H. B. 2059
(By Delegate Kuhn)
[Introduced February 14, 2001; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section three, article four, chapter
seventeen-b of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to amend and reenact
section three, article five-a, chapter seventeen-c of said
code, all relating to the reinstatement of driver's license
suspended for not more than a period of six months and
providing that the period of suspension does not begin to
run until the license is delivered to the commissioner of
the division of motor vehicles.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section three, article four, chapter seventeen-b of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that section three,
article five-a, chapter seventeen-c of said code be amended and
reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 17B. MOTOR VEHICLE DRIVER'S LICENSES.
ARTICLE 4. VIOLATION OF LICENSE PROVISIONS.
§17B-4-3. Driving while license suspended or revoked; driving
while license revoked for driving under the
influence of alcohol, controlled substances or
drugs, or while having alcoholic concentration in
the blood of ten hundredths of one percent or more,
by weight, or for refusing to take secondary
chemical test of blood alcohol contents.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) or (d) of
this section, any person who drives a motor vehicle on any public
highway of this state at a time when his or her privilege to do
so has been lawfully suspended or revoked by this state or any
other jurisdiction is, for the first offense, guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less
than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars; for
the second offense, the person is guilty of a misdemeanor and,
upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in jail for a period of ten days and, in addition to the mandatory jail sentence,
shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than
five hundred dollars; for the third or any subsequent offense,
the person is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be confined in jail for six months and, in
addition to the mandatory jail sentence, shall be fined not less
than one hundred fifty dollars nor more than five hundred
dollars.
(b) Any person who drives a motor vehicle on any public
highway of this state at a time when his or her privilege to do
so has been lawfully revoked for driving under the influence of
alcohol, controlled substances or other drugs, or for driving
while having an alcoholic concentration in his or her blood of
ten hundredths of one percent or more, by weight, or for refusing
to take a secondary chemical test of blood alcohol content, is,
for the first offense, guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be confined in jail for six months and
in addition to the mandatory jail sentence, shall be fined not
less than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars;
for the second offense, the person is guilty of a misdemeanor
and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in jail for a period of one year and, in addition to the mandatory jail
sentence, shall be fined not less than one thousand dollars nor
more than three thousand dollars; for the third or any subsequent
offense, the person is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be imprisoned in a correctional facility for not
less than one year nor more than three years and, in addition to
the mandatory prison sentence, shall be fined not less than three
thousand dollars nor more than five thousand dollars.
(c) Upon receiving a record of the first or subsequent
conviction of any person under subsection (b) of this section
upon a charge of driving a vehicle while the license of such
person was lawfully suspended or revoked, the division shall
extend the period of such suspension or revocation for an
additional period of one year from and after the date such person
would otherwise have been entitled to apply for a new license.
Upon receiving a record of the second or subsequent conviction of
any person under subsection (a) of this section upon a charge of
driving a vehicle while the license of such person was lawfully
suspended or revoked, the division shall extend the period of
such suspension or revocation for an additional period of one
year from and after the date such person would otherwise have been entitled to apply for a new license.
(d) Any person who drives a motor vehicle on any public
highway of this state at a time when his or her privilege to do
so has been lawfully suspended for driving while under the age of
twenty-one years with an alcohol concentration in his or her
blood of two hundredths of one percent or more, by weight, but
less than ten hundredths of one percent, by weight, is guilty of
a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be confined in
jail for twenty-four hours or shall be fined not less than fifty
dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, or both.
(e) An order for home detention by the court pursuant to the
provisions of article eleven-b, chapter sixty-two of this code
may be used as an alternative sentence to any period of
incarceration required by this section.
(f) Any person who has had an operator's license suspended
or revoked for a period that does not exceed six months is not
eligible for reinstatement of that license until after the
license has been delivered to the commissioner.
CHAPTER 17C. TRAFFIC REGULATIONS AND LAWS OF THE ROAD.
ARTICLE 5A. ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES FOR SUSPENSION AND
REVOCATION OF LICENSES FOR DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL, CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES OR
DRUGS.
§17C-5A-3. Safety and treatment program; reissuance of license.
(a) The division of motor vehicles, in cooperation with the
department of health and human resources, the division of
alcoholism and drug abuse, shall propose a legislative rule or
rules for promulgation in accordance with the provisions of
chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, establishing a comprehensive
safety and treatment program for persons whose licenses have been
revoked under the provisions of this article, or section seven,
article five of this chapter, or subsection (6), section five,
article three, chapter seventeen-b of this code, and shall
likewise establish the minimum qualifications for mental health
facilities or other public agencies or private entities
conducting the safety and treatment program: Provided, That the
commissioner may establish standards whereby the division will
accept or approve participation by violators in another treatment
program which provides the same or substantially similar benefits
as the safety and treatment program established pursuant to this
section. The program shall include, but not be limited to,
treatment of alcoholism, alcohol and drug abuse, psychological counseling, educational courses on the dangers of alcohol and
drugs as they relate to driving, defensive driving or other
safety driving instruction, and other programs designed to
properly educate, train and rehabilitate the offender.
(b) (1) The division of motor vehicles, in cooperation with
the department of health and human resources, the division of
alcoholism and drug abuse, shall provide for the preparation of
an educational and treatment program for each person whose
license has been revoked under the provisions of this article or
section seven, article five of this chapter, or subsection (6),
section five, article three, chapter seventeen-b of this code,
which shall contain the following: (A) A listing and evaluation
of the offender's prior traffic record; (B) characteristics and
history of alcohol or drug use, if any; (C) his or her
amenability to rehabilitation through the alcohol safety program;
and (D) a recommendation as to treatment or rehabilitation, and
the terms and conditions of the treatment or rehabilitation.
The program shall be prepared by persons knowledgeable in the
diagnosis of alcohol or drug abuse and treatment. The cost of
the program shall be paid out of fees established by the
commissioner of motor vehicles in cooperation with the department of health and human resources, division of alcohol and drug
abuse. The program provider shall collect the established fee
from each participant upon enrollment. The program provider shall
also at the time of enrollment remit to the commissioner a
portion of the collected fee established by the commissioner in
cooperation with the department of health and human resources,
which shall be deposited into an account designated the driver's
rehabilitation fund, which was created by a prior enactment of
this section and which is hereby continued, to be used for the
administration of the program.
(2) The commissioner, after giving due consideration to the
program developed for the offender, shall prescribe the necessary
terms and conditions for the reissuance of the license to operate
a motor vehicle in this state revoked under this article, or
section seven, article five of this chapter, or subsection (6),
section five, article three, chapter seventeen-b of this code,
which shall include successful completion of the educational,
treatment or rehabilitation program, subject to the following:
(A) When the period of revocation is six months, the license
to operate a motor vehicle in this state shall not be reissued
until: (i) At least ninety days have elapsed from the date of the initial revocation, during which time the revocation was
actually in effect; (ii) the offender has successfully completed
the program; (iii) all costs of the program and administration
have been paid; and (iv) all costs assessed as a result of a
revocation hearing have been paid. The period of suspension or
revocation does not begin to run until the commissioner has
received all operator's and chauffeur's licenses of the offender.
(B) When the period of revocation is for a period of years,
the license to operate a motor vehicle in this state shall not be
reissued until: (i) At least one half of such time period has
elapsed from the date of the initial revocation, during which
time the revocation was actually in effect; (ii) the offender has
successfully completed the program; (iii) all costs of the
program and administration have been paid; and (iv) all costs
assessed as a result of a revocation hearing have been paid.
(C) When the period of revocation is for life, the license
to operate a motor vehicle in this state shall not be reissued
until: (i) At least ten years have elapsed from the date of the
initial revocation, during which time the revocation was actually
in effect; (ii) the offender has successfully completed the
program; (iii) all costs of the program and administration have been paid; and (iv) all costs assessed as a result of a
revocation hearing have been paid.
(D) Notwithstanding any provision of this code or any rule,
any mental health facilities or other public agencies or private
entities conducting the safety and treatment program when
certifying that a person has successfully completed a safety and
treatment program, shall only have to certify that such person
has successfully completed the program.
(c) (1) The division of motor vehicles, in cooperation with
the department of health and human resources, division of
alcoholism and drug abuse, shall provide for the preparation of
an educational program for each person whose license has been
suspended for sixty days pursuant to the provisions of subsection
(l), section two, article five-a of this chapter. The
educational program shall consist of not less than twelve nor
more than eighteen hours of actual classroom time.
(2) When a sixty-day period of suspension has been ordered,
the license to operate a motor vehicle shall not be reinstated
until: (A) At least sixty days have elapsed from the date of the
initial suspension, during which time the suspension was actually
in effect; (B) the offender has successfully completed the educational program; (C) all costs of the program and
administration have been paid; and (D) all costs assessed as a
result of a suspension hearing have been paid.
(d) A required component of the rehabilitation program
provided for in subsection (b) and the education program provided
for in subsection (c) shall be participation by the violator with
a victim impact panel program providing a forum for victims of
alcohol and drug related offenses and offenders to share first-
hand experiences on the impact of alcohol and drug related
offenses in their lives. The commissioner shall propose
legislative rules for promulgation in accordance with the
provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to implement
victim impact panels where appropriate numbers of victims are
available and willing to participate, and shall establish
guidelines for other innovative programs which may be substituted
where such victims are not available, so as to assist persons
whose licenses have been suspended or revoked for alcohol and
drug related offenses to gain a full understanding of the
severity of their offenses in terms of the impact of such
offenses on victims and offenders. The legislative rules
proposed for promulgation by the commissioner shall require, at a minimum, discussion and consideration of the following:
(A) Economic losses suffered by victims or offenders;
(B) Death or physical injuries suffered by victims or
offenders;
(C) Psychological injuries suffered by victims or offenders;
(D) Changes in the personal welfare or familial
relationships of victims or offenders; and
(E) Other information relating to the impact of alcohol and
drug related offenses upon victims or offenders.
Any rules promulgated pursuant to this subsection shall
contain provisions which ensure that any meetings between victims
and offenders shall be nonconfrontational and ensure the physical
safety of the persons involved.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to clarify when the time
begins to run following suspension for driving under the
influence for persons whose license were suspended for not more
than six months. The time is calculated from the date of
delivery of the license of the Commissioner of the Division of
Motor Vehicles.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.