HOUSE BILL 171

50th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2012

INTRODUCED BY

Bill B. O’Neill

AN ACT

RELATING TO DRIVER'S LICENSES; PROVIDING FOR A SYSTEM OF ISSUING CERTAIN DRIVER'S LICENSES TO CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE IN THE COUNTRY LAWFULLY.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. Section 66-5-15 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1978, Chapter 35, Section 237, as amended) is amended to read:

     "66-5-15. LICENSES ISSUED TO APPLICANTS.--

          A. The department shall, upon payment of the required fee, issue to every qualified applicant a driver's license as applied for. [The license] All licenses shall bear the full legal name, date of birth, sex, current New Mexico physical or mailing address, a full face or front-view photograph of the license holder and a brief description of the licensee and the signature of the licensee. A license shall not be valid unless it bears the signature of the licensee.

          B. On or after January 15, 2013, a driver's license issued to a licensee that meets federal requirements to be acceptable by federal agencies for official federal purposes shall contain a unique design that distinguishes the driver's license as being acceptable by federal agencies for official federal purposes from a driver's license that is not acceptable by federal agencies for official federal purposes.

          C. On or after January 15, 2013, a driver's license that is not acceptable by federal agencies for official federal purposes shall state that the driver's license is not acceptable by federal agencies for official federal purposes. The information shall be stated in the same manner as restrictions are set forth upon the usual license form and in the machine readable zone. The department shall establish by rule the restriction code of "J" for the restriction of "not for official federal purposes" in order to implement the provisions of this subsection."

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