Bill Text: NJ S1774 | 2014-2015 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Clarifies authority of municipal court to suspend driver's licenses; establishes that the terms revoke and suspend are to have the same meaning under Title 39 of the Revised Statutes.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-03-17 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee [S1774 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2014-S1774-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator SHIRLEY K. TURNER
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
SYNOPSIS
Clarifies authority of municipal court to suspend driver's licenses; establishes that the terms revoke and suspend are to have the same meaning under Title 39 of the Revised Statutes.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning motor vehicle driver's licenses, amending R.S.39:5-31 and supplementing Title 39 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. R.S.39:5-31 is amended to read as follows:
39:5-31. The [director] chief administrator or any [magistrate] municipal court judge before whom any hearing under this subtitle is had may revoke or suspend the license of any person to drive a motor vehicle, when such person shall have been guilty of such willful violation of any of the provisions of this subtitle as shall, in the discretion of the [magistrate] chief administrator or the municipal court judge, justify such revocation or suspension.
(cf: P.L.1953, c.36, s.30)
2. (New Section) For the purposes of limiting a person's driving privileges under Title 39 of the Revised Statutes, the terms "revoke" and "suspend" shall have the same meaning.
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill clarifies the authority of municipal courts to suspend, as well as revoke, driver's licenses pursuant to the provisions of R.S.39:5-31. In addition, the bill clarifies that, for the purposes Title 39 of the Revised Statutes, the terms "revoke" and "suspend" are to have the same meaning.
In State v. Morgan 393 N.J. Super. 411 (App. Div. 2007), the Appellate Division expressed concern over the validity of the use of R.S.39:5-31 by municipal court judges to suspend driver's licenses, since the statute only specifically authorizes license revocations. This issue was not germane to the case, however, and the court declined to formally address it.
This bill also updates certain provisions to make proper reference to the Chief Administrator of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission and to municipal court judges, rather than magistrates.
