STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9972
IN ASSEMBLY
June 5, 2014
___________
Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Benedetto)
-- read once and referred to the Committee on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to veteran
suspended licenses
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 503 of the vehicle and traffic
2 law, as amended by chapter 548 of the laws of 1986, is amended to read
3 as follows:
4 3. Waiver of fee. (a) The commissioner may waive the payment of fees
5 required by subdivision two of this section if the applicant:
6 (i) is an inmate in an institution under the jurisdiction of a state
7 department or agency, or
8 (ii) is a victim of crime and the driver's license or learner's permit
9 applied for is a replacement for one that was lost or destroyed as a
10 result of the crime.
11 (b) A military service member, including a member of the United States
12 Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines or Coast Guard, or a member of the New
13 York army national guard, air national guard, naval militia or state
14 guard, whose license or registration is suspended or revoked during the
15 pendency of active duty military service outside the state, shall, upon
16 the submission of proof of such active service to the commissioner, be
17 lifted and vacated upon order of the commissioner, without cost, fee,
18 fine, or penalty. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subdivision,
19 the commissioner may impose a new suspension of such service member's
20 driver's license or registration, after sixty days of the return of the
21 service member from such active military service, or after sixty days of
22 the lifting or vacating of the suspension or revocation, whichever is
23 later, if the reason upon which the license or registration was
24 originally suspended, has not been resolved. Prior to the issuance of
25 the new suspension or revocation, the commissioner shall notify the
26 service member not less than thirty days before such new suspension or
27 revocation would take effect. No suspension or revocation of a license
28 of a service member shall be lifted or vacated in accordance with this
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14194-01-4
A. 9972 2
1 subdivision, if such suspension or revocation was imposed as a result of
2 a court order issued prior to the date of the service member's active
3 duty, in a proceeding in which the service member personally appeared.
4 (c) Any action or proceeding resulting in the conviction in absentia
5 of a military service member, including a member of the United States
6 Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines or Coast Guard, or a member of the New
7 York army national guard, air national guard, naval militia or state
8 guard, for a violation of the vehicle and traffic law, during the
9 pendency of active duty military service outside the state, shall, upon
10 the submission of proof of such active service to the commissioner,
11 cause the commissioner to notify the court where the service member was
12 convicted, of the active duty service of the service member, whereupon
13 such court shall immediately reverse and vacate such conviction, without
14 cost, fee, fine, or penalty, and notify the service member of such
15 action. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subdivision, the court
16 may accept a refiling of the charges upon which such service member was
17 originally convicted, without prejudice, by a prosecuting authority,
18 after sixty days of the return of the service member from such active
19 military service, or after sixty days of the reversing or vacating of
20 the original conviction, whichever is later. If the original charges are
21 so refiled, the court shall notify the service member not less than
22 thirty days before such charges must be answered. No conviction of a
23 service member shall be reversed or vacated in accordance with this
24 subdivision, if such conviction was imposed prior to the date of the
25 service member's active duty, in a proceeding in which the service
26 member personally appeared.
27 (d) Any action or proceeding resulting in the conviction in absentia
28 of a military service member, including a member of the United States
29 Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines or Coast Guard, or a member of the New
30 York army national guard, air national guard, naval militia or state
31 guard, for a violation of an administrative code, including a violation
32 observed by red light cameras or the terms and agreements of an EZ pass
33 contract, during the pendency of active duty military service outside
34 the state, shall, upon the submission of proof of such active service to
35 the commissioner, cause the commissioner to notify the administrative
36 entity which determined such conviction, of the active duty service of
37 the service member, whereupon such administrative entity shall imme-
38 diately reverse and vacate such conviction, without cost, fee, fine, or
39 penalty, and notify the service member of such action. Notwithstanding
40 the provisions of this subdivision, the administrative entity may accept
41 a refiling of the administrative charges upon which such service member
42 was originally convicted, without prejudice, after sixty days of the
43 return of the service member from such active military service, or after
44 sixty days of the reversing or vacating of the original conviction,
45 whichever is later. If the original charges are so refiled, the adminis-
46 trative entity shall notify the service member not less than thirty days
47 before such charges must be answered. No conviction of a service member
48 shall be reversed or vacated in accordance with this subdivision, if
49 such conviction was imposed prior to the date of the service member's
50 active duty, in a proceeding in which the service member personally
51 appeared.
52 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeed-
53 ing the date on which it shall have become a law.
