ANNE C. WALKER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
To repeal sections 303.025, 303.406, 303.409, 303.412 and 303.415, RSMo Supp. 1999, relating to motor vehicle financial responsibility and the motorist insurance identification database, and to enact in lieu thereof five new sections relating to the same subject, with penalty provisions and an effective date.
Section A. Sections 303.025, 303.406, 303.409, 303.412 and 303.415, RSMo Supp. 1999, are repealed and five new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 303.025, 303.406, 303.409, 303.412 and 303.415, to read as follows:
303.025. 1. No owner of a motor vehicle registered in this state, or required to be registered in this state, shall operate, register or maintain registration of a motor vehicle, or permit another person to operate such vehicle, unless the owner maintains the financial responsibility which conforms to the requirements of the laws of this state. Furthermore, no person shall operate a motor vehicle owned by another with the knowledge that the owner has not maintained financial responsibility unless such person has financial responsibility which covers the person's operation of the other's vehicle. However, no owner shall be in violation of this subsection if he or she fails to maintain financial responsibility on a motor vehicle which is inoperable or being stored and not in operation. The director may prescribe rules and regulations for the implementation of this section.
2. A motor vehicle owner shall maintain the owner's financial responsibility in a manner provided for in section 303.160, or with a motor vehicle liability policy which conforms to the requirements of the laws of this state.
3. Any person who violates this section is guilty of a class C misdemeanor. However, no person shall be found guilty of violating this section if the operator demonstrates to the court that he or she met the financial responsibility requirements of this section at the time the peace officer, commercial vehicle enforcement officer or commercial vehicle inspector wrote the citation. In addition to any other authorized punishment, the court shall notify the director of revenue of any person convicted pursuant to this section and shall do one of the following:
(1) Enter an order suspending the driving privilege as of the date of the court order. If the court orders the suspension of the driving privilege, the court shall require the defendant to surrender to it any driver's license then held by such person. The length of the suspension shall be as prescribed in subsection 2 of section 303.042. The court shall forward to the director of revenue the order of suspension of driving privilege and any license surrendered within ten days;
(2) Forward the record of the conviction for an assessment of four points; or
(3) In lieu of an assessment of points, render an order of supervision as provided in section 302.303, RSMo. An order of supervision shall not be used in lieu of points more than one time in any thirty-six-month period. Every court having jurisdiction pursuant to the provisions of this section shall forward a record of conviction or the order of supervision to the department of revenue within ten days. The director shall establish procedures for the record keeping and administration of this section.
4. Nothing in sections 303.010 to 303.050, 303.060, 303.140, 303.220, 303.290, 303.330 and 303.370 shall be construed as prohibiting the department of insurance from approving or authorizing those exclusions and limitations which are contained in automobile liability insurance policies and the uninsured motorist provisions of automobile liability insurance policies.
5. If a court enters an order of suspension, the offender may appeal such order directly pursuant to chapter 512, RSMo, and the provisions of section 302.311, RSMo, shall not apply.
303.406. 1. The "Motorist Insurance Identification Database" is hereby created for the purpose of establishing a database to use to verify compliance with the motor vehicle financial responsibility requirements of this chapter. The program shall be administered by the department and shall receive funding from the "Motorist Insurance Identification Database Fund", which is hereby created in the state treasury. The state treasurer shall credit to and deposit in the motorist insurance identification database fund six percent of all amounts received from collections of the insurance premiums tax levied and collected pursuant to sections 148.310 to 148.461, RSMo. Moneys in the fund shall be used solely for the purpose of funding the motorist insurance identification database created pursuant to sections 303.400 to 303.415.
2. To implement the program, the department may by [January 1, 2001] August 1, 2000, contract with a designated agent which shall monitor compliance with the motor vehicle financial responsibility requirements of this chapter, except that the program shall not be implemented to notify owners of registered motor vehicles until the department certifies that the accuracy rate of the program exceeds ninety-five percent in correctly identifying owners of registered motor vehicles as having maintained or failed to maintain financial responsibility. After the department has entered into a contract with a designated agent, the department shall convene a working group for the purpose of facilitating the implementation of the program.
3. The designated agent, using its own computer network, shall, no later than July 1, 2001, develop, deliver and maintain a computer database with information provided by:
(1) Insurers, pursuant to sections 303.400 to 303.415; except that, any person who qualifies as self-insured pursuant to this chapter, or provides proof of insurance to the director pursuant to the provisions of section 303.160, shall not be required to provide information to the designated agent; and
(2) The department, which shall provide the designated agent with the name, date of birth and address of all persons in its computer database, and the make, year and vehicle identification number of all registered motor vehicles.
4. The department shall establish guidelines for the designated agent's development of the computer database so the database can be easily accessed by state and local law enforcement agencies within procedures already established, and shall not require additional computer keystrokes or other additional procedures by dispatch or law enforcement personnel. Once the database is operational, the designated agent shall, at least monthly, update the database with information provided by insurers and the department, and compare then-current motor vehicle registrations against the database.
5. Information provided to the designated agent by insurers and the department for inclusion in the database established pursuant to this section is the property of the insurer of the department, as the case may be, and is not subject to disclosure pursuant to chapter 610, RSMo. Such information may not be disclosed except as follows:
(1) The designated agent shall verify a person's insurance coverage upon request by any state or local government agency investigating, litigating or enforcing such person's compliance with the motor vehicle financial responsibility requirements of this chapter;
(2) The department shall disclose whether an individual is maintaining the required insurance coverage upon request of the following individuals and agencies only:
(a) The individual;
(b) The parent or legal guardian of an individual if the individual is an unemancipated minor;
(c) The legal guardian of the individual if the individual is legally incapacitated;
(d) Any person who has power of attorney from the individual;
(e) Any person who submits a notarized release from the individual that is dated no more than ninety days before the request is made;
(f) Any person claiming loss or injury in a motor vehicle accident in which the individual is involved;
(g) The office of the state auditor, for the purpose of conducting any audit authorized by law.
6. Any person or agency who knowingly discloses information from the database for any purpose, or to a person, other than those authorized in this section is guilty of a class A misdemeanor. The state shall not be liable to any person for gathering, managing or using information in the database pursuant to this section. The designated agent shall not be liable to any person for performing its duties pursuant to this section unless and to the extent such agent commits a willful and wanton act or omission. The designated agent shall be liable to any insurer damaged by the designated agent's negligent failure to protect the confidentiality of the information and data disclosed by the insurer to the designated agent. The designated agent shall provide to this state an errors and omissions insurance policy covering such agent in an appropriate amount. No insurer shall be liable to any person for performing its duties pursuant to this section unless and to the extent the insurer commits a willful and wanton act of omission.
7. The department shall review the operation and performance of the motorist insurance identification database program to determine whether the number of uninsured motorists have declined during the first three years following implementation and shall submit a report of its findings to the general assembly no later than [December thirty-first] January fifteenth of the year following the third complete year of implementation. The department shall make copies of its report available to each member of the general assembly. This subsection shall expire after the report provided for in this subsection has been made available.
8. This section shall not supersede other actions or penalties that may be taken or imposed for violation of the motor vehicle financial responsibility requirements of this chapter.
9. The working group as provided for in subsection 2 of this section shall consist of representatives from the insurance industry, department of insurance, department of public safety and the department of revenue. The director of revenue, after consultation with the working group, shall promulgate any rules and regulations necessary to administer and enforce this section. No rule or portion of a rule promulgated pursuant to the authority of this section shall become effective unless it has been promulgated pursuant to the provisions of chapter 536, RSMo.
10. Unless the review conducted by the department and reported to the general assembly as provided in this section indicates a decline in the number of uninsured motorist claims reported, this section is subject to repeal by the general assembly.
303.409. 1. If the motorist insurance identification database indicates the owner of a registered motor vehicle has, regardless of the owner's operation of such motor vehicle, failed to maintain the financial responsibility required in section 303.025 for two consecutive months, the designated agent shall on behalf of the director inform the owner that the director will suspend the owner's vehicle registration if the owner does not present proof of insurance as prescribed by the director within thirty days from the date of mailing. The designated agent shall not select owners of fleet or rental vehicles for notification to determine motor vehicle liability coverage. The director may prescribe rules and regulations necessary for the implementation of this subsection. The notice issued to the vehicle owner by the designated agent shall be sent to the last known address shown on the department's records. The notice is deemed received three days after mailing. The notice of suspension shall clearly specify the reason and statutory grounds for the suspension and the effective date of the suspension, the right of the person to request a hearing, the procedure for requesting a hearing and the date by which that request for a hearing must be made. The suspension shall become effective thirty days after the subject person is deemed to have received the notice of suspension by [certified] first class mail as provided in section 303.041. If the request for a hearing is received prior to the effective date of the suspension, the effective date of the suspension will be stayed until a final order is issued following the hearing; however, any delay in the hearing which is caused or requested by the subject person or counsel representing that person without good cause shown shall not result in a stay of the suspension during the period of delay.
2. Neither the fact that, subsequent to the date of verification, the owner acquired the required liability insurance policy nor the fact that the owner terminated ownership of the motor vehicle shall have any bearing upon the director's decision to suspend. The suspension shall remain in force until termination despite the renewal of registration or acquisition of a new registration for the motor vehicle. The suspension shall also apply to any motor vehicle to which the owner transfers the registration.
3. Upon receipt of notification from the designated agent, the director shall suspend the owner's vehicle registration effective immediately. The suspension period shall be as follows:
(1) If the person's record shows no prior violation, the director shall terminate the suspension upon payment of a reinstatement fee of twenty dollars and submission of proof of insurance, as prescribed by the director;
(2) If the person's record shows one prior violation for failure to maintain financial responsibility within the immediately preceding two years, the director shall terminate the suspension ninety days after its effective date upon payment of a reinstatement fee of two hundred dollars and submission of proof of insurance, as prescribed by the director;
(3) If the person's record shows two or more prior violations for failure to maintain financial responsibility, the period of suspension shall terminate one year after its effective date upon payment of a reinstatement fee of four hundred dollars and submission of proof of insurance, as prescribed by the director.
4. In the event that proof of insurance as prescribed by the director has not been filed with the department of revenue in accordance with this chapter prior to the end of the period of suspension provided in this section, such period of suspension shall be extended until such proof of insurance has been filed. In no event shall filing proof of insurance reduce any period of suspension. If proof of insurance is not maintained during the three-year period following the reinstatement or termination of the suspension, the director shall again suspend the license and motor vehicle registration until proof of insurance is filed or the three-year period has elapsed. In no event shall filing proof of insurance reduce any period of suspension.
5. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection 1 of this section, the director shall not suspend the registration or registrations of any owner who establishes to the satisfaction of the director that the owner's motor vehicle was inoperable or being stored and not operated on the date proof of financial responsibility is required by the director.
303.412. 1. [By] Beginning March 1, 2001, before the seventh working date of each calendar month, all licensed insurance companies in this state shall provide to the designated agent a record of all policies in effect on the date the information is provided. [Before the seventh working date of each calendar month, each insurer that issues a policy pursuant to this chapter shall provide to the designated agent a record of each policy issued, canceled, terminated, suspended or revoked during the immediately preceding month.] This subsection shall not prohibit more frequent reporting.
2. The record pursuant to subsection 1 of this section shall include the following:
(1) The name, date of birth, driver's license number and address of each insured owner and operator;
(2) The make, year and vehicle identification number of each insured motor vehicle;
(3) The policy number, effective date and expiration date of the policy.
3. The department of revenue shall notify the department of insurance of any insurer who violates any provisions of this act. The department of insurance may, against any insurer who fails to comply with this section, assess a fine not greater than one thousand dollars per day of noncompliance. The department of revenue may assess a fine not greater than one thousand dollars per day against the designated agent for failure to complete the project by the dates designated in sections 303.400 to 303.415. The department of insurance shall excuse the fine if an assessed insurer provides acceptable proof that such insurer's noncompliance was inadvertent, accidental or the result of excusable neglect.
303.415. 1. Sections 303.400 [to 303.415] and 303.403 shall become effective on [January 1, 2001] August 1, 2000, and shall expire on [January 1, 2004] June 30, 2005.
2. The [enactment] repeal and reenactment of sections [303.400, 303.403,] 303.025, 303.406, 303.409, 303.412 and
303.415 shall become effective [July 1, 2001] on August 1, 2000, and shall expire on June 30, 2005.
Missouri House of Representatives