South Carolina General Assembly
116th Session, 2005-2006

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H. 4322

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Reps. M.A. Pitts, Loftis and Toole
Document Path: l:\council\bills\swb\6607cm06.doc

Introduced in the House on January 10, 2006
Currently residing in the House Committee on Judiciary

Summary: Failure to stop for law enforcement officer

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  11/16/2005  House   Prefiled
  11/16/2005  House   Referred to Committee on Judiciary
   1/10/2006  House   Introduced and read first time HJ-29
   1/10/2006  House   Referred to Committee on Judiciary HJ-30

View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

11/16/2005

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A BILL

TO AMEND SECTION 56-5-750, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE OFFENSE OF FAILURE TO STOP A MOTOR VEHICLE WHEN SIGNALED TO STOP BY A LAW ENFORCEMENT VEHICLE, SO AS TO REVISE THE CONDUCT THAT CONSTITUTES THE OFFENSE, TO REVISE THE PENALTIES FOR A VIOLATION OF THIS PROVISION, TO PROVIDE THAT A PERSON WHO VIOLATES THIS PROVISION MAY HAVE HIS CRIMINAL RECORD EXPUNGED UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES, AND TO PROVIDE FOR THE ISSUANCE OF A SPECIAL RESTRICTED DRIVER'S LICENSE; AND TO AMEND SECTION 56-5-2947, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO THE OFFENSE OF CHILD ENDANGERMENT, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT A PERSON WHO IS FOUND GUILTY OF FAILURE TO STOP A MOTOR VEHICLE WHEN SIGNALED TO STOP BY A LAW ENFORCEMENT VEHICLE IS NOT GUILTY ALSO OF THE OFFENSE OF CHILD ENDANGERMENT.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION    1.    Section 56-5-750 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 79 of 2001, is further amended to read:

"Section 56-5-750.    (A)    In the absence of mitigating circumstances, it is unlawful for a motor vehicle driver, while driving on a road, street, or highway of the State, to fail to stop when signaled by a law enforcement vehicle by means of a siren or flashing light. An attempt to increase the speed of a vehicle or in other manner avoid the pursuing law enforcement vehicle when signaled by a siren or flashing light is prima facie evidence of a violation of this section. Failure to see the flashing light or hear the siren does not excuse a failure to stop when the distance between the vehicles and other road conditions are such that it would be reasonable for a driver to hear or see the signals from the law enforcement vehicle.

(B)    A person who violates the provisions of subsection (A):

(1)    for a first offense where no great bodily injury or death resulted from the violation, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than five hundred dollars or imprisoned for not less than ninety days nor more than three years. The department must suspend the person's driver's license for at least thirty days; or

(2)    for a second or subsequent offense where no great bodily injury or death resulted from the violation, is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned for not more than five years. The person's driver's license must be suspended by the department for a period of one year from the date of the conviction.

(C)    A person who violates the provisions of subsection (A) and when driving performs an act forbidden by law or neglects a duty imposed by law in the driving of the vehicle:

(1)    where great bodily injury resulted, is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned for not more than ten years; or

(2)    where death resulted, is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned for not more than twenty-five years.

(D)    The department must revoke the driver's license of any person who is convicted pursuant to subsection (C)(1) or (C)(2) for a period to include any term of imprisonment, suspended sentence, parole, or probation, plus three years.

(E)    "Great bodily injury" means bodily injury which creates a substantial risk of death or which causes serious, permanent disfigurement, or protracted loss of or impairment of the function of a bodily member or organ.

(F)    After a conviction pursuant to subsection (B)(1) for a first offense, the person may, after three years from the date of completion of all terms and conditions of his sentence for the first offense, apply, or cause someone acting on his behalf to apply, to the court for an order expunging the records of the arrest and conviction. This provision does not apply to any crime classified as a felony. If the person has had no other conviction during the three-year period following the completion of the terms and conditions of the sentence, the court shall issue an order expunging the records. No person has any rights under this section more than one time. After the expungement, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the Department of Motor Vehicles are required to keep a nonpublic record of the offense and the date of its expungement to ensure that no person takes advantage of the rights permitted by this subsection more than once. This nonpublic record is not subject to release under the Freedom of Information Act or any other provision of law except to those authorized law or court officials who need to know this information in order to prevent the rights afforded by this subsection from being taken advantage of more than once.

(G)(1)    If a person is employed or enrolled in a college or university at any time while his driver's license is suspended pursuant to subsection (B) of this section, he may apply for a special restricted driver's license permitting him to drive only to and from work or his place of education and in the course of his employment or education during the period of suspension. The department may issue the special restricted driver's license only upon a showing by the person that he is employed or enrolled in a college or university, and that he lives further than one mile from his place of employment or place of education.

(2)    If the department issues a special restricted driver's license, it shall designate reasonable restrictions on the times during which and routes on which the person may operate a motor vehicle. A change in the employment hours, place of employment, status as a student, or residence must be reported immediately to the department by the licensee.

(3)    The fee for each special restricted driver's license is one hundred dollars, but no additional fee is due because of changes in the place and hours of employment, education, or residence. Of this fee twenty dollars must be distributed to the general fund and eighty dollars must be placed by the Comptroller General into a special restricted account to be used by the Department of Motor Vehicles to defray the expenses of the Department of Motor Vehicles.

(4)    The operation of a motor vehicle outside the time limits and route imposed by a special restricted license by the person issued that license is a violation of Section 56-1-460. (1)    In the absence of mitigating circumstances, it is unlawful for a motor vehicle driver, while driving on a road, street, or highway of the State, to fail to stop when signaled by a law enforcement officer by means of a visible or audible signal including, but not limited to, the use of a siren or flashing light, or signals given by hand or voice. Except as provided in subsections (B) and (C), a person violating this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than five hundred dollars or imprisoned for not less than ninety days nor more than three years.

(2)(a)    An attempt to increase the speed of a vehicle or avoid a pursuing law enforcement officer when signaled by a visible or audible signal as described in subsection (A)(1) is prima facie evidence of a violation of this section.

(b)    Failure to see a law enforcement officer's visible or audible signal does not excuse a person's failure to stop when the distance between his vehicle and the law enforcement officer and other road conditions make it reasonable for the driver to hear or see the visible or audible signal.

(B)    A person who violates the provisions of subsection (A) is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned for not less than one hundred eighty days and not more than five years when:

(1)    the violation was a second or subsequent offense under this section and no great bodily injury or death resulted from the violation;

(2)    the driver exceeded fifteen miles an hour over the posted speed limit;

(3)    the person's driver's license had been suspended or revoked for any reason;

(4)    the driver exceeded the posted speed limit in a highway work zone in violation of Section 56-5-1535 or in an area designated by posted signs as a school zone when the posted speed limit was in effect;

(5)    the person unlawfully passed a stopped school bus in violation of Section 56-5-2770;

(6)    there was a person under sixteen years of age in the vehicle;

(7)    the person engaged in reckless driving in violation of Section 56-5-2920;

(8)    the person drove while his faculties to drive were materially and appreciably impaired in violation of Section 56-5-2930, or while he had an alcohol concentration of eight one-hundredths of one percent or more in violation of Section 56-5-2933;

(9)    the person interfered with the operation of an ambulance, fire department vehicle, or rescue squad vehicle with an audible or visual signal activated;

(10)    the person drove through a safety zone in violation of Section 56-5-3240;

(11)    the person passed one or more vehicles on an interstate or multi-lane highway by use of the emergency lane of that highway; or

(12)    the person passed one or more vehicles in a no-passing zone in violation of Section 56-5-1890 or a highway work zone in violation of Section 56-5-1895.

(C)    A person who violates the provisions of subsection (A) is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned for not less than two years and not more than ten years if great bodily injury resulted from the violation.

(D)    A person who violates the provisions of subsection (A) is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned for not less than ten years and not more than twenty-five years if death resulted from the violation.

(E)    The Department of Motor Vehicles must suspend or revoke the driver's license of a person who is convicted pursuant to this section as follows:

(1)    for a violation of subsection (A), the person's driver's license must be suspended for at least ninety days;

(2)    for a violation of subsection (B), the person's driver's license must be suspended for a period of two years from the date of conviction or two years from the date of release from confinement, suspended sentence, probation, parole, or supervised release, whichever is later; and

(3)    for a violation of subsection (C), the person's driver's license must be revoked for a period of five years from the date of conviction, or five years from the date of release from confinement, suspended sentence, probation, parole, or supervised release, whichever is later.

(F)    For purposes of this section, 'great bodily injury' means bodily injury that creates a substantial risk of death or that causes serious, permanent disfigurement, or protracted loss of or impairment of the function of a bodily member or organ.

(G)(1)    After a conviction pursuant to subsection (A), a person may apply directly or through an agent to the court for an order expunging the records of the arrest and conviction three years from the date he completes all terms and conditions of his sentence for the first offense. This provision does not apply to a conviction under subsections (B) or (C).

(2)    If the person has had no other conviction during this three-year period, the court must issue an order expunging records of the arrest and conviction.

(3)    A person may not seek expungement pursuant to this subsection more than once.

(4)    After the expungement, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the Department of Motor Vehicles must keep a nonpublic record of the offense and the date of its expungement to ensure that a person does not take advantage of the rights permitted by this subsection more than once. This nonpublic record is not subject to release under the Freedom of Information Act or any other provision of law except to authorized law or court officials who need to obtain this information in order to prevent the rights afforded by this subsection from being taken advantage of more than once.

(H)(1)    If a person is employed or enrolled in a college or university at any time while his driver's license is suspended pursuant to this section, he may apply for a special restricted driver's license permitting him to drive only to and from work or his place of education and in the course of his employment or education during the period of suspension. The Department of Motor Vehicles may issue the special restricted driver's license only upon a showing by the person that he is employed or enrolled in a college or university, and that he lives more than one mile from his place of employment or place of education.

(2)    If the department issues a special restricted driver's license, it shall designate reasonable restrictions on the times during which and routes on which the person may operate a motor vehicle. The licensee must report immediately to the department any change in his employment hours, place of employment, status as a student, or residence.

(3)    The fee for a special restricted driver's license is one hundred dollars, but no additional fee is due because of changes in the place and hours of employment, education, or residence. Twenty dollars of this fee must be distributed to the General Fund and eighty dollars must be placed by the Comptroller General into a special restricted account to be used by the Department of Motor Vehicles to defray its expenses.

(4)    The operation of a motor vehicle outside the time limits and route imposed by a special restricted license by the person issued that license is a violation of Section 56-1-460."

SECTION    2.    Section 56-5-2947(A) of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 14 of 1997, is further amended to read:

"(A)    A person eighteen years of age or over is guilty of child endangerment when:

(1)    the person is in violation of:

(a)    Section 56-5-750;

(b)    Section 56-5-2930; or

(c)(b)    Section 56-5-2945; and

(2)    the person has one or more passengers under sixteen years of age in the motor vehicle when the violation occurs.

If more than one passenger under sixteen years of age is in the vehicle when a violation of subsection (A)(1) occurs, the person may be charged with only one violation of this section."

SECTION    3.    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    4.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

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