AUSTIN, TX — The Texas Department of Public Safety reminded Texans this week of upcoming changes to the state’s Vehicle Safety Inspection Program that will eliminate most inspections.

House Bill 3297, which was passed by the 88th Legislature and signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott in 2023, abolishes the Vehicle Safety Inspection Program for non-commercial vehicles.

Beginning January 1, 2025, non-commercial vehicles will no longer need a vehicle safety inspection prior to registration. However, all non-commercial vehicles in the state will be subject to a $7.50 inspection program replacement fee. This fee will be added to your total when you register your vehicle with the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles.

New vehicles (those of the current or preceding model year on the date of purchase) purchased in Texas that have not been previously registered in Texas or another state are required to pay an initial inspection program replacement fee of $16.75 to cover two years.

Vehicles Registered in Emissions Counties

While comprehensive vehicle safety inspections will be eliminated for all non-commercial vehicles, Texans whose vehicles are registered in emissions counties will still be required to have emissions tests.

Emissions tests are required in major metropolitan areas, including Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Montgomery, Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Johnson, Kaufman, Parker, Rockwall, Tarrant, Travis, Williamson and El Paso counties Bexar County will be added to the list of counties requiring emissions tests in 2026.

Commercial Vehicles

All commercial vehicles in all counties will still be required to obtain a passing vehicle safety inspection. Because they will be required to pay for that safety inspection, commercial vehicles will be exempt from the inspection program replacement fee.

All vehicles will still need to be registered. The registration process will continue to be managed by the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles.

AUSTIN, TX – The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) announced that a Texas 10 Most Wanted sex offender is back in custody following his recent arrest.

Authorities arrested Texas 10 Most Wanted Sex Offender Ramiro Dominguez on June 27 in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Dominguez was DPS’ Featured Fugitive in June 2024, and a Crime Stoppers reward will be paid for his arrest.

Ramiro Manuel Dominguez, 35, was taken into custody in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Following up on tip information received last month, DPS Special Agents from Lubbock coordinated with officers from the Cheyenne Police Department to locate and arrest Dominguez. 

Dominguez had been wanted since Dec. 2023, when a warrant was issued out of Hale County, Texas for his arrest for failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements. In 2012, Dominguez was convicted of first-degree rape in Oklahoma following an incident with a 10-year-old girl. He was subsequently sentenced to 8 years of confinement. Also in 2012, he was convicted of domestic assault and battery/abuse in Oklahoma and sentenced to 3 years of confinement to be served concurrently with his 8-year sentence for rape. More information on Dominguez’s capture can be found here.

Funded by the Governor’s Public Safety Office, Texas Crime Stoppers offers cash rewards to any person who provides information that leads to the arrest of one of Texas’ 10 Most Wanted Fugitives, Sex Offenders or Criminal Illegal Immigrants. So far in 2024, DPS and other agencies have arrested 23 Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives, Sex Offenders and Criminal Illegal Immigrants, including 10 sex offenders, 8 gang members and 2 criminal illegal immigrants. 

To be eligible for cash rewards, tipsters must provide information to authorities using one of the following three methods:

• Call the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-252-TIPS (8477).
• Submit a web tip through the DPS website by selecting the fugitive you have information about then clicking on the link under their picture.
• Submit a Facebook tip by clicking the “SUBMIT A TIP” link (under the “About” section).

All tips are anonymous — regardless of how they are submitted — and tipsters will be provided a tip number instead of using a name.

DPS investigators work with local law enforcement agencies to select fugitives for the Texas 10 Most Wanted Fugitives, Sex Offenders and Criminal Illegal Immigrants Lists. You can find the current lists — with photos — on the DPS website.

Do not attempt to apprehend these fugitives; they are considered armed and dangerous.