FINAL BILL REPORT

SSB 6252

                                   C 38 L 88

BYSenate Committee on Law & Justice (originally sponsored by Senators Halsan and Talmadge)

Revising enforcement provisions for failure to comply with traffic infraction laws.

Senate Committee on Law & Justice

House Committe on Transportation

SYNOPSIS AS ENACTED

BACKGROUND:

The 1987 Legislature enacted legislation allowing a police officer to arrest a driver who has two or more charges of failure to appear.  The driver must have wilfully violated a written and signed promise to appear in court.

There has been some concern regarding whether venue is in the jurisdiction where the failure to appear occurred or where the defendant was arrested.  There also has been some difficulty regarding the proof necessary to show a violation to be wilful and the procedure for establishing probable cause to arrest. 

SUMMARY:

The intent of the Legislature is clarified by including the reasons why traffic laws must be enforced judiciously and fairly.

The requirement that a violation of a written and signed promise to appear in court be wilful is deleted.  Probable cause to arrest a driver of a motor vehicle is established by an officer obtaining, orally or in writing, information from the Department of Licensing that two or more notices of failure to appear for any five-year period are on the person's driving record.  Venue for prosecuting is in the court with jurisdiction in the area of the arrest.  A certified copy of the person's driving record, supplied by the department, will be proof of the existence of notices of failure to appear.  The failure to pay a fine for any pedestrian, bicycle or parking offense is not included in the crime of failure to comply.

VOTES ON FINAL PASSAGE:

      Senate    49     0

      House 97   0

EFFECTIVE:June 9, 1988