44TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - FIRST SESSION, 1999

RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLES; INCREASING PENALTIES FOR DRIVING WHILE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF INTOXICATING LIQUOR OR DRUGS AND FOR DRIVING WITH A REVOKED LICENSE; AMENDING SECTIONS OF THE NMSA 1978.

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

Section 1. Section 66-5-29 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1978, Chapter 35, Section 251, as amended by Laws 1993, Chapter 66, Section 4 and also by Laws 1993, Chapter 78, Section 4) is amended to read:

"66-5-29. MANDATORY REVOCATION OF LICENSE BY DIVISION.--

A. The division shall immediately revoke the license of any driver upon receiving a record of the driver's adjudication as a delinquent for or conviction of any of the following offenses, whether the offense is under any state law or local ordinance, when the conviction or adjudication has become final:

(1) manslaughter or negligent homicide resulting from the operation of a motor vehicle;

(2) any offense rendering a person a "first offender" as defined in the Motor Vehicle Code [if that person does not attend a driver rehabilitation program pursuant to Subsection H of Section 66-8-102 NMSA 1978];

(3) any offense rendering a person a "subsequent offender" as defined in the Motor Vehicle Code;

(4) any felony in the commission of which a motor vehicle is used;

(5) failure to stop and render aid as required under the laws of this state in the event of a motor vehicle accident resulting in the death or personal injury of another;

(6) perjury or the making of a false affidavit or statement under oath to the division under the Motor Vehicle Code or under any other law relating to the ownership or operation of motor vehicles; or

(7) conviction or forfeiture of bail not vacated upon three charges of reckless driving committed within a period of twelve months.

B. Any person whose license has been revoked under this section, except as provided in Subsection C, D or E of this section, shall not be entitled to apply for or receive any new license until the expiration of [one year] two years from the date of the last application on which the revoked license was surrendered to and received by the division, if no appeal is filed, or [one year] two years from the date that the revocation is final and he has exhausted his rights to an appeal.

C. Any person who upon adjudication as a delinquent or conviction is subject to license revocation under this section for an offense pursuant to which he was also subject to license revocation pursuant to Section 66-8-111 NMSA 1978 shall have his license revoked for that offense for a combined period of time equal to one year.

D. Upon receipt of an order from a court pursuant to Subsection [J] G of Section [32-1-34] 32A-2-19 NMSA 1978 or Subsection G of Section [32-1-36] 32A-2-22 NMSA 1978, the division shall revoke the driver's license or driving privileges for a period of time in accordance with these provisions.

E. Upon receipt from a district court of a record of conviction for the offense of shooting at or from a motor vehicle pursuant to Subsection B of Section 30-3-8 NMSA 1978 or of a conviction for a conspiracy or an attempt to commit that offense, the division shall revoke the driver's licenses or driving privileges of the convicted person. Any person whose license or privilege has been revoked pursuant to the provisions of this subsection shall not be entitled to apply for or receive any new license or privilege until the expiration of one year from the date of the last application on which the revoked license was surrendered to and received by the division, if no appeal is filed, or one year from the date that the revocation is final and [he] the person has exhausted his rights to an appeal."

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 OR REVOKED--PROVIDING PENALTIES.--

A. [Any] A person who drives a motor vehicle on [any] a public highway of this state at a time when his privilege to do so is suspended or revoked and who knows or should have known that his license was suspended or revoked is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be charged with a violation of this section. Upon conviction, the person shall be punished, notwithstanding the provisions of Section 31-18-13 NMSA 1978, by imprisonment for not less than four days or more than three hundred sixty-four days or participation for an equivalent period of time in a certified alternative sentencing program, and there may be imposed in addition a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000). 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. Notwithstanding any other provision of law for suspension or deferment of execution of a sentence, if the person's privilege to drive was revoked for driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs or a violation of the Implied Consent Act, upon conviction under this section, that person shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than [seven consecutive days] six months and shall be fined not less than three hundred dollars ($300) or not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) and the fine and imprisonment shall not be suspended, deferred or taken under advisement. No other disposition by plea of guilty to any other charge in satisfaction of a charge under this section shall be authorized if the person's privilege to drive was revoked for driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs or a violation of the Implied Consent Act. Any municipal ordinance prohibiting driving with a suspended or revoked 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 or revoked license, the motor vehicle the person was driving shall 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 upon a charge of driving a vehicle while the license of the person was suspended, shall extend the period of suspension for an additional [like] period of one year, and if the conviction was upon a charge of driving while a license was revoked, the division shall not issue a new license for an additional period of one year from the date the person would otherwise have been entitled to apply for a new license."

Section 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 1999.