Reference is to the bill as introduced.
Amend the bill, as and if amended, by striking all after the enacting words and inserting:
/ SECTION 1. Section 56-7-20 of the 1976 code, as last amended by act 1 of 2009, is further amended to read:
Section 56-7-20. Each ticket shall have a unique identifying number. Each printed copy must be labeled at the bottom with the purpose of the copy. A handwritten traffic ticket must consist of four copies, one of which must be blue and must be given to the vehicle operator who is the alleged traffic violator; one of which must be yellow and must be dispatched to the Department of Motor Vehicles for its records and for audit purposes; one of which must be white and must be dispatched to the police agency of which the arresting officer is a part; and one of which must be green and must be retained by the trial officer for his records. An electronic traffic ticket must consist of at least one printed copy that must be given to the vehicle operator who is the alleged traffic violator and as many as three additional printed copies if needed to communicate with the Department of Motor Vehicles, the police agency, and the trial officer. All tickets must be transmitted to the department electronically. Data transmissions to the department must be made pursuant to the agency's electronic specifications.
SECTION 2. Section 56-7-30 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 68 of 2005, is further amended to read:
"Section 56-7-30.
(A) The Department of Public Safety shall have the traffic
tickets printed. Law enforcement agencies shall order tickets
from the Department of Public Safety and shall record the
identifying numbers of the tickets received by them. The cost of
the tickets must be paid by the law enforcement agency. The
Department of Motor Vehicles records
and audit copy must be forwarded
electronically by the law enforcement agency to the
Department of Motor Vehicles within ten
five days of the disposition of the case by final trial
court action or by nolle prosequi. The head of each law
enforcement agency is courts are responsible
for the forwarding of the driver records and audit
copies court disposition information to the
Department of Motor Vehicles and for conducting an
annual inventory on December thirty-first of all tickets
received but not disposed of by final trial court action or by
nolle prosequi, and for forwarding the results of the inventory
on a form prescribed by the Department of Motor Vehicles to the
Department of Motor Vehicles within ten days of the completion
of the inventory.
(B) A law enforcement agency that issues
uniform traffic tickets in an electronic format as provided in
Section 56-7-10 may generate a printed copy of this ticket by
using an in-car data terminal or hand held device. A copy of the
ticket must be given to the offender. The agency
may must then transmit the ticket data
electronically to the Department of Motor Vehicles for
its records and for audit purposes, the law enforcement agency
by which the arresting officer is employed, and the trial
officer for his records. If any of these entities does not have
the capability to accept the ticket data solely using electronic
means, the arresting agency must provide the entity with a
printed copy of the ticket generated by the in-car data terminal
or hand held device. Data transmissions to the
Department of Motor Vehicles must be made pursuant to that
agency's electronic system specifications. Printed
copies provided to the Department of Motor Vehicles must meet
that agency's document processing requirements."
SECTION 3. Section 56-7-40 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 56-7-40. Any person
intentionally violating the provisions of Section 56-7-10 or
56-7-30 shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon
conviction shall be fined not less than two hundred fifty
dollars nor more than fifteen hundred dollars or imprisoned for
not more than six months, or both, for each ticket unaccounted
for, or each use of a nonuniform ticket, or each failure to
timely electronically forward the Department of Motor
Vehicles records copy or audit copy of a
ticket. If the failure to account for a ticket, or the use of a
nonuniform ticket, or the failure to timely forward the
Department records or audit copy of the ticket is inadvertent or
unintentional, such misuse shall be triable in magistrate's
court and upon conviction shall be punishable by a fine of not
more than one hundred dollars. Any person charged with
failing to timely forward the results of the annual inventory
shall be tried in magistrate's court and upon conviction shall
be fined not more than one hundred dollars."
SECTION 4. Section 56-1-365 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 201 of 2008 is amended to read:
"Section 56-1-365.
(A) A person who forfeits bail posted for, is convicted
of, or pleads guilty or nolo contendere in general sessions,
municipal, or magistrate's court to an offense which requires
that his driver's license be revoked or suspended shall
surrender immediately or cause to be surrendered his driver's
license to the clerk of court or magistrate upon the verdict or
plea. The defendant must be notified at the time of arrest of
his obligation to bring, and surrender his license, if
convicted, to the court or magistrate at the time of his trial,
and if he fails to produce his license after conviction, he may
be fined in an amount not to exceed two hundred dollars. If the
defendant fails subsequently to surrender his license to the
clerk or magistrate immediately after conviction, he must be
fined not less than fifty dollars nor more than two hundred
dollars.
(B) The Department of Motor Vehicles may
collect from the clerk of court or magistrate the driver's
license and ticket immediately after receipt. Along with the
driver's license, the clerks and magistrates must give the
department's agents tickets, arrest warrants, and other
documents or copies of them, including any reinstatement fee
paid at the time of the verdict, guilty plea, or plea of nolo
contendere, as necessary for the department to process the
revocation or suspension of the licenses. If the department does
not collect the license and ticket immediately, the magistrate
or clerk must forward the license, ticket, and other
documentation to the department within five days after receipt.
A clerk or magistrate who wilfully fails or neglects to forward
the driver's license and ticket as required in this section is
liable to indictment and, upon conviction, must be fined not
exceeding five hundred dollars.
(C) The department shall notify the
defendant of the suspension or revocation. Except as provided in
Section 56-5-2990, if the defendant surrendered his license to
the magistrate or clerk immediately after conviction, the
effective date of the revocation or suspension is the date of
surrender. If the magistrate or clerk wilfully fails to forward
electronically the license and ticket
and license surrender information to the department
within five days, the suspension or revocation does not begin
until the department receives and processes the license and
ticket; provided that the end date of the term of suspension
or revocation shall be calculated from the date of surrender and
not the date the department receives and processes the
ticket.
(D) If the defendant is already under
suspension for a previous offense at the time of his conviction
or plea, the court shall use its judicial discretion in
determining if the period of suspension for the subsequent
offense runs consecutively and does not commence
until commences upon the expiration of the
suspension or revocation for the prior offense, or if the
period of suspension for the subsequent offense runs
concurrently with the suspension or revocation of the prior
offense.
(E) If the defendant fails to surrender his
license, the suspension or revocation operates as otherwise
provided by law.
(F) If the defendant surrenders his
license, upon conviction, and subsequently files a notice of
appeal, the appeal acts as a supersedeas as provided in Section
56-1-430. Upon payment of a ten-dollar fee and presentment by
the defendant of a certified or clocked-in copy of the notice of
appeal, the department shall issue him a certificate which
entitles him to operate a motor vehicle for a period of six
months after the verdict or plea. The certificate must be kept
in the defendant's possession while operating a motor vehicle
during the six-month period, and failure to have it in his
possession is punishable in the same manner as failure to have a
driver's license in possession while operating a motor
vehicle."
SECTION 5. Section 56-1-370 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 381 of 2006, is further amended to read:
"Section 56-1-370. The licensee may, within ten days after notice of suspension, cancellation, or revocation, except in cases where the suspension, cancellation, or revocation is made mandatory upon the Department of Motor Vehicles, request in writing an administrative hearing with the Division of Motor Vehicle Hearings in accordance with the rules of procedure of the Administrative Law Court and the State Administrative Procedures Act, in the judicial circuit where the licensee was arrested unless the Division of Motor Vehicle Hearings and the licensee agree that the hearing may be held in another jurisdiction. The hearing must be heard by a hearing officer of the Division of Motor Vehicle Hearings. Upon the review, the hearing officer shall either rescind the department's order of suspension, cancellation, or revocation or, good cause appearing therefor, may continue, modify, or extend the suspension, cancellation, or revocation of the license. If the administrative hearing results in the continued suspension, cancellation, or revocation of the license, the term of the suspension, cancellation, or revocation of the defendant's license is deemed to commence upon the date of the administrative hearing and not on the date of the notice provided by the Department of Motor Vehicles."
SECTION 6. Section 56-3-1972 of the 1976 Code is repealed.
SECTION 7. The repeal or amendment by this act of any law, whether temporary or permanent or civil or criminal, does not affect pending actions, rights, duties, or liabilities founded thereon, or alter, discharge, release or extinguish any penalty, forfeiture, or liability incurred under the repealed or amended law, unless the repealed or amended provision shall so expressly provide. After the effective date of this act, all laws repealed or amended by this act must be taken and treated as remaining in full force and effect for the purpose of sustaining any pending or vested right, civil action, special proceeding, criminal prosecution, or appeal existing as of the effective date of this act, and for the enforcement of rights, duties, penalties, forfeitures, and liabilities as they stood under the repealed or amended laws.
SECTION 8. This act takes effect upon
approval by the Governor.
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.