07 LC 34
1037
House
Bill 416
By:
Representatives Floyd of the
147th,
Rice of the
51st,
Parrish of the
156th,
Powell of the
29th,
and Bearden of the
68th
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Article 4 of Chapter 5 of Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, relating to restoration of licenses to persons completing defensive
driving course or alcohol or drug program, so as to provide for approval of
classroom and online driver improvement clinics´ curriculum; to increase
the fee for DUI Alcohol or Drug Use Risk Reduction Programs; to provide for
certificates of completion; to delete references to advanced defensive driving
courses; to provide for related matters; to provide an effective date; to repeal
conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Article
4 of Chapter 5 of Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to restoration of licenses to persons completing defensive driving course or
alcohol or drug program, is amended by revising Code Section 40-5-80, relating
to the purpose of driver improvement programs, as follows:
"40-5-80.
The
purpose of this article, the 'Georgia Driver Improvement Act,' is to improve and
promote greater safety upon the highways and streets of this state; to improve
the attitude and driving habits of drivers who accumulate traffic accident and
motor vehicle conviction records; and to provide uniform DUI Alcohol or Drug Use
Risk Reduction Programs for the rehabilitation of persons identified as reckless
or negligent drivers and frequent violators. In carrying out this purpose, the
Department of Driver Services shall:
(1)
Charge a fee for the consideration of applications for approval of
online and
classroom driver improvement clinics and
instructors. The amount of this fee shall be established by the commissioner
and shall, as best as the commissioner shall determine, approximate the expense
incurred by the department in consideration of an application. These licenses
and each renewal thereof shall be valid for a period of four years unless
suspended or revoked prior to the expiration of that time period;
and
(2)
Require, in addition to the criteria established by the commissioner for
approval of
online and
classroom driver improvement clinics and
DUI Alcohol or Drug Use Risk Reduction Programs, as provided in subsections (a)
and (e) of Code Section 40-5-83, that every driver improvement clinic and DUI
Alcohol or Drug Use Risk Reduction Program shall, as a condition of approval,
provide a continuous surety company bond for the protection of the contractual
rights of students in such form as will meet with the approval of the
department, and written by a company authorized to do business in this state.
The principal sum of the bond shall be established by the commissioner; however,
in no event shall this amount be less than $10,000.00 per location, and a single
bond at such rate may be submitted for all locations under the same ownership.
If at any time said bond is not valid and in force, the license of the clinic or
program shall be deemed suspended by operation of law until a valid surety
company bond is again in force."
SECTION
2.
Said
article is further amended by revising subsection (a) of Code Section 40-5-81,
relating to court ordered attendance at driver improvement clinics and programs,
as follows:
"(a)
Any driver improvement program at which attendance is required by court order
shall conform to the requirements of this article.
Courts shall
only order individuals to attend or register for online or classroom driver
improvement programs that are licensed and approved by the department under the
provisions of Code Sections 40-5-82 and 40-5-83. Certificates of completion from
unlicensed online or classroom driver improvement programs shall not be
recognized for any purposes under this
article."
SECTION
3.
Said
article is further amended by revising subsections (a) and (e) of Code Section
40-5-83, relating to establishment and approval of driver improvement clinics
and programs, as follows:
"(a)(1)
The commissioner shall establish criteria for the approval of
online and
classroom driver improvement clinics. To
be approved, a clinic shall provide
and operate
either a defensive driving course, an advanced defensive driving course, or a
professional defensive driving course or any combination
thereof
to the
department for approval, or notify the department of the clinic´s legal
authority to use a currently approved curriculum or program, a curriculum
consisting of a minimum of six hours of online or classroom theoretical
instruction consisting of traffic safety related information designed for the
improvement or remediation of an individual´s knowledge of defensive
driving techniques and traffic laws. Any curriculum submitted to the department
for approval for use online shall have been approved by the department as a
classroom curriculum and in use in a licensed driver improvement clinic for a
minimum of one year. This provision shall not be construed to restrict licensed
and approved curriculum providers from updating information to accurately
reflect changes in this Code or other defensive driving
material. Clinics shall be composed of
uniform education and training programs
consisting
of six hours of instruction designed for
the rehabilitation of problem drivers. The commissioner shall establish
standards and requirements concerning the contents of courses, qualifications of
instructors, attendance requirements for students, and examinations. Approved
clinics shall charge a fee of
$75.00 for
a defensive driving course, an advanced defensive driving course, or a
professional defensive driving course
$40.00 for an
online driver improvement program and $95.00 for a classroom driver improvement
program; except that such clinics may
charge different fees of their own choosing if the person is not enrolling in
such course pursuant to court
order,
pretrial diversion program, or department
requirement. No clinic shall be approved unless such clinic agrees in writing
to allow the examination and audit of the books, records, and financial
statements of such clinic.
Clinics may
be operated by any individual, partnership, corporation, association, civic
group, club, county, municipality, board of education, school, or
college.
Prior to
approval of any online driver improvement program, such clinic or program
provider shall provide proof to the department that any server or other
electronic data base used to provide service or maintain any records, including
but not limited to name, address, telephone number, driver´s license
number, department assigned tracking number, social security number, or other
identifying information of any applicant or enrollee, is physically located
within the 48 contiguous states. Further, prior to receiving approval from the
department, the applicant for any online clinic or Internet program shall
provide to the department the authority to physically access such servers or
electronic data base, including, but not limited to, any access codes,
passwords, or other electronic entry configurations to enable the department to
enter, review, and copy any data related to enrollment, required tests, or final
examinations or the issuance of any completion certificate, at any time. It
shall be the responsibility of the clinic owner or operator to issue to each
student who has passed the course a certificate of completion in the format
prescribed by the department for reinstatement, points reduction, out-of-state
reinstatement, or as ordered by a court. The student´s stated purpose for
taking the course shall be noted as required by the certificate of completion.
Students who are taking a class for the purpose of insurance reduction only,
without any additional purposes of reinstatement, points reduction, out-of-state
reinstatement, or fulfilling a court order, shall be given a certificate of
completion noting this purpose. A certificate of completion for insurance
reduction only cannot be used for purposes of reinstatement, points reduction,
out-of-state reinstatement, or fulfilling a court order. Online or classroom
driver improvement clinics may be operated by any public, private, or
governmental entity; provided, however, that in any county where a driver
improvement clinic is operated by a private entity, no additional governmental
entity shall be licensed to operate a driver improvement clinic unless the
department determines that service to the residents of that county is not being
met by licensed providers.
(1.1)(A)
No driver improvement clinic shall be permitted to use, adopt, or conduct any
business under any name that is like or deceptively similar to any name used by
any other driver improvement clinic, Georgia company, or Georgia corporation
registered with the Secretary of State. This subparagraph shall not prohibit the
franchising or licensing of any part or all of the name of a driver improvement
clinic by the owner or the rights thereof to another licensed driver improvement
clinic.
(B)
This paragraph shall not prohibit the franchising or licensing of any part or
all of the
name of a clinic
an approved
curriculum by the owner of the rights
therein to another licensed driver improvement
clinic, either
directly or through a third-party
provider.
(2)
The commissioner may issue a special license to the instructor of any
commercial
driver training school authorizing such instructor to teach a defensive driving
course,
advanced defensive driving course, or professional defensive driving
course of a driver improvement clinic
provided pursuant to this Code section if such instructor is qualified to teach
a teen-age driver education course which consists of a minimum of 30 hours of
classroom and six hours of behind-the-wheel training and such instructor
certifies to the commissioner that he or she has provided at least 250 hours of
behind-the-wheel training in a teen-age driver education
course."
"(e)
The department is designated as the agency responsible for establishing criteria
for the approval of DUI Alcohol or Drug Use Risk Reduction Programs. An
applicant must meet the certification criteria promulgated by the department
through its standards and must provide the following services: (1) the
assessment component and (2) the intervention component. The department is
designated as the agency responsible for establishing rules and regulations
concerning the contents and duration of the components of DUI Alcohol or Drug
Use Risk Reduction Programs, qualifications of instructors, attendance
requirements for students, examinations, and program evaluations. Qualified
instructors shall be certified for periods of four years each, which may be
renewed. Approved DUI Alcohol or Drug Use Risk Reduction Programs shall charge a
fee of $75.00 for the assessment component and
$190.00
$225.00
for the intervention component. An additional fee for required student program
materials shall be established by the department in such an amount as is
reasonable and necessary to cover the cost of such materials. No DUI Alcohol or
Drug Use Risk Reduction Program shall be approved unless such clinic agrees in
writing to submit reports as required in the rules and regulations of the
department and to allow the examination and audit of the books, records, and
financial statements of such DUI Alcohol or Drug Use Risk Reduction Program by
the department or its authorized agent. DUI Alcohol or Drug Use Risk Reduction
Programs may be operated by any public, private, or governmental entity;
provided, however, that, except as otherwise provided in this subsection, in any
political subdivision in which a DUI Alcohol or Drug Use Risk Reduction Program
is operated by a private entity, whether for profit or nonprofit, neither the
local county board of health nor any other governmental entity shall fund any
new programs in that area. Programs currently in existence which are operated by
local county boards of health or any other governmental entities shall be
authorized to continue operation. New programs may be started in areas where no
private DUI Alcohol or Drug Use Risk Reduction Programs have been made available
to said community. The Department of Corrections is authorized to operate DUI
Alcohol or Drug Use Risk Reduction Programs in its facilities where offenders
are not authorized to participate in such programs in the community, provided
that such programs meet the certification criteria promulgated by the Department
of Driver Services. All such programs operated by the Department of Corrections
shall be exempt from all fee provisions established in this subsection
specifically including the rebate of any fee for the costs of administration. No
DUI Alcohol or Drug Use Risk Reduction Program will be approved unless such
clinic agrees in writing to pay to the state, for the costs of administration, a
fee of $15.00, for each offender assessed or each offender attending for points
reduction, provided that nothing in this Code section shall be construed so as
to allow the department to retain any funds required by the Constitution of
Georgia to be paid into the state treasury; and provided, further, that the
department shall comply with all provisions of Part 1 of Article 4 of Chapter 12
of Title 45, the 'Budget Act,' except Code Section 45-12-92, prior to expending
any such miscellaneous funds."
SECTION
4.
Said
article is further amended by revising subsections (b), (c), and (d) of Code
Section 40-5-84, relating to reinstatement of suspended licenses, as
follows:
"(b)
The license of any person whose license is suspended for the second time as a
result of the conviction of an offense listed in Code Section 40-5-54 shall, at
the expiration of 120 days following the date the license is suspended, be
reinstated by the department upon receipt by the department of a certificate of
completion of
an
advanced
a
defensive driving course and the payment of a restoration fee of $210.00 or
$200.00 when such reinstatement is processed by mail.
(c)
The license of any person whose license is suspended for the first time as a
result of the assessment of points pursuant to Code Section 40-5-57 shall be
reinstated by the department immediately upon receipt by the department of a
certificate of completion of
an
approved
a
defensive driving course and the payment of a restoration fee of $210.00 or
$200.00 when such reinstatement is processed by mail.
(d)
The license of any person whose license is suspended for the second time as a
result of the assessment of points pursuant to Code Section 40-5-57 shall be
reinstated by the department immediately upon receipt by the department of a
certificate of completion of
an
advanced
a
defensive driving course and the payment of a restoration fee of $210.00 or
$200.00 when such reinstatement is processed by mail."
SECTION
5.
This
Act shall become effective on July 1, 2007.
SECTION
6.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.