| Today's Feature 2010
New Laws.
The Missouri General Assembly
recently enacted new legislation affecting
vehicle operation, gambling, and illegal drugs,
and Governor Jay Nixon has signed the legislation
into law. Some of the laws contained an emergency
clause, which went into effect upon the signing;
others will go into effect August 28, 2010. The
Patrol wishes to make the public aware of these
new laws or changes to increase public awareness
and education.
HCS/SCS/SB 583 -- MODIFIES
VARIOUS PROVISIONS OF LAW RELATING TO THE
REGULATION OF INSURANCE NONRESIDENT FINANCIAL
RESPONSIBILITY -- Under this act, a nonresident
shall not operate a motor vehicle in Missouri
unless the nonresident maintains financial
responsibility which conforms to the requirements
of the laws of the nonresident’s state of
residence. A nonresident who fails to maintain
financial responsibility is guilty of a Class C
misdemeanor (Sections 303.025 and 303.040 RSMo.).
CCS/HCS/SCS/SB 754 -- MODIFIES
PROVISIONS OF LAW RELATING TO CEMETERIES, THE
LICENSING OF CERTAIN PROFESSIONS, DEATH
CERTIFICATES, PUBLIC ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS, AND
VARIOUS OTHER PROVISIONS --DISABLED LICENSE
PLATES -- This act adds physician assistants to
the list of other authorized health care
practitioners that may furnish a physician’s
statement to obtain disabled license plates or
placards. (Section 301.142 RSMo.)
HCS/SB 940 – BINGO -- An
abbreviated bingo license holder is allowed to
conduct up to 15 bingo games annually, rather
than four. The act requires all licensed
organizations to pay annual license fee of $50.
Current law had allowed certain organizations to
pay an annual license fee of $10.
The Gaming Commission is
authorized to set the aggregate retail value of
all prizes and merchandise awarded in a single
day, except awards by pull-tab cards and
progressive bingo games. A bingo licensee cannot
require a player to purchase more than a standard
pack of bingo cards in order to participate in a
game. The act authorizes a licensee to conduct
bingo games two days per week, rather than one
day per week.
The act increases the amount
that may be expended on advertising from 2% to
10% of the total amount expended from bingo
receipts. The act removes a provision of law that
prohibited a licensee from referencing the
aggregate value of bingo prizes in an
advertisement. Currently, no bingo games can be
operated between midnight and 10 a.m. This act
provides that no bingo game can be operated
between 1 a.m. and 7 a.m.
Games are permitted to be
conducted by electronic bingo card monitoring
devices that are approved by the commission.
Every bingo licensee that
conducts games on more than three occasions in
any calendar year shall submit quarterly, rather
than annual reports to the gaming commission.
The act requires each licensee
to keep a complete record of bingo games
conducted in the previous two, rather than three
years, except for records stipulated as one-year
retention by regulation.
Applicants for suppliers’
licenses and manufacturers’ licenses are
required to pay for the cost of a criminal
history investigation. This act would also
increase the maximum amount the commission can
charge for a manufacturer’s license from
$1,000 to $5,000 and would increase the possible
charge for an annual renewal fee from $500 to
$1,000.
SS/SB 984 – GAMING --
Under current law, it is a Class B misdemeanor
for any gaming licensee to exchange tokens,
chips, or other forms of credit used on gambling
games for anything of value other than as a wager
on gambling games or an exchange of money. This
act would allow gaming licensees to exchange
tokens, chips, or other forms of credit used on
gambling games for wagers on gambling games, an
exchange of money, and for payment for food or
beverages on excursion gambling boats. It will be
a Class B misdemeanor for a gaming licensee that
exchanges tokens, chips, or other forms of credit
used on gambling games for anything of value
other than as a wager on gambling games, an
exchange of money, or for payment for food or
beverages on excursion gambling boats.
HCS#2 HB 1472 – CONTROLLED
SUBSTANCES -- This bill changes the laws
regarding the designation of controlled
substances. In its main provisions, the bill:\
(1) Adds the following to the
list of Schedule I:
(a) 1-pentyl-3-(1-naphthoyl)
indole, commonly known as K2;
(b)
Dexanabinol,(6aS,10aS)-9-(hydroxymethyl)-6,6-dimethyl-3-(2-methyloctan-2-yl)-6a,7,10,10a-tetrahydrobenzo
[c] chromen-1-ol, commonly
known as HU211;
(c) 5-MeO-DMT or
5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine, its isomers,
salts, and salts of isomers;
(d) Phenol, CP 47, 497 &
homologues, or
2-[(1R,3S)-3-hydroxycyclohexyl]-5-(2-methyloctan-2-yl)
phenol), where side chain n=5, and homologues
where side chain n-4,6, or 7; and,
(e) 1-butyl-3-(1-naphthoyl)
indole.
(2) Adds the following to the
list of Schedule II:
(a) Any material, compound,
mixture, or preparation which contains any
quantity of amyl nitrite or butyl nitrate; and,
(b) Tapentadol.
(3) Adds the following to the
list of Schedule III:
(a) Boldione;
(b) Dexoxymethyltestosterone;
and\
(c) 19-nor-4,9
(10)-androstadienedione.
(4) Adds Fospropofol to the
list of Schedule IV.
(5) Adds the following to the
list of Schedule V:
(a) Lacosamide and
(b) Pregabalin.
(6) Specifies that any person
who possesses a controlled substance of more
than 35 grams of Dexanabinol,
(6aS,
10aS)-9-(hydroxymethyl)-6,6-dimethyl-3-(2-methyloctan-2-yl)-6a,
7,10,10a-tetrahydrobenzo[c]chromen- 1-ol, Indole,
or 1-butyl-3-(1-naphthoyl) indole, Indole, or
1-pentyl-3-(1-naphthoyl) indole, and Phenol, CP
47, 497 & homologues, or
2-[(1R,3S)-3-hydroxycyclohexyl]-5-(2-methyloctan-2-yl)phenol),
where side chain n=5, and homologues where side
chain n-4,6, or 7 will be guilty of a class C
felony, and any person possessing less than 35
grams of any one of these substances will be
guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.
HCS HB 1540 – INFRACTIONS
-- This bill increases the penalty for certain
traffic violations from an infraction to a Class
C misdemeanor. Any person operating a commercial
vehicle in violation of Section 307.400 RSMo.,
will be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor.
Beginning January 1, 2012, the
bill requires the judicial procedure for an
infraction to be the same as for a misdemeanor.
If a defendant fails to appear in court solely
for an infraction or for an infraction committed
in the same course of conduct as a criminal
offense or fails to respond to a notice of an
infraction from the Central Violations Bureau,
the court may issue a default judgment for court
costs and fines for the infraction unless the
court determines that good cause or excusable
neglect exists for the defendant’s failure
to appear. A court may issue a warrant for
failure to appear for any violation which is
classified as an infraction.
The bill repeals and re-enacts
provisions requiring a person to obey any signals
or directions given by a law enforcement officer
while traveling on a road when the officer is
enforcing any infraction. Any person who refuses
to obey any signal or direction or who willfully
resists a law enforcement officer who is in the
course of enforcing any infraction will be guilty
of a Class A misdemeanor.
The bill contains an emergency
clause for the provisions regarding judicial
procedures for infractions and obeying signals or
directions of a law enforcement officer while
traveling on a road. These provisions went into
effect on February 25, 2010.
SS SCS HCS HB 1695, 1742 &
1674 – INTOXICATION-RELATED TRAFFIC OFFENSES
--
This bill changes the laws
regarding intoxication-related traffic offenses.
In its main provisions, the
bill:
(1) Specifies that a DWI court
may grant limited driving privileges to an
individual who would otherwise be ineligible for
the privilege. However, the DWI docket or court
cannot grant a limited driving privilege to a
person during his or her initial 45 days of
participation (Section 302.309 RSMo.);
(2) Removes the requirement
that no chemical test will be given when a holder
of a commercial driver’s license refuses to
submit to a chemical test at the request of law
enforcement (Section 302.750 RSMo.);
(3) Allows any circuit court or
the county municipal court of Jackson County to
establish a DWI docket to provide an alternative
for the disposition of a driving while
intoxicated or driving with excessive blood
alcohol content case when the person operating a
motor vehicle has a blood alcohol content (BAC)
of at least .15, the person has pled guilty to or
has been found guilty of one or more
intoxication-related traffic offense, or the
person has two or more previous alcohol-related
enforcement contacts.
The court may assess any and
all necessary costs for participation in a DWI
court against the participant and all moneys
received by the court will not be considered
court costs, charges, or fines. A DWI court may
operate in conjunction with a drug court, and a
drug court commissioner may preside over a DWI
court (Sections 478.001 and 478.007 RSMo.);
(4) Specifies that any offense
involving the operation of a vehicle in an
intoxicated condition will not be cognizable in
municipal court if the defendant has been
convicted, found guilty, or pled guilty to two or
more previous intoxication-related traffic
offenses or has had two or more previous
alcohol-related enforcement contacts (Section
479.170 RSMo.);
(5) Specifies that an
application or execution of a search warrant
cannot be deemed invalid solely because it relied
upon an electronic signature of either a law
enforcement officer, prosecutor, or judge
(Section 542.276 RSMo.);
(6) Requires each law
enforcement agency, county prosecuting attorney,
and municipal prosecutor to adopt a policy to
report the arrest information for all
intoxication-related traffic offenses to the
Missouri State Highway Patrol’s central
repository and to certify the adoption of the
policy when applying for any grants administered
by the Department of Public Safety.
Beginning January 1, 2011, the
Highway Patrol must maintain regular
accountability reports of alcohol-related
arrests, charges, and dispositions based on the
data submitted (Section 577.005 RSMo.);
(7) Requires the course of
instruction that all municipal judges must
complete to include a review of state laws
regarding intoxication-related offenses,
jurisdictional issues related to those offenses,
reporting requirements for courts, and the
required assessment for offenders under the
Substance Abuse Traffic Offender Program (SATOP);
requires each municipal judge to adopt a written
policy requiring court personnel to timely report
all dispositions of all charges for
intoxication-related traffic offenses to the
central repository and to provide a copy of the
policy to the Office of State Courts
Administrator and the Highway Patrol; and
requires each municipal division of every circuit
court to prepare a report every six months that
includes the total number and disposition of
every intoxication-related offense adjudicated,
dismissed, or pending in its division and submit
the report to the circuit court en banc for
review and recommendations (Section 577.006
RSMo.);
(8) Specifies that no person
who operated a motor vehicle with a BAC of .15 or
more will be granted a suspended imposition of
sentence and specifies that for a first offense,
unless a person participates and successfully
completes the requirements of a DWI court of
docket, a person who operated a motor vehicle
with a BAC of between .15 and .20 will be
imprisoned for at least 48 hours and a person who
operated a motor vehicle with a BAC of .20 or
more will be imprisoned for at least five days
(Sections 577.010 and 577.012 RSMo.);
(9) Changes the minimum
imprisonment from five days to 10 days for a
prior offender and from 10 days to 30 days for a
persistent offender to be eligible for parole or
probation unless as a condition the person
performs a specified amount of community services
or participates in a program established under
Section 478.007 RSMO. or other court-ordered
treatment program. Courts may search the central
repository, DWITS, or the certified driving
records maintained by the Department of Revenue
for prior intoxication-related traffic offenses
(Sections 577.023 RSMo.);
(10) Removes the provision
requiring an intoxication-related traffic offense
arrest without a warrant to occur within 90
minutes of the alleged violation (Section 577.039
RSMo.);
(11) Removes the requirement
that no test can be given when a person arrested
or stopped for an alleged DWI refuses to submit
to a chemical test at the request of a law
enforcement officer (Section 577.041 RSMO.); and
(12) Specifies that after 10
years a court will enter an order of expungement
if it determines that a person with a first
alcohol-related driving offense has not been
convicted of any subsequent alcohol-related
driving offense, has no other subsequent
alcohol-related enforcement contact, and has no
other alcohol-related driving charge or
enforcement action pending at the time of the
hearing (Section 577.054 RSMo.).
CCS SCS HB 1868 – STATE
GOVERNMENT ENTITIES -- Allows the superintendent
of the Highway Patrol to appoint up to one
additional major, nine new captains, eight
lieutenants, and 99 patrolmen and officers by
raising the current limits (Sections 43.040 and
43.050 RSMo.);
Transfers, effective January 1,
2011, the powers and duties of the Missouri State
Water Patrol to the newly established Division of
Water Patrol within the Missouri State Highway
Patrol. The superintendent of the Highway Patrol
will appoint a director of the new division and
may transfer employees to the new division. The
county sheriff must participate in search
warrants served by the division except for the
investigation of boating while intoxicated and
the investigation of vessel accidents. The bill
allows members of the Water Patrol joining the
new division to choose the Missouri State
Employees’ Retirement System or the
Department of Transportation and Highway Patrol
Employees’ Retirement System.
HCS HB 2081 – USE OF FORCE
IN DEFENSE OF AN UNBORN CHILD -- This bill
specifies that a pregnant woman may use deadly
force upon another person if she reasonably
believes that deadly force is necessary to
protect her unborn child against death, serious
physical injury, or any forcible felony.
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