this is the reply Mr Cotton sent me on the subjectDocNTexas wrote:There is a misconception on the time the DPS has to issue a CHL to a new applicant. Most hold that the DPS has 60 days from the receipt of ones application material to issue or deny the license but they actually have 90 days on a new application and 180 days if they notify the applicant that they can not process the application in the allotted time. The statute is misleading if you do not read it closely, but if you pay close attention to the terms used and add up the numbers, you will see that the DPS can take as long as 90 days to issue a license to a new applicant and can extend that time to 180 days if necessary.
What makes the statute confusing is that it uses two different reference points in calculating the allotted time for reviewing and forwarding the application materials and issuing the license.
GC411.176 Review of Application Materials states that the Department (i.e. the DPS) has up to 30 days from the date they receive the application materials to review the material before they must forward the material to the director's local designee (i.e. the local person/agency responsible for performing the local background check). The local designee then must complete the local check and return the material to the DPS no later than 60 day from the date that the DPS received the application material from the applicant. No matter when local designee received the material, the total time can take as long as 60 days before the DPS gets the material back from the local designee. This section then states that the DPS can further review the material once they receive it back from the local designee up to the 180th day after the receipt of the application (more on this later).
Now the confusing part. Although the preceding subsection allows the DPS up to 180 days to process an application (as long as they properly notify the applicant as described below), subsection GC411.177 Issuance or Denial of License dictates that the DPS must either issue or deny the license no later than the 60th day after the departments local designee receives the material. READ THAT PART AGAIN CLOSELY! Note that it states 60 days from the date that the local designee received the material and not from the date that the DPS received the material. Now, since the DPS initially has 30 days before they must forward the material to the local designee and then 60 days from the date the local designee receives the material to finally issue the license, this adds up to a total of 90 days by statute before the DPS must either issue or deny the license on a new application.
Now, to further confuse matters, GC411.177 provides that if the DPS can not process the application in the allotted 90 days, all they have to do is notify the applicant in writing and they can then use the full 180 day allotted them by GC411.176 before having to either issue or deny the license.
So, the only real violation the DPS is guilty of, as far as the processing of new applications goes, is not notifying applicants in writing that they are not able to process the application in the allotted 90 days, thereby allowing them an additional 90 days to complete the process.
This is not the case for renewals however. GC411.185 Renewal requires that renewal applications must be either issued or denied with 45 days of the receipt of the application materials by the DPS. There are no provisions for extension or room for misinterpretation, simply a clear requirement to either issue or deny the application within 45 day of the reciept of the renewal application material.
So there you have it. The confusing Texas CHL statutes in a nutshell (a big screwy nutshell). Hopefully the DPS will get a handle on the problem soon and we can again rely on them to meet the deadlines imposed on them (they sure expect us to meet ours). In the meantime, make sure you send those renewals in well ahead of time.
Doc
lunchbox wrote:Mr Cotton
I have a quick question. Was I mistake about the processing time for DPS? It was my understanding the total number of days was 60. However at work today (prodefence) a LEO told me i was blatantly wrong and that it was 90 days and always has been.
even though he doesn't even have one and I do he felt since he was LEO and I'm just a dumb kid I was wrong and there was no convincing him otherwise.
where can I find this statute and show him if he is indeed incorrect?
There is a typo in the statute that can, under very limited circumstances, give DPS up to 90 days to process an initial application. This typo doesn't exist regarding renewals and the time limit is 45 days.
The typo has to do with one word; i.e. "designee" v. "department." DPS has up to 30 days from the date they receive an application to send it to their "local designee" to perform the background check in your county of residence and employment. The statute goes on to require DPS to either issue or deny an application within 60 days of the "designee's" receipt of a completed packet. It should read "within 60 days of the "department's" receipt of . . ." as it reads for renewals.
So DPS can take up to 90 days, but only if they wait the full 30 days before sending it to their local designee. Another way to look at it is that DPS gets 60 days plus the number of days they waited to send the application to their local designee.
To DPS' credit, they have always taken the position that they have 60 days; they know it was a mistake, albeit a legally binding one, and they hold themselves to the 60 day timetable. When they report the number of days late they are on processing, they base the calculation on the 60 day requirement for new licenses and 45 days for renewals.
I hope to change this mistake in 2009.
