05/26/05 1477s

29Jun2005… 2107eba

2005 SESSION

05-0683

03/01

HOUSE BILL 683-FN

COMMITTEE: Transportation

ANALYSIS

This bill:

I. Requires driver education instructors to obtain a certificate from the department of safety.

II. Requires reporting of motor vehicle offenses by driver education instructors and drivers’ school licenses.

III. Authorizes the suspension or revocation of driver education certificates.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

05/26/05 1477s

29Jun2005… 2107eba

05-0683

03/01

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Five

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

245:1 New Section; Motor Vehicle Drivers’ School; Driver Education Certificate. Amend RSA 263 by inserting after section 44 the following new section:

263:44-a Driver Education Certificate. No person shall be a driver education instructor unless such person has a driver education certificate issued by the department.

245:2 New Section; Motor Vehicle Drivers’ School; Notification of Offenses. Amend RSA 263 by inserting after section 46 the following new section:

263:46-a Notification of Offenses.

I. Every holder of a driver education certificate or school license shall notify the director within 5 business days by certified mail, return receipt requested, of being arrested, indicted, or summonsed to court in this or any other state or foreign jurisdiction as a defendant for an offense under RSA 265:79, RSA 265:79-a, RSA 265:79-b, RSA 265:80, RSA 265:82, or RSA 265:82-a, or any offense under RSA 630, RSA 631, or RSA 632-A. If employed or under contract to a school or school district, the licensee or certificate holder shall provide a copy of the notification made to the director to the principal or equivalent chief administrator of the school in like manner and time frame.

II. Every holder of a driver education certificate or school license shall notify the director within 5 business days by certified mail, return receipt requested, of being convicted of any offense other than a parking violation under Title XXI or RSA 630, RSA 631, or RSA 632-A or an equivalent offense in another jurisdiction, or if his or her license or privilege to drive a motor vehicle has been suspended or revoked in this or any other jurisdiction. If employed or under contract to a school or school district, the licensee or certificate holder shall provide a copy of the notification made to the director to the principal or equivalent chief administrator of the school in like manner and time frame.

245:3 Grounds for Revoking or Suspending School License or Driver Education Certificate. Amend RSA 263:51 to read as follows:

263:51 Grounds for Revoking or Suspending School License or Driver Education Certificate. Any employee of the department authorized by the commissioner to hold hearings in such cases may suspend or revoke any school license or driver education certificate issued under the provisions of this subdivision or refuse to issue a renewal thereof if:

I. The licensee or certificate holder has made a material false statement or concealed a material fact in connection with the application for a license or the renewal thereof;

II. The licensee [or any partner or officer of the licensee] or certificate holder has been convicted of a crime or of any offense under RSA 265:79 through RSA 265:82-a, or his or her license or privilege to drive a motor vehicle has been suspended or revoked;

III. The licensee or certificate holder has been charged with an offense under RSA 265:79 through RSA 265:82-a or RSA 630, RSA 631, or RSA 632-A and it appears to the commissioner, after a hearing, that an immediate license suspension pending the outcome of the criminal proceeding is required in the interest of public safety;

[III] IV. The licensee or certificate holder has failed to comply with any of the provisions of this subdivision or any applicable rule adopted pursuant to RSA 21-P:14;

[IV] V. The licensee or any partner or officer of such licensee has been guilty of fraud or fraudulent practices in relation to the business conducted under the license, or guilty of inducing another person to resort to fraud or fraudulent practices in relation to securing for himself, herself, or another the license to drive a motor vehicle or motorcycle;

[V] VI. The licensee has knowingly employed, as an instructor, a person who has been convicted of a crime or has retained such a person in such employ after knowledge of his or her conviction; or

[VI] VII. The licensee has failed to maintain satisfactory insurance to meet damage claims required by RSA 263:50.

245:4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2006.

(Approved: July 14, 2005)

(Effective Date: January 1, 2006)