AN ACT relating to motor vehicles; to adopt a Driver License Compact as prescribed; and to provide an operative date.

Section 1. The Driver License Compact is hereby enacted into law and entered into with all other jurisdictions legally joining therein in the form substantially as follows:

(a) State means a state, territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

(b) Home state means the state which has issued and has the power to suspend or revoke the use of the license or permit to operate a motor vehicle.

(c) Conviction means a conviction of any offense related to the use or operation of a motor vehicle which is prohibited by state law, municipal ordinance or administrative rule or regulation, or a forfeiture of bail, bond, or other security deposited to secure appearance by a person charged with having committed any such offense, and which conviction or forfeiture is required to be reported to the licensing authority.

The licensing authority of a party state shall report each conviction of a person from another party state occurring within its jurisdiction to the licensing authority of the home state of the licensee. Such report shall clearly identify the person convicted; describe the violation specifying the section of the statute, code, or ordinance violated; identify the court in which action was taken; indicate whether a plea of guilty or not guilty was entered, or the conviction was a result of the forfeiture of bail, bond or other security; and shall include any special findings made in connection therewith.

(a) The licensing authority in the home state, for the purpose of suspension, revocation or limitation of the license to operate a motor vehicle, shall give the same effect to the conduct reported, pursuant to Article II of this compact, as it would if such conduct had occurred in the home state, in the case of convictions for:

(1) Manslaughter or negligent homicide resulting from the operation of a motor vehicle;

(2) Driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or a narcotic drug, or under the influence of any other drug to a degree which renders the driver incapable of safely driving a motor vehicle;

(4) Failure to stop and render aid in the event of a motor vehicle accident resulting in the death or personal injury of another.

(b) As to other convictions, reported pursuant to Article II, the licensing authority in the home state shall give such effect to the conduct as is provided by the laws of the home state.

(c) If the laws of a party state do not provide for offenses or violations denominated or described in precisely the words employed in subdivision (a) of this article, such party state shall construe the denominations and descriptions appearing in subdivision (a) hereof as being applicable to and identifying those offenses or violations of a substantially similar nature and the laws of such party state shall contain such provisions as may be necessary to ensure that full force and effect is given to this article.

Upon application for a license to drive, the licensing authority in a party state shall ascertain whether the applicant has ever held, or is the holder of a license to drive issued by any other party state. The licensing authority in the state where application is made shall not issue a license to drive to the applicant if:

(1) The applicant has held such a license, but the same has been suspended by reason, in whole or in part, of a violation and if such suspension period has not terminated.

(2) The applicant has held such a license, but the same has been revoked by reason, in whole or in part, of a violation and if such revocation has not terminated, except that after the expiration of one year from the date the license was revoked, such person may make application for a new license if permitted by law. The licensing authority may refuse to issue a license to any such applicant if, after investigation, the licensing authority determines that it will not be safe to grant to such person the privilege of driving a motor vehicle on the public highways.

(3) The applicant is the holder of a license to drive issued by another party state and currently in force unless the applicant surrenders such license.

Except as expressly required by provisions of this compact, nothing contained herein shall be construed to affect the right of any party state to apply any of its other laws relating to licenses to drive to any person or circumstance, nor to invalidate or prevent any driver license agreement or other cooperative arrangement between a party state and a non-party state.

(a) The head of the licensing authority of each party state shall be the administrator of this compact for his state. The administrators, acting jointly, shall have the power to formulate all necessary and proper procedures for the exchange of information under this compact.

(b) The administrator of each party state shall furnish to the administrator of each other party state any information or documents reasonably necessary to facilitate the administration of this compact.

(a) This compact shall enter into force and become effective as to any state when it has enacted the same into law.

(b) Any party state may withdraw from this compact by enacting a statute repealing the same, but no such withdrawal shall take effect until six months after the executive head of the withdrawing state has given notice of the withdrawal to the executive heads of all other party states. No withdrawal shall affect the validity or applicability by the licensing authorities of states remaining party to the compact of any report of conviction occurring prior to the withdrawal.

This compact shall be liberally construed so as to effectuate the purposes thereof. The provisions of this compact shall be severable and if any phrase, clause, sentence or provision of this compact is declared to be contrary to the constitution of any party state or of the United States or the applicability thereof to any government, agency, person or circumstance is held invalid, the validity of the remainder of this compact and the applicability thereof to any government, agency, person or circumstance shall not be affected thereby. If this compact shall be held contrary to the constitution of any state party thereto, the compact shall remain in full force and effect as to the remaining states and in full force and effect as to the state affected as to all severable matters.

Sec. 2. As used in the compact, the term licensing authority with reference to this state, shall mean the Department of Motor Vehicles. Said department shall furnish to the appropriate authorities of any other party state any information or documents reasonably necessary to facilitate the administration of Articles II, III and IV of the compact.

Sec. 3. The compact administrator provided for in Article VI of the compact shall not be entitled to any additional compensation on account of his service as such administrator, but shall be entitled to expenses incurred in connection with his duties and responsibilities as such administrator, in the same manner as for expenses incurred in connection with any other duties or responsibilities of his office or employment.

Sec. 4. As used in the compact, with reference to this state, the term executive head shall mean the Governor.

Sec. 5. Any court or other agency of this state, or a subdivision thereof, which has jurisdiction to take any action, suspending, revoking or otherwise limiting a license to drive, shall report any such action and the adjudication upon which it is based to the Department of Motor Vehicles within ten days on forms approved by the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Sec. 6. Any act or omission of any official or employee of this state done or omitted pursuant to, or in enforcing, the provisions of the Driver License Compact shall be subject to review in accordance with the state administrative procedure act, but any review of the validity of any conviction reported pursuant to the compact shall be limited to establishing the identity of the person so convicted.

Annotations

According to the Driver License Compact, for an out-of-state abstract to be used to assess traffic violation points in Nebraska, the following requirements must be met: (1) the out-of-state action must meet the compact's definition of "conviction"; (2) the conviction or forfeiture must be one which is required to be reported to the out-of-state licensing authority; (3) the out-of-state report of conviction must contain the information required by article II of the compact; and (4) Nebraska law must provide that the conduct in question may be used to assess points against a driver's license. Jacobson v. Higgins, 243 Neb. 485, 500 N.W.2d 558 (1993).

Revocation of an individual's license to operate a motor vehicle as the result of accumulation of 12 or more points within a period of 2 years is not an act of a state official done pursuant to, or in enforcing, the provisions of the Driver License Compact. Gillespie v. State, 230 Neb. 587, 432 N.W.2d 801 (1988).

To be applicable in Nebraska, report of conviction in another jurisdiction must substantially comply with provisions of Article II of the Driver License Compact, and must be authenticated in due form for admission in evidence in courts of this state. Johnston v. Department of Motor Vehicles, 190 Neb. 606, 212 N.W. 2d 342 (1973).