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

RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLES; CHANGING THE APPLICATION FOR LICENSE REQUIREMENTS; AMENDING A SECTION OF THE MOTOR VEHICLE CODE.

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

Section 1. Section 66-5-9 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1978, Chapter 35, Section 231, as amended) is amended to read:

"66-5-9. APPLICATION FOR LICENSE, TEMPORARY LICENSE OR INSTRUCTION PERMIT.--

A. Every application for an instruction permit or for a driver's license shall be made upon a form furnished by the department. Every application shall be accompanied by the proper fee. For permits or driver's licenses other than those issued pursuant to the New Mexico Commercial Driver's License Act, submission of a complete application with payment of the fee entitles the applicant to not more than three attempts to pass the examination within a period of six months from the date of application.

B. Every application shall contain the full name, social security number, date of birth, sex and New Mexico residence address of the applicant and briefly describe the applicant and indicate whether the applicant has previously been licensed as a driver and, if so, when and by what state or country and whether any such license has ever been suspended or revoked or whether an application has ever been refused and, if so, the date of and reason for the suspension, revocation or refusal.

C. Every applicant shall indicate whether he has been convicted of driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs in this state or in any other jurisdiction. Failure to disclose any such conviction prevents the issuance of a driver's license, temporary license or instruction permit for a period of one year if the failure to disclose is discovered by the department prior to issuance. If the nondisclosure is discovered by the department subsequent to issuance, the department shall revoke the driver's license, temporary license or instruction permit for a period of one year. Intentional and willful failure to disclose, as required in this subsection, is a misdemeanor.

D. Every applicant less than eighteen years of age who is making an application to be granted his first New Mexico driver's license shall submit evidence that he has successfully completed a driver education course that included a DWI prevention and education program approved by the bureau or offered by a public school. The bureau may accept verification of driver education course completion from another state if the driver education course substantially meets the requirements of the bureau for a course offered in New Mexico.

E. Every applicant eighteen years of age and over but less than forty-five years of age who is making an application to be granted his first New Mexico driver's license [shall] is not required to submit evidence with his application that he has successfully completed a bureau-approved DWI prevention and education program if he has no record of moving motor vehicle violations in the five years preceding his application for a license.

F. Every applicant forty-five years of age and over, who has not been previously licensed in other jurisdictions for a cumulative total of more than ten years or who has been convicted of driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs, and who is making an application to be granted his first New Mexico driver's license, shall submit evidence with his application that he has successfully completed a bureau-approved DWI prevention and education program.

G. Whenever application is received from a person previously licensed in another jurisdiction, the department may request a copy of the driver's record from the other jurisdiction. When received, the driver's record may become a part of the driver's record in this state with the same effect as though entered on the driver's record in this state in the original instance.

H. Whenever the department receives a request for a driver's record from another licensing jurisdiction, the record shall be forwarded without charge.

I. This section does not apply to driver's licenses issued pursuant to the New Mexico Commercial Driver's License Act."