(a) Upon every other renewal of a motor vehicle operator’s license or identity card issued pursuant to section 1-1h, the commissioner may issue such license or identity card without the personal appearance of the licensee or identity card holder if (1) such licensee or identity card holder has a digital image on file with the commissioner, and (2) such licensee or identity card holder has fulfilled all other requirements for such renewal.

(b) An original operator’s license shall expire within a period not exceeding six years following the date of the operator’s next birthday. The fee for such license shall be seventy-two dollars. The commissioner may authorize a contractor, including, but not limited to, an automobile club or association, licensed in accordance with the provisions of section 14-67 on or before July 1, 2007, or any municipality, to issue duplicate licenses and identity cards pursuant to section 14-50a, renew licenses, renew identity cards issued pursuant to section 1-1h and conduct registration transactions at the office or facilities of such contractors or municipalities. The commissioner may authorize such contractors and municipalities to charge a convenience fee, which shall not exceed five dollars, to each applicant for a license or identity card renewal or duplication, or for a registration transaction.

(c) Any previously licensed operator who fails to renew a motor vehicle operator’s license in accordance with subsection (b) of this section shall be charged a late fee of twenty-five dollars upon renewal of such operator’s license.

(d) The commissioner may, at least fifteen days before the date on which each motor vehicle operator’s license or identity card expires, notify the holder of such license or identity card of the expiration date, in a manner determined by the commissioner. The commissioner shall not provide such notification by mail to any such licensee or identity card holder if the United States Postal Service has determined that mail is undeliverable to the address for such person that is documented in the records of the Department of Motor Vehicles. Any previously licensed operator who operates a motor vehicle within sixty days after the expiration date of the operator’s license without obtaining a renewal of the license shall be fined in accordance with the amount designated for the infraction of failure to renew a motor vehicle operator’s license. Any operator so charged shall not be prosecuted under section 14-36 for the same act constituting a violation under this section but section 14-36 shall apply after the sixty-day period.

(e) On and after January 1, 2013, the commissioner may extend the expiration date of an operator’s license or identity card for a period of six months when such licensee or identity card holder presents documentation satisfactory to the commissioner that such person was out of the state during the renewal period for such license or identity card, or when the commissioner requires additional time to determine whether such person qualifies for a renewal. The fee for such extension shall be the same as that for a duplicate license under section 14-50a and no part of such fee shall be subject to refund. The commissioner shall not grant more than one extension to any such person pursuant to this subsection.

(f) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 1-3a, if the expiration date of any motor vehicle operator’s license or any public passenger endorsement, as defined in section 14-1, falls on any day when offices of the commissioner are closed for business or are open for less than a full business day, the license or permit shall be deemed valid until midnight of the next day on which offices of the commissioner are open for a full day of business.

(1949 Rev., S. 2381; 1953, 1955, S. 1299d; 1957, P.A. 437, S. 4; February, 1965, P.A. 68; 1967, P.A. 115; 436, S. 1; 807, S. 4; 1969, P.A. 759, S. 4; 1972, P.A. 127, S. 16; P.A. 75-213, S. 9, 53; 75-577, S. 21, 126; P.A. 76-263, S. 6, 9; P.A. 77-10; 77-256, S. 3, 4; 77-348, S. 1, 2; P.A. 79-89, S. 1; P.A. 80-51; P.A. 81-172, S. 3; P.A. 83-489, S. 3, 17; P.A. 84-254, S. 29, 62; 84-429, S. 21; P.A. 85-413, S. 4, 8; P.A. 87-329, S. 5; P.A. 90-263, S. 8, 74; 90-265, S. 7, 8; P.A. 91-408, S. 8, 18; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 92-9, S. 1, 4; P.A. 93-80, S. 49, 67; 93-341, S. 12, 38; P.A. 95-223, S. 1, 2; P.A. 97-284, S. 1, 2; P.A. 99-287, S. 7, 9; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-6, S. 74, 85; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-9, S. 47, 131; P.A. 03-171, S. 6; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-3, S. 34; P.A. 04-4, S. 6; 04-177 S. 12; 04-199, S. 22; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 05-3, S. 26; P.A. 07-167, S. 32; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 07-1, S. 94; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 07-5, S. 43; P.A. 09-187, S. 10; P.A. 10-110, S. 21; 10-179, S. 25; P.A. 11-6, S. 137; 11-48, S. 27; 11-213, S. 16; P.A. 12-81, S. 4; P.A. 13-271, S. 15; P.A. 14-130, S. 7; P.A. 16-55, S. 24; P.A. 17-79, S. 5.)

History: 1965 act added proviso clause re holder reaching 21 in Subsec. (b); 1967 acts included motorcycle licenses in provisions, revised provisions re expiration of licenses in Subsec. (b), inserted new Subsec. (c) re effect of change in birth date on expiration and reissuance of license, redesignated former Subsec. (c) as Subsec. (d) and added provisions re penalty for failure to renew license within 30 days of expiration date; 1969 act revised fee provisions in Subsecs. (b) and (c), raising rate from $0.25 to $0.35 per month and placing $2 maximum on fee for 6-month period; 1972 act changed age of majority from 21 to 18; P.A. 75-213 raised fee in Subsec. (b) to $0.45 per month not to exceed $2.50 for 6-month period; P.A. 75-577 removed reference to $25 maximum fine in Subsec. (d) and added references to fines of the amount designated for infractions specified; P.A. 76-263 revised section to cover transition period for change of validity period from 2 to 4 years and institution of licenses with pictures, deleted references to provisional licenses and deleted violation in Subsec. (d) re failure to sign license before operating motor vehicle or motorcycle; P.A. 77-10 added Subsec. (e) re expiration of license on day when motor vehicle offices are closed; P.A. 77-256 raised fee in Subsec. (c) to $0.45 per month not to exceed $2.50 for 6-month period; P.A. 77-348 revised provisions re expiration so that all licenses expire on birth date rather than last day of birth month and changed reference to June 30, 1976 to June 30, 1977 in Subsec. (a); P.A. 79-89 added exception re Sec. 14-41a to Subsec. (a); P.A. 80-51 made former Subdivs. (1) to (4) in Subsec. (a) subparagraphs (A) to (D) under Subdiv. (1) re motor vehicle and motorcycle licenses, made provision re public service operator’s license Subdiv. (2) and added exception re change of expiration date from April 30th to June 30th; P.A. 81-172 amended Subsec. (d) by increasing from 30 to 60 days after the expiration date the amount of time during which an operator can be charged with only an infraction; P.A. 83-489 amended Subsec. (b) to increase additional sum from $1 to $2; P.A. 84-254 amended Subsec. (b), effective July 1, 1984, to increase the fee, scheduling the increases to take effect as of July 1, 1984, 1986 and 1988; P.A. 84-429 deleted obsolete provisions, rephrased provisions and made other technical changes; P.A. 85-413 adjusted fees after July 1, 1988, and deleted obsolete fee provisions; P.A. 87-329 amended Subsec. (b) maintaining the fee at the level existing on and after July 1, 1986, and decreasing the fee effective July 1, 1992, to the level formerly existing on and after July 1, 1988; P.A. 90-263 amended Subsecs. (a) and (e) to substitute public passenger transportation permit for public service motor vehicle operator’s license; P.A. 90-265 amended Subsec. (a) to require vision screening for motor vehicle operators prior to every other renewal of operator’s license in accordance with specified schedule; P.A. 91-408 amended Subsec. (a) to delay the commencement of vision screening from July 1, 1991, to October 1, 1992, and to change the beginning and ending dates of the specified schedule accordingly; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 92-9 amended Subsec. (a) to postpone vision screening requirement from October 1, 1992, to July 1, 1993, and to require that screening be done in accordance with a schedule adopted by the commissioner, eliminating the specified schedule according to the last name of the operator; P.A. 93-80 amended Subsec. (a) to postpone vision screening requirement from July 1, 1993, to July 1, 1995, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 93-341 amended Subsec. (a) by deleting former Subdiv. (2) re expiration date for public passenger transportation permits, effective July 1, 1994; P.A. 95-223 amended Subsec. (a) to postpone vision screening requirement from July 1, 1995, to July 1, 1997, effective July 1, 1995; (Revisor’s note: In 1997 references throughout the general statutes to “Motor Vehicle(s) Commissioner” and “Motor Vehicle(s) Department” were replaced editorially by the Revisors with “Commissioner of Motor Vehicles” or “Department of Motor Vehicles”, as the case may be, for consistency with customary statutory usage); P.A. 97-284 amended Subsec. (a) to postpone vision screening requirement from July 1, 1997, to July 1, 1999, effective July 1, 1997; P.A. 99-287 amended Subsec. (a) by postponing the implementation of vision screening from July 1, 1999, to July 1, 2001, and allowing a vision screening conducted by a licensed health care professional to have occurred during the preceding 12 months in lieu of the preceding 3 months, effective July 1, 1999; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-6 amended Subsecs. (a) and (b) to require renewal of license every 6 years, amended Subsec. (b) to increase fee from $3.50 to $5.25, amended Subsec. (c) to modify the issue period for renewal licenses from not more than 48 months to not more than 72 months and made technical changes for purposes of gender neutrality in Subsecs. (a) and (d), effective July 1, 2001; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-9 amended Subsec. (a) to provide for an optional licensure period of 4 years in accordance with a schedule to be established by the commissioner and changed to July 1, 2003, the date by which the commissioner shall screen the vision of operator’s at every other renewal of license, effective July 1, 2001; P.A. 03-171 amended Subsecs. (a), (d) and (e) to delete references to motorcycle operator’s license, made technical changes in Subsec. (a) and amended Subsec. (d) to delete references to Sec. 14-40a; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-3 amended Subsec. (a) to change commencement date of vision screening program from July 1, 2003, to July 1, 2005, effective August 20, 2003, and applicable as of July 1, 2003; P.A. 04-4 amended Subsec. (b) to delete former formula for the license fee and to establish fees for 4-year and 6-year licenses and a fee for a part-year license, deleted former Subsec. (c) re changes in records relating to birth dates and renewal of licenses thereafter and redesignated existing Subsecs. (d) and (e) as new Subsecs. (c) and (d), effective March 11, 2004; P.A. 04-177 and P.A. 04-199 both amended Subsec. (b) to increase fee for original 4-year operator’s licenses from $43 to $44 and for 6-year operator’s license from $65 to $66, effective July 1, 2004; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 05-3 amended Subsec. (a) by changing “2005” to “2007”, effective July 1, 2005; P.A. 07-167 amended Subsec. (a) by deleting provisions re vision screening and amended Subsec. (b) by adding provisions re renewals at office facilities of licensed automobile club or association, effective July 1, 2007; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 07-1 attempted to amend Subsec. (a) to change July 1, 2007, to July 1, 2009, effective July 1, 2007, but failed to take effect since the vision screening provisions were previously deleted from this Subsec. by P.A. 07-167; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 07-5 amended Subsec. (a) by restoring provisions re vision screening and postponing implementation to July 1, 2009; P.A. 09-187 amended Subsec. (a) to postpone implementation of vision screening from July 1, 2009, to July 1, 2011, effective July 1, 2009; P.A. 10-110 amended Subsec. (a) to authorize commissioner, upon every other renewal of operator’s license or identity card, to issue such license or card without personal appearance of licensee or card holder if such licensee or card holder has digital image on file with commissioner and has met all other renewal requirements and amended Subsec. (b) to authorize automobile clubs and associations to perform identity card renewals and registration transactions and to charge fee of not more than $2, effective July 1, 2010; P.A. 10-179 amended Subsec. (b) to make the same changes as made to Subsec. (b) by P.A. 10-110, effective July 1, 2010; P.A. 11-6 amended Subsec. (b) to increase fee for 4-year license from $44 to $48, for 6-year license from $66 to $72 and for a year or part thereof from $11 to $12, added Subsec. (c) re $25 late renewal fee, redesignated existing Subsecs. (c) and (d) as Subsecs. (d) and (e), and deleted “shall be deemed to have failed to renew a motor vehicle operator’s license and” in Subsec. (d), effective July 1, 2011; P.A. 11-48 amended Subsec. (a) by eliminating 4 or 6-year renewal requirement, requirement for personal appearance of licensee or holder for renewal and requirement for vision screening prior to every other renewal, effective July 1, 2011; P.A. 11-213 amended Subsec. (b) to authorize issuance of duplicate licenses and identity cards by automobile club or association and make conforming and technical changes, and amended Subsec. (c) to include identity cards, change “shall” to “may” re notification and prohibit notification by mail if mail determined to be undeliverable, effective July 13, 2011; P.A. 12-81 amended Subsec. (a) to make provisions applicable upon every “other” renewal of a license or identity card, amended Subsec. (b) to delete provision re fee for 4-year license and make conforming changes, added new Subsec. (e) re 6-month extension of expiration date of operator’s license or identity card and fee therefor and redesignated existing Subsec. (e) as Subsec. (f), effective July 1, 2012; P.A. 13-271 amended Subsec. (b) to delete provision re license fee of $12 per year or any part of a year and to increase maximum convenience fee charged by automobile club or association from $2 to $3; P.A. 14-130 amended Subsec. (f) by replacing “public passenger transportation permit” with “public passenger endorsement, as defined in section 14-1”, effective June 6, 2014; P.A. 16-55 amended Subsec. (b) by adding “a contractor, including, but not limited to,” and “or any office or department of a municipality”, increasing maximum convenience fee from $3 to $5 and making a conforming change, effective May 31, 2016; P.A. 17-79 amended Subsec. (b) by deleting “office or department of a”, replacing “its office facilities” with “the office or facilities of such contractors or municipalities” and adding provision re authorization for municipalities to charge a convenience fee, effective July 1, 2017.