Revision: June 10, 2013, midnight
SB 20 – VERSION ADOPTED BY BOTH BODIES
02/14/13 0128s
29May2013… 1508h
2013 SESSION
03/10
SENATE BILL 20
AN ACT making modifications to the DWI ignition interlock program.
SPONSORS: Sen. Rausch, Dist 19; Sen. Gilmour, Dist 12; Sen. Boutin, Dist 16; Rep. Bouchard, Merr 18
This bill makes various modifications to the DWI ignition interlock program.
This bill was requested by the department of safety.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
02/14/13 0128s
29May2013… 1508h
13-0372
03/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Thirteen
AN ACT making modifications to the DWI ignition interlock program.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Words and Phrases Defined; Ignition Interlock Device. Amend RSA 259:43-a to read as follows:
259:43-a Ignition Interlock Device. “Ignition interlock device” shall mean breath alcohol ignition interlock device or enhanced technology ignition interlock device, which is a system or device that connects a breath analyzer to a motor vehicle’s ignition system. The analyzer measures the concentration of alcohol in the breath of any person who attempts to start the motor vehicle by using the ignition system. The device prevents the vehicle from starting unless the person provides a breath sample with a concentration of alcohol that is below a preset level. The device contains a data-logger which retains records of failures to take or pass the test during the period between recalibrations.
2 Interlock Requirements. Amend RSA 265-A:36, IV to read as follows:
IV. It shall be a violation for an ignition interlock device [may not] to be sold or distributed in this state without the device being approved by the commissioner or the department of safety.
3 Interlock Program Rules. Amend RSA 265-A:36, VI(b)-(f) to read as follows:
(b) Maintain at least that number of locations across the state for the installation, service, calibration, [and] monitoring, and removal of an ignition interlock device as might be required from time to time by the program operating protocol developed by the commissioner;
(c) Provide periodic reports as determined by the court or in department rules, to the [probation office and treatment provider, if applicable; if the offender is not placed on probation, to the arresting agency] director of the division of motor vehicles, the department’s interlock coordinator, and the court of jurisdiction;
(d) Retain all data-logger records for [12] 36 months after the end of the period to which the offender is sentenced;
(e) Maintain a reserve account with a balance at least equal to 2 percent of the provider’s revenue from interlock device service and installation in this state, excluding the purchase or rental costs of devices, during the previous calendar year. Funds in the account shall be used to [provide] assist with the cost of the installation and service to those offenders determined by the court or the department to be unable to pay the full cost of an interlock program [by reserving for this purpose a hardship credit equal to 2 percent of the service provider’s gross receipts, excluding the purchase or rental cost of the interlock device, which credit and free service]. Offenders determined by the court or the department to be unable to pay the full cost of an interlock program shall, at a minimum, pay 25 percent of the cost for the installation and service. Reserve account balances and costs to the provider for assisting with the cost of installation and service shall be reported annually to the department;
(f) Provide a certificate of installation to the vehicle’s owner and to the department’s interlock coordinator upon installation of the device in a form to be determined by the department’s interlock rules; and
4 Ignition Interlock Violations. Amend RSA 265-A:37 to read as follows:
265-A:37 Alcohol Ignition Interlock Circumvention.
I. Any person required by the court or by the commissioner of safety after a hearing pursuant to RSA 265-A:36-a to install an ignition interlock device shall not drive any motor vehicle not equipped with this device.
II. [A] No person who is subject to an interlock order of the court or of the commissioner and no person who is conspiring with or attempting to permit a person subject such an interlock order to circumvent the order shall [not] tamper with, or in any way attempt to circumvent the operation of an ignition interlock device that has been installed in a motor vehicle, and no person who is subject to an interlock order shall knowingly drive a vehicle in which the interlock device has been circumvented or otherwise illegally tampered with.
III. A person shall not start or attempt to start a motor vehicle equipped with an ignition interlock device for the purpose of providing an operable motor vehicle to a person who he or she knows is restricted by law to drive only a motor vehicle so equipped. The provisions of this section do not apply if the starting of a motor vehicle, or the request to start a motor vehicle equipped with an ignition interlock device, is done for the purpose of safety or mechanical repair of the device or the vehicle, and the person subject to the court order or order of the commissioner does not drive the vehicle.
III-a. Upon satisfactory proof that a person who is restricted by law to drive only a motor vehicle equipped with an ignition interlock device has attempted to start a motor vehicle equipped with an ignition interlock device while having an alcohol concentration of greater than .02, the department, after a hearing, may impose for each occurrence an additional period of up to one year following the expiration of the original interlock order during which the person shall be restricted to driving only a vehicle equipped with an ignition interlock device.
IV. A person shall not knowingly provide a motor vehicle not equipped with a functioning ignition interlock device to another person whom the provider of the vehicle knows was sentenced or subject to a valid order to drive only a motor vehicle equipped with an ignition interlock device.
V. Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor, be fined not less than $500, and if he or she is the person subject to the interlock order, be ordered to install an enhanced technology ignition interlock device, and have the period of required ignition interlock device installation extended for 2 years.
5 New Paragraph; Impaired Driver Care Management Programs; Out-of-State Residents. Amend RSA 265-A:40 by inserting after paragraph VIII the following new paragraph:
IX. Notwithstanding other provisions in RSA 265-A, out-of-state residents may elect to obtain required screening, evaluation, treatment, and education services in their legal state of residence provided that they register with a New Hampshire IDCMP and that the New Hampshire IDCMP:
(a) Ensures that screening, evaluation, and treatment services are provided by individuals possessing an International Certification & Reciprocity Consortium/Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse (IC&RC) sanctioned license, or, if the client resides in a non-IC&RC state, by individuals who are approved by that state for the purpose of license reinstatement subsequent to an alcohol or drug DWI conviction;
(b) Ensures that impaired driver education programs are provided by programs which are approved by that state for the purpose of license reinstatement subsequent to an alcohol or drug DWI conviction;
(c) Develops the service plan;
(d) Monitors compliance with the service plan and reports noncompliance to the division of motor vehicles and the sentencing court; and
(e) Determines whether the service plan has been completed and, if so, reports completion to the sentencing court, the division of motor vehicles, and the department of health and human services.
6 Effective Date. This act shall take effect upon its passage.