MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2015 Regular Session

To: Insurance

By: Representative Chism

House Bill 548

AN ACT TO REQUIRE AN SR22 CERTIFICATE BE PROVIDED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY TO REINSTATE A DRIVER'S LICENSE THAT HAS BEEN SUSPENDED UNDER THE IMPLIED CONSENT LAWS; TO REQUIRE AN SR22 CERTIFICATE BE PROVIDED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY IF AN INDIVIDUAL OPERATING AN AUTOMOBILE CAUSED DAMAGES IN AN AMOUNT OVER FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS AND DID NOT HAVE SUFFICIENT INSURANCE; TO BRING FORWARD SECTIONS 63-1-71, 63-15-37, 63-15-39, 63-15-41 AND 63-15-61, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, FOR PURPOSES OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

     SECTION 1.  (1)  In order for an individual that has received a license suspension under the State of Mississippi's Implied Consent Laws to be eligible for reinstatement, he or she must provide to the Department of Public Safety, in addition to other requirements at law, proof of financial responsibility in the form of an SR22 certificate, that shall be in effect for not less than a period of three (3) years after issuance in accordance with the requirements as set forth in Section 63-15-61.

     (2)  If an individual operating an automobile caused damages including bodily injury, death or property damage in an amount greater than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), and such individual did not have insurance in at least the minimum amounts required under the Mississippi Motor Vehicle Safety-Responsibility Law at the time of such incident causing the damage, he or she must provide to the Department of Public Safety to retain or reinstate his or her driver's license, if it was suspended, in addition to other requirements at law, proof of financial responsibility in the form of an SR22 certificate, that shall be in effect for not less than a period of three (3) years after issuance in accordance with the requirements as set forth in Section 63-15-61.

     SECTION 2.  Section 63-1-71, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

     63-1-71.  (1)  In addition to any penalty authorized by the Uniform Controlled Substances Law or any other statute indicating the dispositions that can be ordered for an adjudication of delinquency, every person convicted of, or entering a plea of nolo contendere to, or adjudicated delinquent in a court of this state for a violation of any offense defined in the Uniform Controlled Substances Law, and every person convicted of, or entering a plea of nolo contendere to, or adjudicated delinquent under the laws of the United States, another state, a territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico of a violation for the use, distribution, possession, manufacture, sale, barter, transfer or dispensing of a "controlled substance," "counterfeit substance," "narcotic drug" or "drug," as such terms are defined under Section 41-29-105, shall forthwith forfeit his right to operate a motor vehicle over the highways of this state for a period of six (6) months.  Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 63-11-30(2)(a) and in addition to any penalty authorized by the Uniform Controlled Substances Law or any other statute indicating the dispositions that can be ordered for an adjudication of delinquency, every person convicted of driving under the influence of a controlled substance, or entering a plea of nolo contendere thereto, or adjudicated delinquent therefor, in a court of this state, and every person convicted of driving under the influence of a controlled substance, or entering a plea of nolo contendere thereto, or adjudicated delinquent therefor, under the laws of the United States, another state, a territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, shall forthwith forfeit his right to operate a motor vehicle over the highways of this state for a period of not less than six (6) months.  In the case of any person who at the time of the imposition of sentence does not have a driver's license or is less than fifteen (15) years of age, the period of the suspension of driving privileges authorized herein shall commence on the day the sentence is imposed and shall run for a period of not less than six (6) months after the day the person obtains a driver's license or reaches the age of fifteen (15) years.  If the driving privilege of any person is under revocation or suspension at the time of any conviction or adjudication of delinquency for a violation of any offense defined in the Uniform Controlled Substances Law, the revocation or suspension period imposed herein shall commence as of the date of termination of the existing revocation or suspension.

     (2)  The court in this state before whom any person is convicted of or adjudicated delinquent for a violation of an offense under subsection (1) of this section shall collect forthwith the Mississippi driver's license of the person and forward such license to the Department of Public Safety along with a report indicating the first and last day of the suspension or revocation period imposed pursuant to this section.  If the court is for any reason unable to collect the license of the person, the court shall cause a report of the conviction or adjudication of delinquency to be filed with the Commissioner of Public Safety. That report shall include the complete name, address, date of birth, eye color and sex of the person and shall indicate the first and last day of the suspension or revocation period imposed by the court pursuant to this section.  The court shall inform the person orally and in writing that if the person is convicted of personally operating a motor vehicle during the period of license suspension or revocation imposed pursuant to this section, the person shall, upon conviction, be subject to the penalties set forth in Section 63-11-40.  A person shall be required to acknowledge receipt of the written notice in writing.  Failure to receive a written notice or failure to acknowledge in writing the receipt of a written notice shall not be a defense to a subsequent charge of a violation of Section 63-11-40.  If the person is the holder of a driver's license from another jurisdiction, the court shall not collect the license but shall notify forthwith the Commissioner of Public Safety who shall notify the appropriate officials in the licensing jurisdiction.  The court shall, however, in accordance with the provisions of this section, revoke the person's nonresident driving privilege in this state.

     (3)  The county court or circuit court having jurisdiction, on petition, may reduce the suspension of driving privileges under this section if the denial of which would constitute a hardship on the offender.  When the petition is filed, such person shall pay to the circuit clerk of the court where the petition is filed a fee of Twenty Dollars ($20.00) for each year, or portion thereof, of license revocation or suspension remaining under the original sentence, which shall be deposited into the State General Fund to the credit of a special fund hereby created in the State Treasury to be used for alcohol or drug abuse treatment and education, upon appropriation by the Legislature.  This fee shall be in addition to any other court costs or fees required for the filing of petitions.

     SECTION 3.  Section 63-15-37, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

     63-15-37.  Proof of financial responsibility when required under this chapter with respect to a motor vehicle or with respect to a person who is not the owner of a motor vehicle may be given by filing:

                   1.  A certificate of insurance as provided in Section 63-15-39 or Section 63-15-41; or

                   2.  A bond as provided in Section 63-15-49; or

                   3.  A certificate of deposit of money or securities as provided in Section 63-15-51; or

                   4.  A certificate of self-insurance as provided in section 63-15-53, supplemented by an agreement by the self-insurer that, with respect to accidents occurring while the certificate is in force, he will pay the same judgments and in the same amounts that an insurer would have been obligated to pay under an owner's motor vehicle liability policy if it had issued such a policy to said self-insurer.

     SECTION 4.  Section 63-15-39, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

     63-15-39.  Proof of financial responsibility may be furnished by filing with the department the written certificate of any insurance company duly authorized to write motor vehicle liability insurance in this state certifying that there is in effect a motor vehicle liability policy for the benefit of the person required to furnish proof of financial responsibility.  Such certificate shall give the effective date of such motor vehicle liability policy, which date shall be the same as the effective date of the certificate, and shall designate by explicit description or by appropriate reference all motor vehicles covered thereby, unless the policy is issued to a person who is not the owner of a motor vehicle.

     SECTION 5.  Section 63-15-41, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

     63-15-41.  (1)  The nonresident owner of a motor vehicle, the owner or operator of which is not licensed in this state, may give proof of financial responsibility by filing with the department a written certificate or certificates of an insurance company authorized to transact business in the state in which the motor vehicle or motor vehicles described in such certificate or certificates are registered, or if such nonresident does not own a motor vehicle, then in the state in which the insured resides, provided such certificate otherwise conforms to the provisions of this chapter.  The department shall accept the same upon condition that said insurance company complies with the following provisions with respect to the policies so certified:

          (a)  Said insurance company shall execute a power of attorney authorizing the department to accept service on its behalf of notice or process in any action arising out of a motor vehicle accident in this state;

          (b)  Said insurance company shall agree in writing that such policies shall be deemed to conform with the laws of this state relating to the terms of motor vehicle liability policies issued herein.

     (2)  If any insurance company not authorized to transact business in this state, which has qualified to furnish proof of financial responsibility, defaults in any said undertakings or agreements, the department shall not thereafter accept as proof any certificate of said company whether theretofore filed or thereafter tendered as proof, so long as such default continues.

     SECTION 6.  Section 63-15-61, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

     63-15-61.  In all cases, under this chapter, in which a person is required to furnish proof of financial responsibility, he shall maintain such proof for a period of three years, except as otherwise required or permitted in this section.  The department shall, upon request, consent to the immediate cancellation of any bond or certificate of insurance, or the department shall direct and the State Treasurer shall return to the person entitled thereto any money or securities deposited pursuant to this chapter as proof of financial responsibility, or the department shall waive the requirement of filing proof, in any of the following events:

          (a)  At any time after three years from the date such proof was required when, during the three-year period preceding the request, the department has not received record of a conviction or a forfeiture of bail which would require or permit the suspension or revocation of the license or nonresident's operating privilege of the person by or for whom such proof was furnished; or

          (b)  In the event of the death of the person on whose behalf such proof was filed or the permanent incapacity of such person to operate a motor vehicle; or

          (c)  In the event the person who has given proof surrenders his license to the department.

     However, the department shall not consent to the cancellation of any bond or the return of any money or securities in the event any action for damages upon a liability covered by such proof is then pending or any judgment upon any such liability is then unsatisfied, or in the event the person who has filed such bond or deposited such money or securities has, within one year immediately preceding such request, been involved as an operator or owner in any motor vehicle accident resulting in injury or damage to the person or property of others.  An affidavit of the applicant as to the nonexistence of such facts, or that he has been released from all of his liability, or has been finally adjudicated not to be liable, for such injury or damage, shall be sufficient evidence thereof in the absence of evidence to the contrary in the records of the department.

     Whenever any person whose proof has been cancelled or returned under provision (c) of this section applies for a license within a period of three years from the date proof was originally required, any such application shall be refused unless the applicant shall reestablish such proof for the remainder of such three-year period.

     SECTION 7.  This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2015.