Bill Text: NC S492 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Limited Driving Privilege/Church
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 4-2)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-03-30 - Re-ref Com On Transportation [S492 Detail]
Download: North_Carolina-2015-S492-Amended.html
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2015
S 1
SENATE BILL 492
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Short Title: Limited Driving Privilege/Church. |
(Public) |
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Sponsors: |
Senators D. Davis, Soucek, Daniel (Primary Sponsors); Hise, Sanderson, and Waddell. |
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Referred to: |
Rules and Operations of the Senate. |
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March 26, 2015
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to authorize the holder of a limited driving privilege to drive to and from his or her place of religious worship.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1. G.S. 20‑179.3 reads as rewritten:
"§ 20‑179.3. Limited driving privilege.
(a) Definition of Limited Driving Privilege. – A limited driving privilege is a judgment issued in the discretion of a court for good cause shown authorizing a person with a revoked driver's license to drive for essential purposes related to any of the following:
(1) His The person's employment.
(2) The maintenance of his the person's household.
(3) His The person's education.
(4) His The person's court‑ordered
treatment or assessment.
(5) Community service ordered as a condition of the person's probation.
(6) Emergency medical care.
(7) Religious worship.
(b) Eligibility. –
(1) A person convicted of the offense of impaired driving under G.S. 20‑138.1 is eligible for a limited driving privilege if:
a. At the time of the offense he the person held
either a valid driver's license or a license that had been expired for less
than one year;
b. At the time of the offense he the person had
not within the preceding seven years been convicted of an offense involving
impaired driving;
c. Punishment Level Three, Four, or Five was imposed for the offense of impaired driving;
d. Subsequent to the offense he the person has
not been convicted of, or had an unresolved charge lodged against him the
person for, an offense involving impaired driving; and
e. The person has obtained and filed with the court a substance abuse assessment of the type required by G.S. 20‑17.6 for the restoration of a drivers license.
A person whose North Carolina driver's
license is revoked because of a conviction in another jurisdiction
substantially similar to impaired driving under G.S. 20‑138.1 is
eligible for a limited driving privilege if he the person would
be eligible for it had the conviction occurred in North Carolina. Eligibility
for a limited driving privilege following a revocation under G.S. 20‑16.2(d)
is governed by G.S. 20‑16.2(e1).
(2) Any person whose licensing privileges are forfeited pursuant to G.S. 15A‑1331.1 is eligible for a limited driving privilege if the court finds that at the time of the forfeiture, the person held either a valid drivers license or a drivers license that had been expired for less than one year and
a. The person is supporting existing dependents or must have a drivers license to be gainfully employed; or
b. The person has an existing dependent who requires serious medical treatment and the defendant is the only person able to provide transportation to the dependent to the health care facility where the dependent can receive the needed medical treatment.
The limited driving privilege granted under this subdivision must restrict the person to essential driving related to the purposes listed above, and any driving that is not related to those purposes is unlawful even though done at times and upon routes that may be authorized by the privilege.
…
(c1) Privilege Restrictions for High‑Risk Drivers. – Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, any limited driving privilege issued to a person convicted of an impaired driving offense with an alcohol concentration of 0.15 or more at the time of the offense shall:
(1) Not become effective until at least 45 days after the final conviction under G.S. 20‑138.1;
(2) Require the applicant to comply with the ignition interlock requirements of subsection (g5) of this section; and
(3) Restrict the applicant to driving only to and from the applicant's place of employment, the place the applicant is enrolled in school, the applicant's place of religious worship, any court ordered treatment or substance abuse education, and any ignition interlock service facility.
For purposes of this subsection, the results of a chemical analysis presented at trial or sentencing shall be sufficient to prove a person's alcohol concentration, shall be conclusive, and shall not be subject to modification by any party, with or without approval by the court.
…
(e) Limited Basis for and Effect of Privilege. – A
limited driving privilege issued under this section authorizes a person to
drive if his the person's license is revoked solely under G.S. 20‑17(a)(2)
or as a result of a conviction in another jurisdiction substantially similar to
impaired driving under G.S. 20‑138.1; if the person's license is
revoked under any other statute, the limited driving privilege is invalid.
…
(g1) Driving for Work‑Related Purposes in
Nonstandard Hours. – If the applicant is required to drive during nonstandard
working hours for an essential work‑related purpose, he the
applicant must present documentation of that fact before the judge may
authorize him the applicant to drive for this purpose during
those hours. If the applicant is self‑employed, the documentation must be
attached to or made a part of the limited driving privilege. If the judge
determines that it is necessary for the applicant to drive during nonstandard
hours for a work‑related purpose, he the judge may
authorize the applicant to drive subject to these limitations:
(1) If the applicant is required to drive to and from a specific place of work at regular times, the limited driving privilege must specify the general times and routes in which the applicant will be driving to and from work, and restrict driving to those times and routes.
(2) If the applicant is required to drive to and from work at a specific place, but is unable to specify the times at which that driving will occur, the limited driving privilege must specify the general routes in which the applicant will be driving to and from work, and restrict the driving to those general routes.
(3) If the applicant is required to drive to and from work at regular times but is unable to specify the places at which work is to be performed, the limited driving privilege must specify the general times and geographic boundaries in which the applicant will be driving, and restrict driving to those times and within those boundaries.
(4) If the applicant can specify neither the times nor
places in which he the applicant will be driving to and from
work, or if he the applicant is required to drive during these
nonstandard working hours as a condition of employment, the limited driving
privilege must specify the geographic boundaries in which he the
applicant will drive and restrict driving to that within those boundaries.
The limited driving privilege must state the name and address of the applicant's place of work or employer, and may include other information and restrictions applicable to work‑related driving, in the discretion of the court.
(g2) Driving for Other than Work‑Related Purposes. – A limited driving privilege may not allow driving for maintenance of the household except during standard working hours, and the limited driving privilege may contain any additional restrictions on that driving, in the discretion of the court. The limited driving privilege must authorize driving essential to the completion of any community work assignments, course of instruction at an Alcohol and Drug Education Traffic School, or substance abuse assessment or treatment, to which the applicant is ordered by the court as a condition of probation for the impaired driving conviction. If this driving will occur during nonstandard working hours, the limited driving privilege must specify the same limitations required by subsection (g1) for work‑related driving during those hours, and it must include or have attached to it the name and address of the Alcohol and Drug Education Traffic School, the community service coordinator, or mental health treatment facility to which the applicant is assigned. Driving for educational purposes other than the course of instruction at an Alcohol and Drug Education Traffic School is subject to the same limitations applicable to work related driving under subsections (g) and (g1). Driving to and from the applicant's place of religious worship is subject to the same limitations applicable to work‑related driving under subsections (g) and (g1).
…
(h) Other Mandatory and Permissive Conditions or
Restrictions. – In all limited driving privileges the judge shall also include
a restriction that the applicant not consume alcohol while driving or drive at
any time while he the applicant has remaining in his the
applicant's body any alcohol or controlled substance previously consumed,
unless the controlled substance was lawfully obtained and taken in
therapeutically appropriate amounts. The judge may impose any other reasonable
restrictions or conditions necessary to achieve the purposes of this section.
(i) Modification or Revocation of Privilege. – A
judge who issues a limited driving privilege is authorized to modify or revoke
the limited driving privilege upon a showing that the circumstances have
changed sufficiently to justify modification or revocation. If the judge who
issued the privilege is not presiding in the court in which the privilege was
issued, a presiding judge in that court may modify or revoke a privilege in
accordance with this subsection. The judge must indicate in the order of
modification or revocation the reasons for the order, or he the judge
must make specific findings indicating the reason for the order and those
findings must be entered in the record of the case.
(j) Effect of Violation of Restriction. – A holder of
a limited driving privilege who violates any of its restrictions commits the
offense of driving while his license is revoked under G.S. 20‑28(a)
and is subject to punishment and license revocation as provided in that
section. If a law‑enforcement officer has reasonable grounds to believe
that the holder of a limited driving privilege has consumed alcohol while
driving or has driven while he or she has remaining in his or her body
any alcohol previously consumed, the suspected offense of driving while license
is revoked is an alcohol‑related offense subject to the implied‑consent
provisions of G.S. 20‑16.2. If a holder of a limited driving
privilege is charged with driving while license revoked by violating a restriction
contained in his or her limited driving privilege, and a judicial
official determines that there is probable cause for the charge, the limited
driving privilege is suspended pending the resolution of the case, and the
judicial official must require the holder to surrender the limited driving
privilege. The judicial official must also notify the holder that he or she is
not entitled to drive until his or her case is resolved.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an alcohol screening test may be administered to a driver suspected of violating this section, and the results of an alcohol screening test or the driver's refusal to submit may be used by a law enforcement officer, a court, or an administrative agency in determining if alcohol was present in the driver's body. No alcohol screening tests are valid under this section unless the device used is one approved by the Department of Health and Human Services, and the screening test is conducted in accordance with the applicable regulations of the Department as to the manner of its use.
…."
SECTION 2. This act becomes effective July 1, 2015, and applies to limited driving privileges issued on or after that date.
