Senate Bill No. 627
(By Senators Laird and White)
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[Introduced March 18, 2009; 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-2-3 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to allowing a person who has been
diagnosed with a seizure disorder to operate a motor vehicle
on the highways upon proper determination by a licensed
physician that said person is qualified to be licensed to
drive as prescribed pursuant to section thirteen, article
three, chapter seventeen-b of said code.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17B-2-3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. ISSUANCE OF LICENSE, EXPIRATION AND RENEWAL.
§17B-2-3. What persons may not be licensed; exceptions.
(a) The division may not issue any license hereunder:
(1) To any person who is under the age of eighteen years:
Provided, That the division may issue a junior driver's license on
or after January 1, 2001, a graduated driver's license, to a person
under the age of eighteen years in accordance with
the provisions
of section three-a of this article;
(2) To any person, as a Class A, B, C or D driver, who is
under the age of eighteen years;
(3) To any person, whose license has been suspended or
revoked, during the suspension or revocation;
(4) To any person who is an habitual drunkard or is addicted
to the use of narcotic drugs;
(5) To any person, who has previously been adjudged to be
afflicted with or suffering from any mental disability or disease
and who has not at the time of application been restored to
competency by judicial decree or released from a hospital for the
mentally incompetent upon the certificate of the superintendent of
the institution that the person is competent, and not then unless
the commissioner is satisfied that the person is competent to
operate a motor vehicle with a sufficient degree of care for the
safety of persons or property;
(6) To any person who is required by this chapter to take an
examination, unless the person has successfully passed the
examination;
(7) To any person when the commissioner has good cause to
believe that the operation of a motor vehicle on the highways by the person would be inimical to public safety or welfare.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a person who
has been diagnosed with a seizure disorder shall be allowed
forthwith to operate a motor vehicle on the highways upon proper
determination by a licensed physician that the person is qualified
to be licensed to drive as prescribed pursuant to section thirteen,
article three, chapter seventeen-b of this code.
(b) The division may not issue a license or nondriver
identification card to any person required to register as a
sexually violent predator pursuant to
the provisions of article
twelve, chapter fifteen, unless he or she obtains a driver's
license or nondriver identification card coded by the commissioner
to denote that he or she is a sexually violent predator as follows:
(1) If a person is judicially determined to be a sexually
violent predator after the effective date of this section, the
sentencing court shall order the person or the agency with custody
of the person's driver's license or nondriver identification card
to surrender said license or card to the court. The sentencing
court shall forward to the division all driver's licenses or
nondriver identification cards that it receives pursuant to this
section, along with a copy of the sentencing order. If a person is
registered as a sexually violent predator pursuant to section nine,
article twelve, chapter fifteen of this code after the effective
date of this section as amended and reenacted during the first extraordinary session of the Legislature, 2006, the person shall
surrender their driver's license or nondriver identification card
to the division within ten days of their registration with the
State Police. Any replacement driver's license or nondriver
identification card issued to the person under this section must be
coded by the commissioner to denote the person is a sexually
violent predator and shall be issued at no cost to the person.
(2) Within ten business days of the effective date of the
amendments to this section made during the first extraordinary
session of the Legislature, 2006, the State Police shall provide
the division with the name, address and motor vehicle information
of every person registered as a sexually violent predator in the
state at that time and also provide notice to said registrants of
the requirements set forth in said amendments. If a person is
registered as a sexually violent predator prior to the effective
date of this section, as amended and reenacted during the first
extraordinary session of the Legislature, 2006, he or she shall
surrender his or her driver's license or nondriver identification
card to the division within ten business days of his or her receipt
of the notice from the State Police required by said amendments.
Any replacement driver's license or nondriver identification card
issued to the person under this section must be coded by the
commissioner to denote the person is a sexually violent predator
and shall be issued at no cost to the person.
(c) Upon receipt of a driver's license or nondriver
identification card from a sentencing court or individual pursuant
to subsection (b) of this section, the division shall cancel said
license or card and note the cancellation in its records system so
as to prevent the issuance of a replacement or duplicate license or
card lacking the coded notation required by subsection (b) of this
section.
(d) Upon showing proof that a person is no longer required to
register as a sexually violent predator, the division shall, at no
charge, issue a driver's license or nondriver identification card
without the coded notation printed upon the license. No person
issued a driver's license or nondriver identification card pursuant
to the amendments to this section made during the first
extraordinary session of the Legislature, 2006, may alter or deface
the license or card to obscure the special marking identifying the
holder as a sexually violent predator.
(e) Any person failing to comply with the provisions of
subsections (b), (c) or (d) is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $50 nor more than
$500 or confined in jail not more than one year, or both fined and
imprisoned confined.
NOTE: This bill shall allow a person who has been diagnosed
with a seizure disorder shall be allowed forthwith to operate a
motor vehicle on the highways upon proper determination by a licensed physician that said person is qualified to be licensed to
drive as prescribed pursuant to section thirteen, article three,
chapter seventeen-b of this code.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.