Bill Text: IA SF2118 | 2015-2016 | 86th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to special minor's driver's licenses issued for travel to and from private instruction, and making penalties applicable.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-02-09 - Subcommittee, Dvorsky, Quirmbach, and Smith. S.J. 191. [SF2118 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2015-SF2118-Introduced.html

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Senate File 2118 - Introduced




                                 SENATE FILE       
                                 BY  ROZENBOOM

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act relating to special minor's driver's licenses issued for
  2    travel to and from private instruction, and making penalties
  3    applicable.
  4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  Section 321.194, subsection 1, unnumbered
  1  2 paragraph 1, Code 2016, is amended to read as follows:
  1  3    Upon certification of a special need by the school board,
  1  4 superintendent of the applicant's school, or principal, if
  1  5 authorized by the superintendent pursuant to paragraph "c",
  1  6 the department may issue a class C or M driver's license to
  1  7 a person between the ages of fourteen and eighteen years
  1  8 whose driving privileges have not been suspended, revoked,
  1  9 or barred under this chapter or chapter 321J during, and
  1 10 who has not been convicted of a moving traffic violation or
  1 11 involved in a motor vehicle accident for, the six=month period
  1 12 immediately preceding the application for the special minor's
  1 13 license and who has successfully completed an approved driver
  1 14 education course. However, the completion of a course is not
  1 15 required if the applicant demonstrates to the satisfaction
  1 16 of the department that completion of the course would impose
  1 17 a hardship upon the applicant. The department shall adopt
  1 18 rules defining the term "hardship" and establish procedures for
  1 19 the demonstration and determination of when completion of the
  1 20 course would impose a hardship upon an applicant.
  1 21    Sec. 2.  Section 321.194, subsection 1, paragraph a,
  1 22 subparagraph (1), Code 2016, is amended to read as follows:
  1 23    (1)  During the hours of 5:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. over
  1 24 the most direct and accessible route between the licensee's
  1 25 residence and schools of enrollment or places of private
  1 26 instruction in accordance with chapter 299A, or the closest
  1 27 school bus stop or public transportation service, and between
  1 28 schools of enrollment or places of private instruction, for
  1 29 the purpose of attending duly scheduled courses of instruction
  1 30 and extracurricular activities within the licensee's school
  1 31 district or related to the licensee's private instruction, as
  1 32 applicable.
  1 33    Sec. 3.  Section 321.194, subsection 1, paragraph c, Code
  1 34 2016, is amended to read as follows:
  1 35    c.  Each application shall be accompanied by a statement from
  2  1 the school board, superintendent, or principal, if authorized
  2  2 by the superintendent, of the applicant's school, or if the
  2  3 applicant attends competent private instruction or independent
  2  4 private instruction in accordance with chapter 299A, from the
  2  5 licensed practitioner or primary instructor of the applicant.
  2  6 The statement shall be upon a form provided by the department.
  2  7 The school board, superintendent, or principal, if authorized
  2  8 by the superintendent, licensed practitioner, or primary
  2  9 instructor shall certify that a need exists for the license and
  2 10 that the board, superintendent, or principal authorized by the
  2 11 superintendent, licensed practitioner, or primary instructor is
  2 12 not responsible for actions of the applicant which pertain to
  2 13 the use of the driver's license. Upon receipt of a statement
  2 14 of necessity, the department shall issue the driver's license.
  2 15 The fact that the applicant resides at a distance less than
  2 16 one mile from the applicant's school of enrollment or place of
  2 17 private instruction is prima facie evidence of the nonexistence
  2 18 of necessity for the issuance of a license. The school board
  2 19 shall develop and adopt a policy establishing the criteria
  2 20 that shall be used by a school district administrator to
  2 21 approve or deny certification that a need exists for a license.
  2 22 The student may appeal to the school board the decision of
  2 23 a school district administrator to deny certification. The
  2 24 decision of the school board is final.  The department shall
  2 25 adopt rules establishing the criteria that shall be used by
  2 26 licensed practitioners and primary instructors to approve or
  2 27 deny certification that a need exists for a license. The
  2 28 decision of the licensed practitioner or primary instructor is
  2 29 final. The driver's license shall not be issued for purposes
  2 30 of attending a place of private instruction that is not within
  2 31 the school district of residence of the parent or guardian
  2 32 of the student or within a district which is contiguous to
  2 33 the district of residence of the parent or guardian of the
  2 34 student. The driver's license shall not be issued for purposes
  2 35 of attending a public school in a school district other than
  3  1 either of the following:
  3  2    (1)  The district of residence of the parent or guardian of
  3  3 the student.
  3  4    (2)  A district which is contiguous to the district of
  3  5 residence of the parent or guardian of the student, if the
  3  6 student is enrolled in the public school which is not the
  3  7 school district of residence because of open enrollment under
  3  8 section 282.18 or as a result of an election by the student's
  3  9 district of residence to enter into one or more sharing
  3 10 agreements pursuant to the procedures in chapter 282.
  3 11                           EXPLANATION
  3 12 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
  3 13 the explanation's substance by the members of the general assembly.
  3 14    This bill provides for the issuance of special minor's
  3 15 driver's licenses to students who attend competent private
  3 16 instruction or independent private instruction pursuant to
  3 17 Code chapter 299A.  Upon certification of a special need by
  3 18 a student's licensed practitioner or primary instructor, the
  3 19 department of transportation (DOT) may issue a class C or M
  3 20 driver's license to the student. In addition to the allowances
  3 21 currently provided for by the license, the bill provides
  3 22 that the student may operate the vehicle during the hours of
  3 23 5:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. over the most direct and accessible
  3 24 route between the student's residence and places of private
  3 25 instruction, or the closest public transportation service
  3 26 station, and between places of private instruction, for the
  3 27 purpose of attending duly scheduled courses of instruction and
  3 28 extracurricular activities related to the private instruction.
  3 29    The bill requires the DOT to adopt rules establishing
  3 30 the criteria that shall be used by licensed practitioners or
  3 31 primary instructors to approve or deny certification that
  3 32 a need exists for a license. The decision of the licensed
  3 33 practitioner or primary instructor is final. The bill
  3 34 prohibits the driver's license from being issued for purposes
  3 35 of attending a place of private instruction that is not within
  4  1 the school district of residence of the parent or guardian of
  4  2 the student or a district which is contiguous to the district
  4  3 of residence of the parent or guardian of the student.
  4  4    Under Code section 321.191, the fee for the license is
  4  5 $8. A violation of the license restrictions is punishable by
  4  6 a scheduled fine in the amount of $50. Under Code section
  4  7 321.482A, if the violation causes a serious injury, a court
  4  8 could impose an additional fine of $500 or suspend the
  4  9 student's license for not more than 90 days, or both. If the
  4 10 violation causes a death, a court could impose an additional
  4 11 fine of $1,000 or suspend the student's license for not more
  4 12 than 180 days, or both.
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