HOUSE BILL 457
54th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2019
INTRODUCED BY
Dayan Hochman-Vigil and Eliseo Lee Alcon and Antonio Maestas
AN ACT
RELATING TO CRIME; REVISING PENALTIES FOR CERTAIN MOTOR VEHICLE CODE OFFENSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. Section 66-5-30 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1978, Chapter 35, Section 252, as amended) is amended to read:
"66-5-30. AUTHORITY OF DIVISION TO SUSPEND OR REVOKE LICENSE.--
A. The division may suspend the instruction permit, driver's license or provisional license of a driver without preliminary hearing upon a showing by its records or other sufficient evidence, including information provided to the state pursuant to an intergovernmental agreement authorized by Section 66-5-27.1 NMSA 1978, that the licensee:
(1) has been convicted of an offense for which mandatory revocation of license is required upon conviction;
(2) has been convicted as a driver in an accident resulting in the death or personal injury of another or serious property damage;
(3) has been convicted with such frequency of offenses against traffic laws or rules governing motor vehicles as to indicate a disrespect for traffic laws and a disregard for the safety of other persons on the highways;
(4) is an habitually reckless or negligent driver of a motor vehicle;
(5) is incompetent to drive a motor vehicle;
(6) has permitted an unlawful or fraudulent use of the license;
(7) has been convicted of an offense in another state or tribal jurisdiction that if committed within this state's jurisdiction would be grounds for suspension or revocation of the license;
(8) has violated provisions stipulated by a district court in limitation of certain driving privileges; or
[(9) has failed to fulfill a signed promise to appear or notice to appear in court as evidenced by notice from a state court or tribal court, whenever appearance is required by law or by the court as a consequence of a charge or conviction under the Motor Vehicle Code or pursuant to the laws of the tribe;
(10) has failed to pay a penalty assessment within thirty days of the date of issuance by the state or a tribe; or
(11)] (9) has accumulated seven points, but less than eleven points, and when the division has received a recommendation from a municipal or magistrate judge that the license be suspended for a period not to exceed three months.
B. The division may issue an administrative suspension of the instruction permit, driver's license or provisional license of a driver without preliminary hearing upon a showing by its records or other sufficient evidence, including information provided to the state pursuant to an intergovernmental agreement authorized by Section 66-5-27.1 NMSA 1978, that the licensee has failed to:
(1) fulfill a signed promise to appear or notice to appear in court as evidenced by notice from a state court or tribal court, whenever appearance is required by law or by the court as a consequence of a charge or conviction under the Motor Vehicle Code or pursuant to the laws of the tribe;
(2) pay a penalty assessment within thirty days of the date of issuance by the state or a tribe; or
(3) comply with the terms of a citation issued in a foreign jurisdiction that is a party to the Nonresident Violator Compact and that has notified the department of the failure in accordance with the Nonresident Violator Compact.
C. If a person whose license was issued by a jurisdiction outside New Mexico that is a party to the Nonresident Violator Compact fails to comply with the terms of a citation issued in New Mexico, the department shall notify that other jurisdiction of the failure and that jurisdiction shall initiate a license suspension action in accordance with the provisions of Article IV of the Nonresident Violator Compact.
[B.] D. Upon suspending the license of a person as authorized in this section, the division shall immediately notify the licensee in writing of the licensee's right to a hearing before the administrative hearings office and, upon the licensee's request, shall notify the administrative hearings office. The administrative hearings office shall schedule the hearing to take place as early as practicable, but within no more than twenty days, not counting Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays after receipt of the request. The hearing shall be held in the county in which the licensee resides unless the hearing officer and the licensee agree that the hearing may be held in some other county; provided that the hearing request is received within twenty days from the date that the suspension was deposited in the United States mail. The hearing officer may, in the hearing officer's discretion, extend the twenty-day period. The hearing shall be held as provided in the Administrative Hearings Office Act. After the hearing, the hearing officer shall either rescind the order of suspension or continue, modify or extend the suspension of the license or revoke the license."
SECTION 2. Section 66-5-39 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1978, Chapter 35, Section 261, as amended) is amended to read:
"66-5-39. DRIVING WHILE LICENSE SUSPENDED--PENALTIES.--
A. [Any] A person who drives a motor vehicle on any public highway of this state at a time when the person's privilege to do so is suspended and who knows or should have known that the person's license was suspended is guilty of a misdemeanor and [shall be charged with a violation of this section. Upon conviction, the person shall] may be punished, notwithstanding the provisions of Section [31-18-13] 31-19-1 NMSA 1978, by imprisonment for not [less than four days or] more than [three hundred sixty-four] ninety days or participation for an equivalent period of time in a certified alternative sentencing program, [and there may be imposed in addition] or by payment of a fine of not more than [one thousand dollars ($1,000)] three hundred dollars ($300), or both. When a person pays any or all of the cost of participating in a certified alternative sentencing program, the court may apply that payment as a deduction to any fine imposed by the court. Any municipal ordinance prohibiting driving with a suspended license shall provide penalties no less stringent than provided in this section.
B. In addition to any other penalties imposed pursuant to the provisions of this section, when a person is convicted pursuant to the provisions of this section or a municipal ordinance that prohibits driving on a suspended license, the motor vehicle the person was driving may be immobilized by an immobilization device for thirty days, unless immobilization of the motor vehicle poses an imminent danger to the health, safety or employment of the convicted person's immediate family or the family of the owner of the motor vehicle. The convicted person shall bear the cost of immobilizing the motor vehicle.
[C. The division, upon receiving a record of the conviction of any person under this section, shall extend the period of suspension for an additional like period.]"
SECTION 3. A new Section 66-5-39.2 NMSA 1978 is enacted to read:
"66-5-39.2. [NEW MATERIAL] DRIVING WHILE LICENSE ADMINISTRATIVELY SUSPENDED.--A person who drives a motor vehicle on any public highway of this state at a time when the person's privilege to do so is administratively suspended is guilty of a penalty assessment misdemeanor and may be punished in accordance with the provisions of Section 66-8-116 NMSA 1978."
SECTION 4. Section 66-8-116 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1978, Chapter 35, Section 524, as amended) is amended to read:
"66-8-116. PENALTY ASSESSMENT MISDEMEANORS--DEFINITION-- SCHEDULE OF ASSESSMENTS.--
A. As used in the Motor Vehicle Code and the Boat Act, "penalty assessment misdemeanor" means violation of any of the following listed sections of the NMSA 1978 for which, except as provided in Subsections D through F of this section, the listed penalty assessment is established:
COMMON NAME OF OFFENSE SECTION VIOLATED PENALTY ASSESSMENT
Improper display of
registration plate 66-3-18 $ 25.00
Failure to notify of
change of name or address 66-3-23 25.00
Lost or damaged registration,
plate or title 66-3-24 25.00
Horseless carriage
registration 66-3-27 25.00
Transfer of registration
and title 66-3-103 25.00
Expiration of dealer
plates 66-3-403 25.00
Special registration
plates 66-3-409, 66-3-412.1,
66-3-413, 66-3-415,
66-3-417, 66-3-419,
66-3-421, 66-3-422,
66-3-424.4, 66-3-424.5,
66-3-424.7, 66-3-424.9,
66-3-424.13,
66-3-424.16
and 66-3-424.28 75.00
Bicycle laws 66-3-701
through
66-3-707 50.00
No license display 66-5-16 25.00
Failure to change
address or name on
license 66-5-22 25.00
Permitting unauthorized
minor to drive 66-5-40 50.00
Permitting unauthorized
person to drive 66-5-41 25.00
Failure to obey sign 66-7-104 25.00
Failure to obey signal 66-7-105 25.00
Pedestrian signs and
signals 66-7-106
through
66-7-108 25.00
Speeding 66-7-301
(1) up to and including
ten miles an hour
over the speed limit 25.00
(2) from eleven up to
and including fifteen
miles an hour
over the speed limit 30.00
(3) from sixteen up to
and including twenty
miles an hour over the
speed limit 65.00
(4) from twenty-one up to
and including twenty-five
miles an hour
over the speed limit 100.00
(5) from twenty-six up to
and including thirty
miles an hour over the
speed limit 125.00
(6) from thirty-one up to
and including thirty-five
miles an hour over the
speed limit 150.00
(7) more than thirty-five
miles an hour over the
speed limit 200.00
Unfastened safety belt 66-7-372 25.00
Child not in restraint device
or seat belt 66-7-369 25.00
Minimum speed 66-7-305 25.00
Speeding 66-7-306 25.00
Improper starting 66-7-324 25.00
Improper backing 66-7-354 25.00
Improper lane 66-7-308 25.00
Improper lane 66-7-313 25.00
Improper lane 66-7-316 25.00
Improper lane 66-7-317 25.00
Improper lane 66-7-319 25.00
Improper passing 66-7-309 through 66-7-312 25.00
Improper passing 66-7-315 25.00
Controlled access
violation 66-7-320 25.00
Controlled access
violation 66-7-321 25.00
Improper turning 66-7-322 25.00
Improper turning 66-7-323 25.00
Improper turning 66-7-325 25.00
Following too closely 66-7-318 25.00
Failure to yield 66-7-328 through 66-7-331 25.00
Failure to yield 66-7-332 50.00
Failure to yield 66-7-332.1 25.00
Pedestrian violation 66-7-333
through
66-7-34025.00
Failure to stop 66-7-342 and 66-7-344
through 66-7-346 25.00
Railroad-highway grade
crossing violation 66-7-341 and 66-7-343 150.00
Passing school bus 66-7-347 100.00
Failure to signal 66-7-325 through 66-7-327 25.00
Riding on motorcycles 66-7-355 100.00
Video screens in
automobiles 66-7-358 25.00
Driving on mountain
highways 66-7-359 25.00
Coasting prohibited 66-7-360 25.00
Animals on highway at
night 66-7-363 50.00
Failure to secure load 66-7-407 100.00
Operation without oversize-
overweight permit 66-7-413 50.00
Transport of reducible
load with special
permit more than six miles
from a border crossing 66-7-413 100.00
Driving while license
administratively
suspended 66-5-39.2 25.00
Improper equipment 66-3-801 through
66-3-840 and 66-3-842
through 66-3-85150.00
Improper equipment 66-3-901 50.00
Improper emergency
signal 66-3-853 through 66-3-857 25.00
Minor on motorcycle
without helmet 66-7-356 300.00
Operation interference 66-7-357 50.00
Littering 66-7-364 300.00
Improper parking 66-7-349 through 66-7-352
and 66-7-353 25.00
Improper parking 66-3-852 25.00
Riding in or towing
occupied house trailer 66-7-366 25.00
Improper opening of doors 66-7-367 25.00
No slow-moving vehicle
emblem or flashing
amber light 66-3-887 25.00
Failure to appear 66-8-126 50.00
Open container-first
violation 66-8-138 25.00
Texting while driving-
(1) first violation 66-7-374 25.00
(2) second and subsequent
violation 50.00
Using a handheld mobile
communication device
while driving a
commercial motor vehicle 66-7-375
(1) first violation 25.00
(2) second and subsequent
violation 50.00.
B. The term "penalty assessment misdemeanor" does not include a violation that has caused or contributed to the cause of an accident resulting in injury or death to a person.
C. When an alleged violator of a penalty assessment misdemeanor elects to accept a notice to appear in lieu of a notice of penalty assessment, a fine imposed upon later conviction shall not exceed the penalty assessment established for the particular penalty assessment misdemeanor and probation imposed upon a suspended or deferred sentence shall not exceed ninety days.
D. The penalty assessment for speeding in violation of Paragraph (5) of Subsection A of Section 66-7-301 NMSA 1978 is twice the penalty assessment established in Subsection A of this section for the equivalent miles per hour over the speed limit.
E. Upon a second conviction for operation without a permit for excessive size or weight pursuant to Section 66-7-413 NMSA 1978, the penalty assessment shall be two hundred fifty dollars ($250). Upon a third or subsequent conviction, the penalty assessment shall be five hundred dollars ($500).
F. Upon a second conviction for transport of a reducible load with a permit for excessive size or weight pursuant to Subsection N of Section 66-7-413 NMSA 1978 more than six miles from a port-of-entry facility on the border with Mexico, the penalty assessment shall be five hundred dollars ($500). Upon a third or subsequent conviction, the penalty assessment shall be one thousand dollars ($1,000)."
SECTION 5. Section 66-8-126 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1978, Chapter 35, Section 534) is amended to read:
"66-8-126. FAILURE TO OBEY NOTICE TO APPEAR.--
A. It is a penalty assessment misdemeanor for [any] a person to violate [his] that person's written promise to appear in court given to an officer upon issuance of a uniform traffic citation regardless of the disposition of the charge for which the citation was issued.
B. A written promise to appear in court may be complied with by appearance of counsel."
SECTION 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 2019.