Introduced Version
Senate Bill 521 History
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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
Senate Bill No. 521
(By Senators Laird, Palumbo, Kirkendoll, Cookman, Stollings,
Kessler (Mr. President), Snyder, Cann, Plymale, Williams, Miller
and Chafin)
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[Introduced March 14, 2013; referred to the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure; and then to the Committee on
the Judiciary .]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §17B-3-3c and §17B-3-9 of the Code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended; and to amend said code by
adding thereto a new section, designated §17B-3-9a, all
relating to creating an amnesty program for certain persons
with suspended licenses to allow reinstatement; establishing
a time period and certain procedures for the amnesty program;
creating exceptions to the amnesty period; making certain
technical corrections; requiring certain tickets amnestied
remain listed as unsatisfied on court records; requiring
certain suspension or revocation time remaining be waived in
certain situations; requiring a public awareness campaign regarding the amnesty program; and providing for rule-making
authority.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17B-3-3c and §17B-3-9 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that said code be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated §17B-3-9a, all
to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. CANCELLATION, SUSPENSION OR REVOCATION OF LICENSES.
§17B-3-3c. Suspending license for failure to pay fines or
penalties imposed as the result of criminal
conviction or for failure to appear in court.
(a) The division shall suspend the license of any a resident
of this state or the privilege of a nonresident to drive a motor
vehicle in this state upon receiving notice from a circuit court,
magistrate court or municipal court of this state, pursuant to
section two-b, two-a article three, chapter fifty of this code, or
section two-b, article ten, chapter eight of said this code or
section seventeen, article four, chapter sixty-two of said this
code, that such the person has defaulted on the payment of costs,
fines, forfeitures, penalties or restitution imposed on the person
by the circuit court, magistrate court or municipal court upon
conviction for any a criminal offense by the date such the court had required such the person to pay the same, or that such the
person has failed to appear in court when charged with such an
offense. For the purposes of this section; section two-b, two-a
article three, chapter fifty of said code; section two-b, article
ten, chapter eight of said code; and section seventeen, article
four, chapter sixty-two of said code, "criminal offense" shall be
is defined as any a violation of the provisions of this code or the
violation of any a municipal ordinance for which the violation
thereof which may result in a fine, confinement in jail or
imprisonment in a correctional facility of this state. Provided,
That any A parking violation or other violation for which a
citation may be issued to an unattended vehicle shall not be
considered is not a criminal offense for the purposes of this
section; section two-b, article ten, chapter eight of said code;
section two-b, two-a article three, chapter fifty of said code; or
section seventeen, article four, chapter sixty-two of said code.
(b) A copy of the order of suspension shall be forwarded to
such the person by certified mail, return receipt requested. No
order of suspension becomes effective until ten days after receipt
of a copy of such the order. The order of suspension shall advise
the person that because of the receipt of notice of the failure to
pay costs, fines, forfeitures or penalties, or the failure to
appear, a presumption exists that the person named in the order of suspension is the same person named in the notice. The
Commissioner Office of Administrative Hearings' Chief Hearing
Examiner may grant an administrative hearing which substantially
complies with the requirements of the provisions of section two,
article five-a, chapter seventeen-c of this code upon a preliminary
showing that a possibility exists that it is possible the person
named in the notice of conviction is not the same person whose
license is being suspended. Such The request for hearing shall be
made within ten days after receipt of a copy of the order of
suspension. The sole purpose of this hearing shall be is for the
person requesting the hearing to present evidence that he or she is
not the person named in the notice. In the event the Commissioner
grants an administrative hearing, the Commissioner Office of
Administrative Hearings' Chief Hearing Examiner grants an
administrative hearing, the Office of Administrative Hearings will
send notice to the commissioner and the commissioner shall stay
the license suspension pending the Commissioner's Chief Hearing
Examiner's order resulting from the hearing.
(c) A suspension under this section and section three-a of
this chapter article will continue until the person provides proof
of compliance from the municipal, magistrate or circuit court and
pays the reinstatement fee as provided in section nine of this
article: Provided, That proof of compliance is not required when the provisions of section nine-a of this article are met. The
reinstatement fee is assessed upon issuance of the order of
suspension regardless of the effective date of suspension.
§17B-3-9. Surrender and return of license not required.
The division, upon suspending or revoking a license, may not
require that the license be surrendered to and be retained by the
division. The surrender of a license may not be a precondition to
the commencement and tolling of any applicable period of suspension
or revocation. Provided, That Before the license may be
reinstated, the licensee shall pay a fee of $50, in addition to all
other fees and charges, which shall be collected by the division
and deposited in a special revolving fund to be appropriated to the
division for use in the enforcement of the provisions of this
section. A fee or charge assessed for a reinstatement of
suspension for failure to satisfy a citation or unpaid ticket ten
years old or older for which amnesty was granted under the
provision of section nine-a of this article is waived.
§17B-3-9a. Amnesty program for certain licenses.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this code to the
contrary, from October 1, 2013, until September 30, 2014, in
addressing whether a licensee is qualified for reinstatement, the
Division of Motor Vehicles shall treat all instances of failure to
satisfy a citation or unpaid ticket pursuant to section three-a or three-c of this article or for driving while suspended or revoked
related to an unpaid citation or ticket as fully paid and complied
if the date of the unpaid citation or ticket is ten years old or
older: Provided, That the person does not hold a commercial
driver's license and the citation or ticket is not pertaining to an
offense related to the operation of a commercial motor vehicle as
defined in chapter seventeen-e of this code.
(b) All unpaid citations or tickets that are ten years old or
older will remain unpaid on the court's record despite the amnesty
provisions of subsection (a) of this section.
(c) The division shall waive any remaining time on a
suspension or revocation for a second or subsequent conviction of
subsection (a), section three, article four of this chapter if the
only underlying suspensions in effect at the time of the incident
were resolved through the amnesty program contained in this
section.
(d) This section does not waive any requirement for the
retesting of a driver's vision, written or road skills if an
offender's driver's license has expired for more than six months.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the
division may not waive requirements or fees if the waiver:
(1) Violates federal laws or federal rules pertaining to
commercial drivers or other licensees;
(2) Disqualifies or jeopardizes the ability of this state to
receive federal highway funding or highway safety funding; or
(3) Places this state in noncompliance with Interstate or
reciprocal agreements that may be in effect now or in the future.
(f) The division shall prepare and execute a public awareness
campaign to inform the public about the amnesty program contained
in this section and how the public can participate in the program.
(g) The commissioner may propose rules for legislative
approval, in accordance with the provisions of article three,
chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, to implement this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create an amnesty
program for drivers with suspended licenses based on nonpayment of
certain court fees in order to allow them to obtain their legal
driver's license without payment of tickets ten years old or older.
§17B-3-9a is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring
have been omitted.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.