House Bill 627

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 63-11-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE OFFICERS FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS TO ADMINISTER DUI TESTS; TO AMEND SECTION 63-11-15, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CLARIFY FULL INFORMATION; TO AMEND SECTION 63-11-19, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE TESTING REQUIREMENTS FOR CHEMICAL ANALYSIS DEVICES; TO CONFORM TO THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT; TO AMEND SECTION 63-11-23, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE NOTICE OF LICENSE SUSPENSION TO BE SERVED UPON THE PROSECUTING ATTORNEY; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 63-11-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

63-11-5. (1) Any person who operates a motor vehicle upon the public highways, public roads and streets of this state shall be deemed to have given his consent, subject to the provisions of this chapter, to a chemical test or tests of his breath for the purpose of determining alcohol concentration. A person shall give his consent to a chemical test or tests of his breath, blood or urine for the purpose of determining the presence in his body of any other substance which would impair a person's ability to operate a motor vehicle. The test or tests shall be administered at the direction of any highway patrol officer, any sheriff or his duly commissioned deputies, any police officer in any incorporated municipality, any national park ranger, any Department of Corrections officer, any Department of Transportation officer, any officer of a state-supported institution of higher learning campus police force if such officer is exercising this authority in regard to a violation that occurred on campus property, or any security officer appointed and commissioned pursuant to the Pearl River Valley Water Supply District Security Officer Law of 1978 if such officer is exercising this authority in regard to a violation that occurred within the limits of the Pearl River Valley Water Supply District, when such officer has reasonable grounds and probable cause to believe that the person was driving or had under his actual physical control a motor vehicle upon the public streets or highways of this state while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any other substance which had impaired such person's ability to operate a motor vehicle. No such test shall be administered by any person who has not met all the educational and training requirements of the appropriate course of study prescribed by the Board on Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Training; provided, however, that sheriffs and elected chiefs of police shall be exempt from such educational and training requirement. No such tests shall be given by any officer or any agency to any person within fifteen (15) minutes of consumption of any substance by mouth.

(2) If the officer has reasonable grounds and probable cause to believe such person to have been driving a motor vehicle upon the public highways, public roads, and streets of this state while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any other substances in violation of Section 63-11-30, such officer shall inform such person that his failure to submit to such chemical test or tests of his breath shall result in the suspension of his privilege to operate a motor vehicle upon the public streets and highways of this state for a period of ninety (90) days in the event such person has not previously been convicted of a violation of Section 63-11-30, or, for a period of one (1) year in the event of any previous conviction of such person under Section 63-11-30.

(3) The traffic ticket, citation or affidavit issued to a person arrested for a violation of this chapter shall conform to the requirements of Section 63-9-21(3)(b).

(4) Any person arrested under the provisions of this chapter shall be informed that he has the right to telephone for the purpose of requesting legal or medical assistance immediately after being booked for a violation under this chapter.

(5) The Commissioner of Public Safety and the State Crime Laboratory created pursuant to Section 45-1-17 are hereby authorized from and after the passage of this section to adopt procedures, rules and regulations, applicable to the Implied Consent Law.

SECTION 2. Section 63-11-15, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

63-11-15. Upon the written request of the person tested, or his attorney, full information concerning the test taken at the direction of the law enforcement officer shall be made available to him or to his attorney. Full information is limited to the following:

(a) The type of test administered and the procedures followed;

(b) The time of the collection of the blood or breath sample analyzed;

(d) The type and status of any permit issued by the Mississippi Crime Lab which was held by the person who performed the test.

Full information does not include manuals, schematics or software of the instrument used to test the person or any other material that is not in the actual possession of the state.

Additionally, full information does not include information in the possession of the manufacturer of the test instrument.

SECTION 3. Section 63-11-19, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

63-11-19. A chemical analysis of the person's breath, blood or urine, to be considered valid under the provisions of this section, shall have been performed according to methods approved by the State Crime Laboratory created pursuant to Section 45-1-17 and the Commissioner of Public Safety and performed by an individual possessing a valid permit issued by the State Crime Laboratory for making such analysis. The State Crime Laboratory and the Commissioner of Public Safety are authorized to approve satisfactory techniques or methods, to ascertain the qualifications and competence of individuals to conduct such analyses, and to issue permits which shall be subject to termination or revocation at the discretion of the State Crime Laboratory. The State Crime Laboratory shall not approve the permit required herein for any law enforcement officer other than a member of the State Highway Patrol, a sheriff or his deputies, a city policeman, any Department of Corrections officer, any Department of Transportation officer, an officer of a state-supported institution of higher learning campus police force, a security officer appointed and commissioned pursuant to the Pearl River Valley Water Supply District Security Officer Law of 1978, a national park ranger, a national park ranger technician, a military policeman stationed at a United States military base located within this state other than a military policeman of the Army or Air National Guard or of Reserve Units of the Army, Air Force, Navy or Marine Corps, a marine law enforcement officer employed by the Department of Marine Resources, or a conservation officer employed by the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. * * *

The State Crime Laboratory shall provide annually a document that is self-authenticating showing the accuracy of the testing devices or machines in operation.

SECTION 4. Section 63-11-23, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

63-11-23. (1) The Commissioner of Public Safety, or his authorized agent, shall review the sworn report by a law enforcement officer as provided in Section 63-11-21. If upon such review the Commissioner of Public Safety, or his authorized agent, finds (a) that the law enforcement officer had reasonable grounds and probable cause to believe the person had been driving a motor vehicle upon the public highways, public roads and streets of this state while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any other substance which may impair a person's mental or physical ability; (b) that he refused to submit to the test upon request of the officer; and (c) that the person was informed that his license and/or driving privileges would be suspended or denied if he refused to submit to the chemical test, then the Commissioner of Public Safety, or his authorized agent, shall give notice to the licensee that his license or permit to drive, or any nonresident operating privilege, shall be suspended thirty (30) days after the date of such notice for a period of ninety (90) days in the event such person has not previously been convicted of a violation of Section 63-11-30, or, for a period of one (1) year in the event of any previous conviction of such person under Section 63-11-30. In the event the commissioner or his authorized agent determines that the license should not be suspended, he shall return the license or permit to the licensee.

The notice of suspension shall be in writing and given in the manner provided in Section 63-1-52(2)(a) and shall also be served upon the prosecuting attorney.

(2) If the chemical testing of a person's breath indicates the blood alcohol concentration was eight one-hundredths percent (.08%) or more for persons who are above the legal age to purchase alcoholic beverages under state law, or two one-hundredths percent (.02%) or more for persons who are below the legal age to purchase alcoholic beverages under state law, based upon grams of alcohol per one hundred (100) milliliters of blood or grams of alcohol per two hundred ten (210) liters of breath as shown by a chemical analysis of such person's blood, or breath, or urine, the arresting officer shall seize the license and give the driver a receipt for his license on forms prescribed by the Commissioner of Public Safety and shall promptly forward the license together with a sworn report to the Commissioner of Public Safety. The receipt given a person as provided herein shall be valid as a permit to operate a motor vehicle for a period of thirty (30) days in order that the defendant be processed through the court having original jurisdiction and a final disposition had. If the defendant requests a trial within thirty (30) days and such trial is not commenced within thirty (30) days, then the court shall determine if the delay in the trial is the fault of the defendant or his counsel. If the court finds that such is not the fault of the defendant or his counsel, then the court shall order the defendant's driving privileges to be extended until such time as the defendant is convicted. If a receipt or permit to drive issued pursuant to the provisions of this subsection expires without a trial having been requested as provided for in this subsection, then the Commissioner of Public Safety or his authorized agent shall suspend the license or permit to drive or any nonresident operating privilege for the applicable period of time as provided for in subsection (1) of this section.

(3) If the person is a resident without a license or permit to operate a motor vehicle in this state, the Commissioner of Public Safety, or his authorized agent, shall deny to the person the issuance of a license or permit for a period of one (1) year beginning thirty (30) days after the date of notice of such suspension.

(4) It shall be the duty of the county prosecuting attorney, an attorney employed under the provisions of Section 19-3-49, or in the event there is no such prosecuting attorney for the county, the duty of the district attorney to represent the state in any hearing held under the provisions of Section 63-11-25, under the provisions of Section 63-11-37(2) or under the provisions of Section 63-11-30(2)(a).

SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2007.