SF 381 (LSB 1096SV (2) 90)

SENATE FILE 381

BY  COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION

(SUCCESSOR TO SF 24)

A BILL FOR

An Act regarding driving privileges of persons issued a special minor’s driver’s license, and making penalties applicable.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 321.194, subsection 2, paragraph a, subparagraph (1), subparagraph division (b), Code 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   (b)  Over the most direct and accessible route between the licensee’s residence or school of enrollment and a site, facility, or school that is not the licensee’s school of enrollment, for the purpose of participating in extracurricular activities conducted under a sharing agreement with the licensee’s school of enrollment or conducted at a site, facility, or school designated by the licensee’s school district for the accommodation of the school’s extracurricular activities, provided the site, facility, or school is within the licensee’s school district of enrollment or is within a school district contiguous to the licensee’s school district of enrollment driving distance between the point of origin and the destination is no more than fifty miles.
    Sec. 2.  Section 321.194, subsection 2, paragraph a,

subparagraph (3), Code 2023, is amended by striking the subparagraph and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
   (3)  If the licensee is employed, the licensee may operate a motor vehicle during the hours of 5:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. over the most direct and accessible route between the licensee’s residence or school of enrollment and the licensee’s place of employment, provided the driving distance between the licensee’s place of employment and the nearest point on the route on which the licensee is authorized to travel under subparagraph (1), subparagraph division (a), or subparagraph (2), subparagraph division (a), is no more than fifty miles.
    Sec. 3.  Section 321.194, subsection 3, paragraph b, Code 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   b.  Upon receipt of a statement of necessity, the department shall issue the driver’s license provided the applicant is otherwise eligible for issuance of the license. The fact that the applicant resides at a distance less than one mile from the applicant’s school of enrollment is prima facie evidence of the nonexistence of necessity for the issuance of a license. However, the distance between the applicant’s residence and school of enrollment shall not be considered if the applicant resides on a farm or is employed for compensation on a farm.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   Under current law, a person issued a special minor’s driver’s license who attends a public school is allowed to operate a motor vehicle between the hours of 5:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. to, among other locations, a site, facility, or school that is not the licensee’s school of enrollment for certain extracurricular activities if the site, facility, or school is within the licensee’s school district of enrollment or is within a school district contiguous to the licensee’s school district of enrollment. 
   This bill instead allows the licensee to operate a motor vehicle during such hours to a site, facility, or school that is not the licensee’s school of enrollment for certain extracurricular activities provided the driving distance between the point of origin and the destination is no more than 50 miles. Licensees who attend a nonpublic school currently operate under a similar 50-mile restriction.
   Current law also provides that if a licensee resides on a farm or is employed for compensation on a farm in this state, the licensee is authorized to operate a motor vehicle for the purpose of assisting the licensee’s parents, guardians, or employers with farm work or in connection with any farm job, employment, or other farm-related work, including traveling to or from the location of the farm work, provided the licensee operates the vehicle over the most direct and accessible route between the point of origin and the destination and the driving distance between the point of origin and the destination is no more than 50 miles.
   The bill strikes the farm work authorization and instead authorizes a licensee who is employed to operate a motor vehicle during the hours of 5:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. over the most direct and accessible route between the licensee’s residence or school of enrollment and the licensee’s place of employment, provided the driving distance between the licensee’s place of employment and the nearest point on the route on which the licensee is otherwise authorized to travel is no more than 50 miles.
   Under current law, an application for a special minor’s driver’s license must be accompanied by a statement from the applicant’s school of enrollment certifying that a need exists for the license. The fact that an applicant resides at a distance less than one mile from the applicant’s school of enrollment is prima facie evidence of the nonexistence of necessity for the issuance of the license. The bill strikes the presumption of the nonexistence of necessity for an applicant who lives less than one mile from the applicant’s school of enrollment.
   A violation of Code section 321.194 is punishable by a scheduled fine of $70.