Senate Bill No. 590
(By Senator Bowman)
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[Introduced March 16, 2009; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new article, designated §17B-1E-1, §17B-1E-2
and §17B-1E-3; to amend and reenact §17B-2-1 of said code; and
to amend said code by adding thereto a new section, designated
§61-7-4a, all relating to requiring a notification be placed
on driver's licenses and state identification cards when an
individual has been granted a concealed weapons permit.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new article, designated as §17B-1E-1, §17B-1E-2
and §17B-1E-3; to amend and reenact §17B-2-1 of said code; and to
amend said code by adding thereto a new section, designated §61-7-
4a, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 17B. MOTOR VEHICLE DRIVER'S LICENSES.
ARTICLE 1B. DRIVERS' OR CHAUFFEURS' LICENSE IDENTIFICATION OF
HOLDERS OF LICENSES TO CARRY A CONCEALED WEAPON.
§17B-1E-1. Commissioner to adopt and implement program.
The commissioner is hereby directed to adopt and implement a
program whereby persons having a state license to carry a concealed
deadly weapon shall be so identified by an appropriate decal,
sticker or other marking to be affixed to the drivers' or
chauffeurs' license of such person:
Provided, That the commissioner
may not impose a fee or otherwise charge the person for affixing
the decal, sticker or other marking to the license.
§17B-1E-2. License application to contain space for holders of
licenses to carry concealed weapons.
The commission shall provide space on every application for a
driver's or chauffeur's license or renewal thereof in which the
applicant must indicate that he or she has a state license to carry
a concealed deadly weapon. In addition, any person whose license
has not expired or who has already obtained a license must have
such marking affixed by the commissioner.
§17B-1E-3. Commissioner to publish information and notify other
states of program.
The commissioner shall publish the existence of such program
along with information regarding the procedures for having such
marking affixed to a license and shall notify his counterparts in
each of the other states as to the existence of the program and the
significance of the marking.
ARTICLE 2. ISSUANCE OF LICENSE, EXPIRATION AND RENEWAL.
§17B-2-1. Drivers must be licensed; types of licenses; holders of
licenses to carry concealed weapons; licensees need
not obtain local government license; motorcycle driver license; identification cards.
(a) A person, except those hereinafter expressly exempted, may
not drive any motor vehicle upon a street or highway in this state
or upon any subdivision street, as used in article twenty-four,
chapter eight of this code, when the use of the subdivision street
is generally used by the public unless the person has a valid
driver's license under the provisions of this code for the type or
class of vehicle being driven.
Any person licensed to operate a motor vehicle as provided in
this code may exercise the privilege thereby granted as provided in
this code and, except as otherwise provided by law, is not required
to obtain any other license to exercise the privilege by any
county, municipality or local board or body having authority to
adopt local police regulations.
(b) The division, upon issuing a driver's license, shall
indicate on the license the type or general class or classes of
vehicle or vehicles the licensee may operate in accordance with the
provisions of this code, federal law or rule. Licenses shall be
issued in different colors for those drivers under age eighteen,
those drivers age eighteen to twenty-one and adult drivers. The
commissioner is authorized to select and assign colors to the
licenses of the various age groups.
(c) Driver's licenses issued by the division shall be
classified in the following manner:
(1) Class A, B or C license shall be issued to those persons
eighteen years of age or older with two years' driving experience and who have qualified for the commercial driver's license
established by chapter seventeen-e of this code and the federal
Motor Carrier Safety and Improvement Act of 1999 and subsequent
rules, and have paid the required fee.
(2) Class D license shall be issued to those persons eighteen
years and older with one year of driving experience who operate
motor vehicles other than those types of vehicles which require the
operator to be licensed under the provisions of chapter seventeen-e
of this code and federal law and rule and whose primary function or
employment is the transportation of persons or property for
compensation or wages and have paid the required fee. For the
purposes of the regulation of the operation of a motor vehicle,
wherever the term chauffeur's license is used in this code, it
shall be construed to mean the Class A, B, C or D license described
in this section or chapter seventeen-e of this code or federal law
or rule:
Provided, That anyone who is not required to be licensed
under the provisions of chapter seventeen-e of this code and
federal law or rule and who operates a motor vehicle which is
registered or which is required to be registered as a Class A motor
vehicle as that term is defined in section one, article ten,
chapter seventeen-a of this code with a gross vehicle weight rating
of less than eight thousand one pounds, is not required to obtain
a Class D license.
(3) Class E license shall be issued to those persons who have
qualified under the provisions of this chapter and who are not
required to obtain a Class A, B, C or D license and who have paid the required fee. The Class E license may be endorsed under the
provisions of section seven-b of this article for motorcycle
operation. The Class E license for any person under the age of
eighteen may also be endorsed with the appropriate graduated driver
license level in accordance with the provisions of section three-a
of this article.
(4) Class F license shall be issued to those persons who
successfully complete the motorcycle examination procedure provided
by this chapter and have paid the required fee, but who do not
possess a Class A, B, C, D or E driver's license.
(5) All licenses issued under this section may contain
information designating the licensee as a diabetic, organ donor or
as deaf or hard of hearing and for other handicapped or disabled
persons in accordance with criteria established by the division, if
the licensee requests this information on the license.
(6) All licenses issued under this section must contain
information designating the licensee has a state license to carry
a concealed deadly weapon: Provided, That the person in fact has
such state licence.
(d) A person, except those hereinafter expressly exempted, may
not drive any motorcycle upon a street or highway in this state or
upon any subdivision street, as used in article twenty-four,
chapter eight of this code, when the use of the subdivision street
is generally used by the public unless the person has a valid
motorcycle license or a valid license which has been endorsed under
section seven-b of this article for motorcycle operation or has a valid motorcycle instruction permit.
(e) (1) An identification card may be issued to any person
who:
(A) Is a resident of this state in accordance with the
provisions of section one-a, article three, chapter seventeen-a of
this code;
(B) Has reached the age of two years. The division may also
issue an identification card to a person under the age of two years
for good cause shown;
(C) Has paid the required fee of $2.50 per year for each year
the identification card is issued to be valid:
Provided, That the
fee is not required if the applicant is sixty-five years or older
or is legally blind; and
(D) Presents a birth certificate or other proof of age and
identity acceptable to the division with a completed application on
a form furnished by the division.
(2) The identification card shall contain the same information
as a driver's license except that the identification card shall be
clearly marked as identification card. However, the division may
issue an identification card with less information to persons under
the age of sixteen. It may be renewed on application and payment
of the fee required by this section.
(A) Every identification card issued to persons who have
attained their twenty-first birthday shall expire on the day of the
month designated by the commissioner in which the applicant's
birthday occurs in those years in which the applicant's age is evenly divisible by five. Except as provided in paragraph (B) of
this subdivision, no identification card may be issued for less
than three years nor more than seven years and shall be valid for
a period of five years expiring in the month in which the
applicant's birthday occurs and in a year in which the applicant's
age is evenly divisible by five.
(B) Every identification card issued to persons who have not
attained their twenty-first birthday shall expire on the day of the
month designated by the commissioner in the year in which the
applicant attains the age of twenty-one years.
(C) Every identification card issued to persons under the age
of sixteen shall expire on the day of the month designated by the
commissioner in which the applicant's birthday occurs and shall be
issued for a period of two years.
(3) The division may issue an identification card to an
applicant whose privilege to operate a motor vehicle has been
refused, canceled, suspended or revoked under the provisions of
this code.
(4) Persons having a state license to carry a concealed deadly
weapon shall be so identified by an appropriate decal, sticker or
other marking to be affixed to the identification card of such
person.
(f) Any person violating the provisions of this section is
guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined not more than $500; and upon a second or subsequent
conviction, shall be fined not more than $500 or confined in jail not more than six months, or both.
CHAPTER 61. CRIMES AND THEIR PUNISHMENT.
ARTICLE 7. DANGEROUS WEAPONS.
§61-7-4a. Copy of license provided to Division of Motor Vehicles.
The sheriff of the county that issues a person a state license
to carry a concealed deadly weapon shall provide the Division of
Motor Vehicles with a copy of the license within fourteen days of
its issuance
: Provided, That the copies of licenses of current
holders are to be provided no later than June 30, 2009.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require a notification be
placed on drivers' licenses and state identification cards when an
individual has been granted a concealed weapons permit.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
§17B-1E-1, §17B-1E-2, §17B-1E-3 and §61-7-4a are new;
therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.
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