discretionary 

suspension of the license. Article 6687b, section 22, provides, for example, that a 

license may be suspended upon proof, jnter that the driver has been responsible 

for an accident resulting in death or serious personal injury, is an habitual reckless or 

negligent driver, or is incapable of driving a motor vehicle. Accordingly, assuming the 

required procedures are observed, a license may be suspended under the discretionary 

authority of the Department of Public Safety lpon conviction of involuntary 

manslaughter even though it may not automatically be suspended. 

SUMMARY 

Conviction of the offense of involuntary manslaughter &es 

not result in automatic suspension of a driver’s license, but may 

result in discretionary suspension of said license. 

MARK WHITE 

Attorney General of Texas 

JOHN W. FAINTER, JR. 

First Assistant Attorney General 

RICHARD E. GRAY III 

Executive Assistant Attorney General 

Prepared by Jon Bible 

Assistant Attorney General 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMlTTEE 

Susan Garrison, Acting Chairman 

Jon Bible 

Tom Bullington 

Rick Gilpin 

C. Robert Heath 

p. 827