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SPONSOR: |
Rawson |
DATE TYPED: |
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HB |
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SHORT TITLE: |
Motor Vehicle License Suspensions |
SB |
471 |
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ANALYST: |
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APPROPRIATION
Appropriation
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Additional Impact |
Recurring or
Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
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FY04 |
FY03 |
FY04 |
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Significant |
Recurring |
OSF |
REVENUE
Estimated Revenue |
Subsequent Years Impact |
Recurring or
Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
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FY03 |
FY04 |
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($Unknown) |
Recurring |
General
Fund |
Conflicts with Conflicts
with: SB 82, HB 507, SB 248 and HB 139
Responses
Received From
State
Highway & Transportation Department (SHTD)
Administrative
Office of the Courts (AOC)
Administrative
Office of the District Attorneys (
Taxation
& Revenue Department (TRD)
Department
of Public Safety (DPS)
SUMMARY
Synopsis
of Bill
Senate 471 amends
Section 32A-2-29 NMSA by prohibiting a child from signing a penalty assessment
for a traffic offense. Under this bill,
notice of a traffic offense committed by a child, and a scheduled hearing date,
shall be mailed by the court to the parent, guardian or custodian of the
child. If the parent, guardian or
custodian of the child is not present for the hearing, the court shall
reschedule the hearing and subpoena the parent, guardian or custodian to appear
at the rescheduled hearing.
SB 471 provides a
child may work off fines or court fees if the judge waives them and sentences
the child to perform community service.
A child found guilty of a traffic offense shall be placed on
unsupervised probation for no less than 180 days. A child found guilty of reckless driving,
careless driving, racing on highways, exceeding the
speed limit by 20 mph or more, driving on a suspended or revoked license or
otherwise without a license shall be required by the court to complete a driver
safety course.
SB 471 provides that a
person who drives with a suspended license on a public highway is guilty of a
petty misdemeanor. A person convicted of
this offense shall receive a fine of not more than $300 and shall be subject to
a suspension of his driving privileges for a period not to exceed ninety
days. This bill further provides that
upon a second or subsequent conviction within a twelve-month period of driving
with a suspended license the offender shall be imprisoned not less than 2 days
or more than 90 days or be required to participate in a certified alternative
sentencing program for no less than 2 days or no more than 90 days. The court may also impose a fine of not less
than $300 or more than $600. If a person
drives with his license suspended, the period of suspension shall be extended
for a period equal to the period of the current suspension.
SB 471 makes a person
who drives on a public highway with a revoked license guilty of a misdemeanor. If a person’s license was revoked for DWI or
a violation of the Implied Consent Act, upon conviction, he shall be imprisoned
for not less than 7 consecutive days and shall be fined not less than $300 or
more than $1,000. The fine and
imprisonment are not to be suspended, deferred or taken under advisement. SB 471 further provides that a municipal
ordinance prohibiting driving with a revoked license must provide penalties
that are no less stringent. Under the
Act, if a person is convicted of driving with his license revoked, the motor
vehicle the person was driving shall be immobilized for 30 days at the driver’s
cost, unless immobilization poses an imminent danger to the health, safety or
employment of the person’s immediate family or the family of the owners of the
motor vehicle.
SB 471 further provides that an arresting
officer making an arrest for a penalty assessment misdemeanor shall offer the
alleged violator the option of accepting a penalty assessment if the violator
is 18 or older. If under 18, the alleged
violator shall appear in court for a hearing on the offense and the parent,
guardian or custodian of the alleged violator shall also appear in court.
Significant
Issues
SHTD notes research has shown that revocation or
suspension of a driver’s license alone does not significantly deter the
offender from driving. Most offenders who have a driver’s license revoked or
suspended will continue to drive unless there are significant consequences in
the offender is caught driving with a suspended or revoked license.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The new requirement for all minors to appear in
court with a parent on all citations in lieu of signature, admission of fault
and payment of a fine without a court appearance, will require many more court
settings for municipal, magistrate’s and Bernalillo County’s Metropolitan
Court.
At present a large number of traffic tickets to
minors are resolved without a court setting, and if such a setting is required
there will be a significant additional caseload in misdemeanor courts. The
requirement for the minor to be accompanied by a parent or guardian will also
result in a number of postponements in cases, with resultant additional court
settings to resolve these cases. Finally,
the requirement for the minor to appear before the court upon completion of the
180 days of unsupervised probation will result in yet another increase in court
settings.
Dockets in many courts are already overcrowded
and unable to absorb the additional settings or extra work required. Significant additional resources would be
needed for the courts and probation offices to adequately answer the
requirements of this legislation. While the 180 days of probation is designed
to be unsupervised probation, there will probably need to be additional resources
available in various probation offices to direct offenders towards suitable
community service locations, and set forth the proof an offender must show to
document completion of the community service.
The
The
Clearly there will be a need for additional
staff resources in the courts and the probation departments to fulfill the
requirements of SB 471.
In regard revenues, the
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
SB 471 requires a
violator under 18 to appear in court so there will be more traffic cases filed
in court and more judicial resources will be called upon during the hearing and
in subpoenaing a parent, guardian or custodian who does not attend.
SB 471 further
requires a child sentenced to community service to return to court to provide
evidence of completion of the sentence, requiring further judicial resources to
be expended.
AOC says there will be
a minimal administrative cost for statewide update, distribution, and documentation
of statutory changes.
TRD states many cases
in which children sign for a penalty assessment are subsequently appealed. This clearly indicates that not allowing
children to sign for penalty assessments would reduce the number of cases that
are appealed and may result in a positive administrative impact on the Motor
Vehicle Division.
CONFLICT
Conflicts with:
SB 82, Mandatory
Vehicle Immobilization
SB 248 and HB 139, DWI
Vehicle Seizure
HB 507, Amend
Delinquency Act
TECHNICAL ISSUES
The AOC believes the language in Section 1(D)
may be duplicative and unclear with regard to a child’s participation in
community service.