DRIVER'S LICENSE: ADDRESS CHANGE - S.B. 306: COMMITTEE SUMMARY
Senate Bill 306 (as introduced 2-16-99)
Sponsor: Senator Mike Rogers
Committee: Government Operations
Date Completed: 3-11-99
CONTENT
The bill would amend the Michigan Vehicle Code to revise the procedure for changing an address on a driver's license; provide for electronic notice of a change of address or notice by mail or telephone, or by submission of a voter registration application, as prescribed by the Secretary of State; establish penalties for changing the address of another person without his or her permission; and require the Secretary of State to change a person's address on the qualified voter file if his or her residence address on that file differed from the person's residence address on his or her driver's license.
Change of Address
Currently, if a person moves before his or her driver's license expires, the person immediately must return the license to the local examining board or the Department of State, which is required to write the new address on the back of the license. The bill provides, instead, that the person immediately would have to notify the Secretary of State of his or her new residence address. The notice would have to be in a manner prescribed by the Secretary of State and could include notification by personal appearance at a branch office or other location designated by the Secretary of State, or a notification electronically or by mail, telephone, submission of a voter registration application, or any other means prescribed by the Secretary of State.
Upon receiving a change of address notification, the Secretary of State would have to change the person's driver license record to indicate the new residence address. The Secretary of State also would have to provide the person with a new license or a label or some other mechanism containing the new address on the person's existing license. Upon receiving a label or other mechanism, the person would have to affix it to his or her operator's or chauffeur's license as prescribed by the Secretary of State. If the Secretary of State furnished a new license, the person would have to destroy his or her old license and replace it with the new one. In addition, the Secretary of State would have to change the person's residence address on the qualified voter file created under the Michigan Election Law to indicate the person's new residence address, if the change of address notification informed the person that the new residence address would change his or her residence address on the qualified voter file, and contained the person's signature.
The bill would define "residence address" as "the place which is the settled or permanent home or domicile at which a person resides as defined in section 11 of the Michigan election law". (Section 11 of the Election Law defines "residence" as the place at which a person habitually sleeps, keeps his or her personal effects, and has a regular place of lodging.)
License Application
Under the bill, if a person's residence address on an application for a driver's license differed from his or her residence address on the qualified voter file, the Secretary of State would have to change the person's residence address on that file. A license application would have to include a statement that the Secretary of State would make this change.
Penalties
The bill would prohibit a person from reporting to the Secretary of State a change of address for himself or herself that was not his or her residence address, or reporting a change of address for another person without his or her consent. A violation would be a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for up to 90 days and/or a maximum fine of $100. Upon receiving the abstract of a conviction, the Secretary of State would have to suspend the person's driver's license for six months. The Secretary of State could not issue a restricted license to the person during the suspension.
Upon a second or subsequent conviction, the violator would be guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for up to one year and/or a maximum fine of $1,000. Upon receiving the abstract of conviction, the Secretary of State would have to revoke the person's license.
A license suspension or revocation under these provisions would not be appealable under Section 323 of the Code. (Section 323 allows a person to petition the circuit court for review of a determination of the Secretary of State to deny, revoke, suspend, or restrict a license.)
MCL 257.307 et al. - Legislative Analyst: G. Towne
FISCAL IMPACT
The Department could incur some increases in administrative costs due to the additional requirements imposed on the Department. There would be no fiscal impact on local government.
- Fiscal Analyst: E. LimbsS9900\s306sa
This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.