Senate Bill No. 217
(By Senators Jenkins and Guills)
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[Introduced January 15, 2008; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §17B-3-3a of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to failure to respond to traffic
offenses or the terms and conditions of traffic convictions;
and reducing the time period for nonresidents to comply with
the terms of the citation before the court sends notice to the
Division of Motor Vehicles.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17B-3-3a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. CANCELLATION, SUSPENSION OR REVOCATION OF LICENSES.
§17B-3-3a. Suspending license for failure to pay fines or
penalties imposed by magistrate court or municipal
court.
(a) The division shall suspend the license of any resident of
this state or the privilege of a nonresident to drive a motor vehicle in this state upon receiving notice from a magistrate court
or municipal court of this state, pursuant to subsection (b),
section two-a, article three, chapter fifty of this code or
subsection (b), section two-a, article ten, chapter eight of this
code, that such person has defaulted on the payment of costs,
fines, forfeitures or penalties which were imposed on the person by
the magistrate court or municipal court upon conviction of any
motor vehicle violation or that such person has failed to respond
or appear in court when charged with a motor vehicle violation.
(b) The magistrate court or municipal court shall notify the
division as follows:
(1) For any resident of this state, after one hundred eighty
days following such conviction default or failure to respond; or
(2) For a nonresident, after eighty days following such
default or failure to respond. or that such person has failed to
appear in court when charged with a motor vehicle violation.
(c) For the purposes of this section, section two-a, article
three, chapter fifty of this code and section two-a, article ten,
chapter eight of this code, "motor vehicle violation" shall be
defined as any violation designated in chapter seventeen-a,
seventeen-b, seventeen-c, seventeen-d or seventeen-e of this code
or the violation of any municipal ordinance relating to the
operation of a motor vehicle for which the violation thereof would
result in a fine or penalty: Provided, That any parking violation
or other violation for which a citation may be issued to an unattended vehicle shall not be considered a motor vehicle
violation for the purposes of this section, section two-a, article
three, chapter fifty of this code or section two-a, article ten,
chapter eight of this code.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to reduce the time period
for magistrate courts and municipal courts to notify the Division
of Motor Vehicles of unsatisfied traffic-related tickets of
nonresidents. This change is necessary to remain in compliance
with the Non-Resident Violator Compact (NRVC).
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.)