SB 180 — Relating to Second Chance Driver's License Program

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SenateNEWS BillRELEASES 180—HELPFUL ALINKS BILLEnrolled toVersion amend- andFinal reenactVersion §17B-7-5« andSenate §17B-7-9Bill of180 theHistory CodeOTHER ofVERSIONS West —  Virginia,Introduced 1931,Version as |  amended; |  Email Key:

toGreen amend= saidexisting codeCode. by adding thereto a new code section, designated §17B-7-11;

allRed relating= new code to thebe Secondenacted ChanceWEST Driver’svirginia Licenselegislature Program;regular session Enrolled Senate Bill 180 By Senators Blair, Cline, and Rucker [Passed March 7, 2020;

in effect 90 days from passage] AN ACT to amend and reenact §17B-7-5 and §17B-7-9 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended;

and to amend said code by adding thereto a new code section, designated §17B-7-11, all relating to the Second Chance Driver’s License Program;

and providing that amounts of court costs collected under the Second Chance Driver’s License Program attributable to crime victim restitution are not subject to the five percent offset for use by the Director of the Division of Justice and Community Services in the administration of the program;

 Be  it Adoptedenacted Rejectedby the Legislature of West Virginia:

ARTICLE 7.

second chance driver’s license Program.

§17B-7-5.

Program acceptance;

development of consolidated repayment schedule;

no other court fee payments required.

(a) A person wishing to participate in the Second Chance Driver’s License Program shall complete an application form prepared by the director.

(b) Upon receipt of a person’s application, the director shall coordinate with the courts and the commissioner to verify the total amount of the applicant’s unpaid court costs in the state of West Virginia at the time of the application.

(c) All courts shall provide a full accounting of all unpaid court costs assignable to the applicant within 30 days of the request of the director.

The accounting shall separately identify the portion of the court costs that constitute a fine, forfeiture, penalty, or the amount due as restitution to a crime victim or costs to be credited to the Crime Victims Compensation Fund pursuant to §62-5-10 of this code remaining unpaid by the applicant for each order of the court for which unpaid balances remain.

(d) Any unpaid court costs not reported to the director by a court as provided by subsection (c) of this section may not be collected separately by the court during the time in which the applicant is a participant in the program.

(e) If a participant completes the program, any unpaid court costs, except for unpaid fines, and unpaid amounts due as restitution to a crime victim or costs to be credited to the Crime Victims Compensation Fund pursuant to §62-5-10 of this code, not submitted to the director pursuant to subsection (c) of this section shall be considered waived unless the unpaid court costs were part of an order entered after the date upon which the director requested information for a participant.

The driver’s license suspension or revocation with respect to any unpaid fine not reported by a court shall be released upon completion of the program by the participant.

(f) Within 30 days after receipt of information concerning unpaid court costs, the director shall determine if the applicant is eligible to participate in the program.  Upon determination, the director shall promptly notify the applicant of his or her acceptance into the program.

(g) Upon acceptance of the applicant as a participant in the program, the director shall develop a consolidated repayment schedule for the participant, which will require the participant to remit payments on a monthly basis to the director according to guidelines established by the director in legislative rules, subject to the following conditions:

(1) The monthly payment shall be determined based on the participant’s monthly income and expenditures, but may not be less than $50 per month;

and (2) The consolidated repayment schedule shall require full payment of the unpaid court costs within one year.

(h) The consolidated repayment schedule may be amended to reflect changes in a participant’s circumstances.

(i) The director may permit a hardship waiver of the requirements of subsection (g) of this section, upon a determination that the applicant’s circumstances may have changed, and that the objectives of this article are best accomplished if the consolidated repayment schedule requires a lesser monthly payment or a longer period of time to remit the unpaid court costs:

Provided, That the director may not waive the total amount of unpaid court costs submitted by the courts according to subsection (a) of this section.

(j) Upon acceptance into the program, a participant in good standing with the program is under no obligation to make separate or additional payments of unpaid court costs directly to a court if those unpaid court costs are included in the consolidated repayment schedule.

§17B-7-9.  Deposit of funds into account;

disbursement of funds from account.

(a) The director shall deposit all money received from participants pursuant to a consolidated repayment schedule into the Second Chance Driver’s License Program Account.

The director shall prorate, separate, and identify the portion of each payment that constitutes payment of a fine, forfeiture, penalty, or an amount due as restitution to a crime victim or costs to be credited to the Crime Victims Compensation Fund pursuant to §62-5-10 of this code in accordance with the information provided to the director pursuant to §17B-7-5(c) of this code.

(b) After deposit of a participant’s monthly payment into this account, the director shall make disbursements from this account as follows:

(1) Portions of payments identified as payment of a fine, forfeiture, penalty, or an amount due as restitution to a crime victim or costs to be credited to the Crime Victims Compensation Fund pursuant to §62-5-10 of this code shall be disbursed to the courts identified in the repayment schedule or as applicable to the Crime Victims Compensation Fund pursuant to §62-5-10 of this code;

(2) The director shall disburse 95 percent of the portions of the payments remaining after payment as required in subdivision (1) of this subsection to the courts identified in the participant’s consolidated repayment schedule.

Courts shall accept and document these payments of 95 percent of the total unpaid court costs, not including court costs received pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection, as payment in full of the amount owed by the participant to the court for this portion of court costs owed;

and (3)  The portion of the payments remaining in the account after payment of the court costs in subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection may be appropriated by the Legislature to be expended for costs incurred by the director in the administration of this article.  (c) Courts that receive disbursements pursuant to subsection (b) of this section are responsible for making statutory disbursements of amounts received in satisfaction of unpaid court costs according to the requirements of the code.

§17B-7-11.  Sunset provision.              The Second Chance Driver’s License Program established under §17B-7-1, et seq., of this code shall cease to have effect on June 30, 2022, unless reauthorized by the West Virginia Legislature.