Senate Bill 0750

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.



    Florida Senate - 1998                                   SB 750

    By Senator Klein





    28-672-98

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to driving under the influence;

  3         amending s. 316.193, F.S.; deleting a provision

  4         that prohibits the court from sentencing a

  5         person convicted of driving under the influence

  6         to a term of probation which is concurrent with

  7         the period during which the person's vehicle is

  8         impounded or immobilized; providing an

  9         effective date.

10

11  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

12

13         Section 1.  Subsection (1) of section 316.193, Florida

14  Statutes, is reenacted, and subsection (6) of that section is

15  amended to read:

16         316.193  Driving under the influence; penalties.--

17         (1)  A person is guilty of the offense of driving under

18  the influence and is subject to punishment as provided in

19  subsection (2) if the person is driving or in actual physical

20  control of a vehicle within this state and:

21         (a)  The person is under the influence of alcoholic

22  beverages, any chemical substance set forth in s. 877.111, or

23  any substance controlled under chapter 893, when affected to

24  the extent that the person's normal faculties are impaired;

25         (b)  The person has a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 or

26  more grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood; or

27         (c)  The person has a breath-alcohol level of 0.08 or

28  more grams of alcohol per 210 liters of breath.

29         (6)  With respect to any person convicted of a

30  violation of subsection (1), regardless of any penalty imposed

31  pursuant to subsection (2), subsection (3), or subsection (4):

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    Florida Senate - 1998                                   SB 750
    28-672-98




  1         (a)  For the first conviction, the court shall place

  2  the defendant on probation for a period not to exceed 1 year

  3  and, as a condition of such probation, shall order the

  4  defendant to participate in public service or a community work

  5  project for a minimum of 50 hours; or the court may order

  6  instead, that any defendant pay an additional fine of $10 for

  7  each hour of public service or community work otherwise

  8  required, if, after consideration of the residence or location

  9  of the defendant at the time public service or community work

10  is required, payment of the fine is in the best interests of

11  the state. However, the total period of probation and

12  incarceration may not exceed 1 year.

13         (b)  For the second conviction for an offense that

14  occurs within a period of 5 years after the date of a prior

15  conviction for violation of this section, the court shall

16  order imprisonment for not less than 10 days.  At least 48

17  hours of confinement must be consecutive.

18         (c)  For the third or subsequent conviction for an

19  offense that occurs within a period of 10 years after the date

20  of a prior conviction for violation of this section, the court

21  shall order imprisonment for not less than 30 days. At least

22  48 hours of confinement must be consecutive.

23         (d)  In addition to the penalty imposed under paragraph

24  (a), paragraph (b), or paragraph (c), the court shall also

25  order the impoundment or immobilization of the vehicle that

26  was driven by, or in the actual physical control of, the

27  offender, unless the court finds that the family of the owner

28  of the vehicle has no other public or private means of

29  transportation. The period of impoundment or immobilization is

30  10 days, or, for a the second conviction within 3 years, 30

31  days, or, for a the third conviction within 5 years, 90 days,

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    Florida Senate - 1998                                   SB 750
    28-672-98




  1  and may not be concurrent with probation or imprisonment. If

  2  the vehicle is leased or rented, the period of impoundment or

  3  immobilization may not extend beyond the expiration of the

  4  lease or rental agreement. Within 7 business days after the

  5  date that the court issues the order of impoundment or

  6  immobilization, the clerk of the court shall send notice by

  7  certified mail, return receipt requested, to the registered

  8  owner of the vehicle if the registered owner is a person other

  9  than the offender and to each person of record claiming a lien

10  against the vehicle. All costs and fees for the impoundment or

11  immobilization, including the cost of notification, must be

12  paid by the owner of the vehicle or, if the vehicle is leased

13  or rented, by the person leasing or renting the vehicle. The

14  person who owns a vehicle that is impounded or immobilized

15  under this paragraph, or a person who has a lien of record

16  against such a vehicle, may, within 10 days after the date

17  that person has knowledge of the location of the vehicle, file

18  a complaint in the county in which the owner resides to

19  determine whether the vehicle was wrongfully taken or withheld

20  from the owner or lienholder. Upon the filing of a complaint,

21  the owner or lienholder may have the vehicle released by

22  posting with the court a bond or other adequate security equal

23  to the amount of the costs and fees for impoundment or

24  immobilization, including towing or storage, to ensure the

25  payment of such costs and fees if the owner or lienholder does

26  not prevail. When the bond is posted and the fee is paid as

27  set forth in s. 28.24, the clerk of the court shall issue a

28  certificate releasing the vehicle. At the time of release,

29  after reasonable inspection, the owner or lienholder must give

30  a receipt to the towing or storage company indicating any loss

31  or damage to the vehicle or to the contents of the vehicle.

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    Florida Senate - 1998                                   SB 750
    28-672-98




  1         (e)  A defendant, in the court's discretion, may be

  2  required to serve all or any portion of a term of imprisonment

  3  to which the defendant has been sentenced pursuant to this

  4  section in a residential alcoholism treatment program or a

  5  residential drug abuse treatment program. Any time spent in

  6  such a program must be credited by the court toward the term

  7  of imprisonment.

  8

  9  For the purposes of this section, any conviction for a

10  violation of s. 327.35; a previous conviction for the

11  violation of former s. 316.1931, former s. 860.01, or former

12  s. 316.028; or a previous conviction outside this state for

13  driving under the influence, driving while intoxicated,

14  driving with an unlawful blood-alcohol level, driving with an

15  unlawful breath-alcohol level, or any other similar

16  alcohol-related or drug-related traffic offense, is also

17  considered a previous conviction for violation of this

18  section. However, in satisfaction of the fine imposed pursuant

19  to this section, the court may, upon a finding that the

20  defendant is financially unable to pay either all or part of

21  the fine, order that the defendant participate for a specified

22  additional period of time in public service or a community

23  work project in lieu of payment of that portion of the fine

24  which the court determines the defendant is unable to pay. In

25  determining such additional sentence, the court shall consider

26  the amount of the unpaid portion of the fine and the

27  reasonable value of the services to be ordered; however, the

28  court may not compute the reasonable value of services at a

29  rate less than the federal minimum wage at the time of

30  sentencing.

31         Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 1998.

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    Florida Senate - 1998                                   SB 750
    28-672-98




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  2                          SENATE SUMMARY

  3    Deletes a provision that provides that the term of
      vehicle impoundment for a person convicted of driving
  4    under the influence may not be concurrent with the
      person's term of probation.
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