ENROLLED
H. B. 4069
(By Delegates Stemple, Brown, Hrutkay,
Kessler, Pino and Overington)
[Passed March 5, 2008; in effect ninety days from passage.]
AN ACT to amend and reenact §17B-2-12 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; and to further amend said article by adding
thereto a new section, designated §17B-2-12a
, all relating to
requiring vision screening for renewal of a driver's license.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17B-2-12 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; and that said article be further amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §17B-2-12a
, all to read
as follows:
ARTICLE 2. ISSUANCE OF LICENSE, EXPIRATION AND RENEWAL.
§17B-2-12. Expiration of licenses.
(a) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section,
every driver's license shall expire five years from the date of its
issuance.
(b)(1) Every driver's license issued to a person who has attained his or her twenty-first birthday shall expire on the
licensee's birthday in those years in which the licensee's age is
evenly divisible by five. Except as provided in the following
subdivisions and in subsection (c) of this section, no driver's
license may be issued for less than three years or for more than
seven years and shall be valid for a period of five years, expiring
on the licensee's birthday in a year in which the licensee's age is
evenly divisible by five.
(2) Every driver's license issued to a person who has not
attained his or her twenty-first birthday shall expire
thirty days
after the licensee's twenty-first birthday,
except as provided in
section three-a of this article.
(3) The driver's license of any person in the Armed Forces
shall expire six months after the date on which the person is
separated from active duty in the Armed Forces
under honorable
circumstances.
(c) A license issued to a person who is not a citizen of the
United States may only be issued for the time the person is legally
authorized to be in the United States, not to exceed five years.
If the time the person is authorized to be in the United States is
extended, the commissioner may renew the license in accordance with
section twelve-a of this article for the time extended, not to
exceed five years.
§17B-2-12a. Renewal of driver's license upon expiration; vision screening; renewal fees.
(a) The commissioner shall notify each person who holds a
valid driver's license of the expiration date of the license by
first class mail to the last address known to the division
. The
notice shall be mailed at least ninety days prior to the expiration
date of the license and shall include a renewal application form
and instructions for renewal.
(b) The holder of a valid driver's license may apply to the
division for renewal of the license on the form provided by the
division. To be eligible for license renewal the applicant must:
(1) Pay the fee required by section eight of this article;
(2) Obtain a new color photograph from the division; and
(3) Pass a vision screening conducted by the division.
(c) The commissioner shall assess an additional fee of five
dollars for every application for renewal submitted after the
expiration of the applicant's license.
(d) The commissioner shall determine whether an applicant
qualifies for a renewed license.
(e) The commissioner shall provide by rule a procedure by
which an applicant who does not meet the minimum vision standards
for licensure may present evidence to show that his or her vision
has been corrected to meet the minimum visual standards and that he
or she is capable of safely operating a motor vehicle.
(f) The commissioner may not renew the driver's license of an applicant whose eyesight cannot be corrected to conform to the
minimum vision standards established by this code and by the rules
of the commissioner.
(g) Vision screening conducted pursuant to this section shall
not be used to collect any type of personal biometic identifying
information, including but not limited to, a retinal scan.
(h) The commissioner shall propose legislative rules for
promulgation in accordance with the provisions of article three,
chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to implement the provisions of
this section.
(i) The provisions of this section requiring an applicant for
renewal of a driver's license to successfully complete a vision
screening as a condition of renewing a driver's license shall
become effective on the first day of January, two thousand nine.