Bill Text: MS SB2397 | 2016 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Towing and recovery operators; require licensure of.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2016-02-23 - Died In Committee [SB2397 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2016-SB2397-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2016 Regular Session
To: Business and Financial Institutions; Accountability, Efficiency, Transparency
By: Senator(s) Moran
Senate Bill 2397
AN ACT TO REQUIRE THE LICENSURE OF TOWING AND RECOVERY OPERATORS; TO DEFINE CERTAIN TERMS USED IN THE ACT; TO CREATE THE BOARD OF TOWING AND RECOVERY OPERATORS AND PROVIDE ITS POWERS AND DUTIES; TO AUTHORIZE THE BOARD TO PROMULGATE REGULATIONS NECESSARY FOR THE ADMINISTRATION AND ENFORCEMENT OF THIS ACT; TO CREATE THE BOARD OF TOWING AND RECOVERY OPERATORS FUND AS A SPECIAL FUND IN THE STATE TREASURY; TO PROVIDE CIVIL PENALTIES; TO REQUIRE LICENSING FEES TO BE ESTABLISHED AND COLLECTED BY THE BOARD; TO PROVIDE APPLICABILITY OF THE ACT; TO PROHIBIT CERTAIN ACTS; TO PROVIDE FOR REVOCATION OR SUSPENSION OF A LICENSE BY THE BOARD FOR CERTAIN VIOLATIONS; TO REQUIRE THE BOARD TO ESTABLISH REGULATIONS REQUIRING OPERATORS TO PROVIDE PUBLIC SAFETY TOWING AND RECOVERY SERVICES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Whenever used in this act, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(a) "Board" means the Board of Towing and Recovery Operators.
(b) "Towing and recovery of vehicles" means services offered by a towing and recovery operator.
(c) "Towing and recovery operator" means any business entity offering services involving the use of a tow truck and services incidental to use of a tow truck.
(d) "Commissioner" means the Mississippi Commissioner of Public Safety.
(e) "Nonconsensual" means services that lack the permission of the vehicle owner to include the towing and recovery of vehicles from public rights-of-way as directed by any law enforcement agency or towing and recovery of vehicles from private property under the direction of a law enforcement agency.
SECTION 2. The Board of Towing and Recovery Operators. (1) The Board of Towing and Recovery Operators is hereby created. The board shall consist of twelve (12) members as follows:
(a) Six (6) members appointed by the Mississippi Towing and Recovery Professionals, Inc.;
(b) Three (3) members appointed by the Commissioner of Public Safety and recommended by the insurance community;
(c) One (1) member appointed by the Mississippi Sheriff's Association;
(d) One (1) member appointed by the Mississippi Association of Chiefs of Police, and
(e) The Commissioner of Public Safety, or his designee.
All members shall be voting members.
(2) The board shall meet at least once each year. Annually, the members of the board shall elect from its membership a chairman and a vice chairman; each to serve for a one-year term. Six (6) members shall constitute a quorum.
SECTION 3. The powers and duties of the board shall be statewide and include, but not be limited to, the following:
(a) To establish the qualifications of applicants for licensure, provided that all qualifications shall be necessary to ensure competence and integrity;
(b) To inspect, or cause to be inspected, the minimum qualifications of each applicant for licensure, including the insurance requirements and state and local agency requirements;
(c) To license qualified business entity applicants as towing and recovery operators;
(d) To levy and collect fees for licensure and renewal that are sufficient to cover all expenses for the administration and operation of the board;
(e) To revoke, suspend, or fail to renew a license for violation of this act or enumerated in regulations promulgated by the board;
(f) To receive complaints concerning the conduct of businesses licensed by the board and to take appropriate disciplinary action if warranted;
(g) To enter into contracts necessary or convenient for carrying out the provisions of this act or the functions of the board;
(h) To establish committees of the board, appoint persons to such committees, and to promulgate regulations establishing the responsibilities of these committees;
(i) To establish means and procedures by which members or employees of the board may attempt to mediate and resolve in an expedited manner, complaints filed against or in the favor of those licensed or otherwise regulated by the board;
(j) To do all things necessary and convenient for carrying into effect provisions of this act or regulations promulgated by the board;
(k) To set statewide towing rates, storage rates and other necessary charges to the public for nonconsensual towing and recovery of vehicles;
(l) To promulgate regulations specifying training or continuing education for individuals seeking licensure or renewal licenses;
(m) To establish minimum levels of insurance coverage for towing and recovery operators to carry;
(n) To set minimum standards for storage facilities owned or operated by licensees; and
(o) To set statewide policies for state, county, municipal and other law enforcement agencies for nonconsensual towing and recovery of vehicles.
SECTION 4. The board may, in hearings arising under this act, determine the place in the state where they shall be held; subpoena witnesses; take depositions of witnesses residing outside the state in the manner provided for in civil actions in courts of record.
SECTION 5. The board may promulgate regulations requiring towing and recovery operators to be licensed under this act to keep and maintain records reasonably required for the enforcement of provisions of this act, and any other regulations, not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, as it shall consider necessary for the effective administration and enforcement of this act. A copy of any regulation promulgated under this section shall be mailed to each licensee thirty (30) days prior to its effective date.
SECTION 6. The Board of Towing and Recovery Operators Fund (the fund) is established as a special fund in the State Treasury. Except as otherwise provided in this act, all fees collected as provided in this act and by regulations promulgated by the board, shall be paid into the State Treasury immediately upon collection and credited to the fund. Any interest income shall accrue to the fund. All disbursements from the fund shall be made by the State Treasurer upon warrants of the Executive Director of the Department of Finance and Administration issued upon vouchers signed by an authorized officer of the board or the executive director as authorized by the board.
SECTION 7. Except as otherwise provided in this act, any business entity violating any of the provisions of this act may be assessed a civil penalty by the board. No such civil penalty shall exceed One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) for any single violation. Civil penalties collected under this act shall be deposited in the fund.
SECTION 8. On and after January 1, 2017, it shall be unlawful for any business entity to engage in the towing and recovery of vehicles in the state without first obtaining a license provided in this act.
SECTION 9. Application for license as a towing and recovery operator under this act shall be made to the board and contain such information as the board shall require. The application shall be accompanied by the fee as required by the board.
The board shall require, in the application or otherwise, information relating to the challenges for refusing licenses, and to other pertinent matters requisite for the safeguarding of the public interest. All of these matters shall be considered by the board in determining the fitness of the applicant to engage in the towing and recovery of vehicles for which he seeks a license.
SECTION 10. The board shall act on all applications for a license under this act within sixty (60) days after receipt by either granting or refusing the application. Any applicant denied a license or endorsement shall, on his written request filed within thirty (30) days, be given a hearing at a time and place determined by the board or a person designated by the board. All hearings under this section shall be public and shall be held promptly. The applicant may be represented by counsel.
SECTION 11. The fee for each license year or part thereof shall be determined by the board. All application and licensing fees provided for in this act and endorsements made pursuant to this act shall be established and collected by the board and paid into the State Treasury and set aside as a special fund to meet the expenses of the board.
SECTION 12. The board shall set policies for issuance, expiration and renewal of licenses and any endorsements, as well as offer multiyear licenses and endorsements.
SECTION 13. Any business that in any way advertises itself as a towing and recovery operator or in any way conveys the impression that it is engaged in services of providing towing and recovery of vehicles shall be deemed to be engaged in towing and recovery services. This act shall not apply to the consensual towing of vehicles between the public and towing and recovery operators.
SECTION 14. Every business entity engaged in towing and recovery services shall display its license in a conspicuous place in the principal office in which it operates.
SECTION 15. It shall be unlawful for any person or business entity:
(a) To engage in the nonconsensual towing and recovery of vehicles without holding a license as a towing and recovery operator issued by the board;
(b) To impersonate a licensed towing and recovery operator of a like or different name;
(c) To do any act for which, if he were a licensed towing and recovery operator, could be revoked as provided by this act or regulations of the board; or
(d) To publish or cause to be published in any manner an advertisement that is false, deceptive or misleading, or violates regulations of the board governing advertising by towing and recovery operators.
SECTION 16. An application for license as a towing and recovery operator shall be in a form to be determined and approved by the board. The board shall set forth in regulations those requirements for application for license a towing and recovery operator.
SECTION 17. No person or business entity shall offer to engage in or engage in the towing and recovery of vehicles without a valid license from the board or having an endorsement pursuant to the provisions of this act.
SECTION 18. The board may revoke or suspend a license or reprimand the licensee for any of the following causes:
(a) Fraud or deceit in the offering or delivering of towing and recovery services;
(b) Conducting his business or offering services in such a manner as to endanger the health and welfare of the public;
(c) Use of alcohol or drugs to the extent such use renders him unsafe to provide towing and recovery services;
(d) Neglecting or refusing to display his license as an operator in a conspicuous place in the principal office in which he operated;
(e) Obtaining of any fee by fraud or misrepresentation;
(f) Violating other standards of conduct as may be adopted by the board through regulations;
(g) Violating, assisting, inducing, or cooperating with others in violating any provisions of law related to the offering or delivery of towing and recovery services, including the provisions of this act, or of any regulations of the board; or
(h) Violating any regulation set by the board.
SECTION 19. The board shall establish regulations required of operators to provide public safety towing and recovery services. For the purposes of this section, "public safety towing and recovery services" shall be those towing and recovery and related services requested by a state or local law enforcement agency. Such regulations shall establish minimum requirements, including qualifications, standards, necessary equipment, and public safety concerns necessary and appropriate to permit a operator to provide public safety towing and recovery services. No operator shall provide public safety towing and recovery services unless they meet such criteria established by board regulation applicable to public safety towing and recovery services. Upon submitting evidence to the board of meeting such criteria, the board shall maintain, on a timely basis, a list to be readily available to state and local law enforcement agencies of operators who meet the board's criteria for providing public safety towing and recovery services.
SECTION 20. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2016.
