H. B. 4627
(By Delegate Yost)
[Introduced February 17, 2006; referred to the
Committee on Roads and Transportation then the
Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §17B-2-3
of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to requiring the Division of Motor
Vehicles to issue one year licenses to registered sex
offenders.
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 or
on or after the first day of January, two thousand and one, 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.
(b) The division may not issue a license or nondriver identification card to any person required to be registered as a
sex offender under the provisions of article twelve, chapter
fifteen of this code for the period he or she is required to be
registered as a sex offender, unless he or she obtains a driver's
license or nondriver identification card coded by the commissioner
to denote the licensee is a convicted sex offender. The license or
nondriver identification card shall be renewed each year on the sex
offender's date of birth as follows:
(1) At sentencing. -- If an applicant is required to register
as a sex offender after the effective date of this section, the
sentencing court shall take possession of his or her driver's
license or nondriver identification card and shall direct the
person to report to the division for a replacement driver's license
or nondriver identification card coded by the commissioner to
denote the licensee is a convicted sex offender and providing that
the license expires on the birth date of the convicted sex
offender. The sentencing court shall forward to the division all
licenses or nondriver identification cards that it receives, along
with a copy of the sentencing order for each person convicted of a
sex offense.
(2) Current convicted sex offenders. -- If a holder or an
applicant is required to register as a sex offender prior to the
effective date of this section, he or she shall surrender his or
her driver's license or nondriver identification card to the Division of Motor Vehicles for a replacement driver's license or
nondriver identification card coded by the commissioner to denote
the licensee is a convicted sex offender and requiring that the
license be renewed each year on the birth date of the sex offender.
The division may charge a fee of ten dollars for a replacement
license or nondriver identification card. Upon showing proof that
a person is no longer required to register as a sex offender, the
division shall issue a driver's license or nondriver identification
card without the sex offender code printed upon the license at no
charge. No person issued a special operator's license or nondriver
identification card under the provisions of this section may alter
or deface the license to obscure the special marking identifying
the owner as a registered sex offender.
Any person failing to comply with the provisions of this
subsection is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof,
shall be fined not less than five hundred dollars nor more than
five thousand dollars or confined in a state correctional facility
not less than one year, nor more than two years or both fined and
imprisoned.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require registered sex
offenders to obtain a driver's license or identification card each
year on the date of birth of the registered sex offender.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.