§393. Persons charged with traffic violations; time for disposition, licenses, reports, and records to be sent to Department of Public Safety and Corrections; fee charged; record of unpaid traffic fines and parking fines

A. Whenever any person is charged with a violation of any provision of this Chapter or regulation of the department disposition thereof shall be made as soon as feasibly possible.

B.(1) Whenever any person is convicted of an offense for which this Chapter makes mandatory the revocation of the license of such person, the court in which such conviction is had must require the surrender of the license then held by the person convicted and must thereupon forward the same, together with a record of the conviction, to the commissioner.

(2) Whenever the driver's license of any person is mandatorily suspended under the provisions of R.S. 32:414, the court in which the conviction is had or in which bail is forfeited shall attach the license to a record of the conviction or bail forfeiture and shall forward both to the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, public safety services.

C.(1)(a) Every court in this state shall keep a full report of every case in which a person is charged with violation of any provision of this Chapter or any regulation of the department or the commissioner adopted pursuant thereto, or any law of this state or of any municipal or parish governing authority lawfully established for regulating the operation of motor vehicles on highways.

(b) If such person is convicted and sentenced thereupon, or his bail is forfeited as a result of a final judgment of forfeiture, or other final disposition be made, an abstract of the report, all parking convictions only excepted, shall be sent by the court or the district attorney, as the case may be, to the commissioner as follows:

(i) Not later than thirty days after the date of such person's conviction and sentencing thereupon, forfeiture of his bail and final judgment of forfeiture, or the final disposition of his case, if such person holds a Class "D" or "E" driver's license, or both.

(ii) In an electronic format not later than ten days after the date of such person's conviction and sentencing thereupon, forfeiture of his bail and final judgment of forfeiture, or the final disposition of his case, if such person holds a commercial driver's license or commercial driver's license permit, or both.

(iii) This report shall not be a court record.

(iv) A conviction shall be reported to the department regardless of whether the provisions of either Article 893 or 894 of the Code of Criminal Procedure are invoked.

(2) No state agency or political subdivision, nor any law enforcement agency of either, nor any officer, official, or employee thereof, shall transfer, disseminate, distribute, or otherwise communicate a record or other compilation of an individual's unpaid fines for parking violations to any credit bureau, credit information agency or bureau, or a subsidiary entity operating such a business in this state, or to a collection agency or firm. No such state agency or political subdivision, nor law enforcement agency of either, nor any officer, official, or employee thereof, shall confect, enter into, or maintain a contract or agreement to provide such a record or compilation to any credit bureau, credit information agency or bureau, or subsidiary entity, or to a collection agency or firm. State agencies, departments, political subdivisions, and any law enforcement agency may enter into a written contract with any consumer reporting agency to assist the state agency, department, political subdivision, or law enforcement agency in obtaining the most current information on an individual with an unpaid traffic fine. The state agency, department, political subdivision, or law enforcement agency shall not be provided with any information from the consumer reporting agency other than the individual's name, social security number, if available, present and previous address, phone number, and present and previous place of employment. No additional or financial information of the individual shall be provided to any state agency, department, political subdivision, or law enforcement agency unless the individual consents to the release of such information.

(3) Failure of an individual to pay fines for traffic violations shall not be reported to any consumer reporting agency and shall not appear on any consumer report for the individual unless one hundred twenty days have passed from the final disposition of the traffic fine. Final disposition shall be defined in this Paragraph as a final conviction, not capable of appeal or review, and not subject to dismissal.

D. Abstracts required by this Section shall be made on forms prepared by the commissioner and may include all necessary information as to the parties to the case, the nature of the offense, the date of hearing, the plea, the judgment, the amount of the fine or forfeiture, as the case may be, or the final disposition. When the nature of the offense is specified as speeding, the abstract shall also include a statement of the miles per hour in excess of the speed limit that the person charged was alleged to have been traveling. Every such abstract shall be certified by the judge or the clerk of such court as a true abstract of the records of the court. If the abstract is sent by the district attorney, it shall be certified by him as a true abstract of the final disposition of the case as contained or found in the files of his office.

E. Certified copies of the judgment also shall be forwarded to the commissioner upon the conviction of any person of any felony in the commission of which a vehicle was used. The commissioner shall keep these records in his office, and they shall be open to public inspection during reasonable business hours.

F.(1) For each conviction or forfeiture of bail as outlined above, a fee of two dollars shall be added to the fine of the person convicted, except in Orleans Parish where for each such conviction or forfeiture of bail a fee of ten dollars shall be added to the fine of the person convicted. This fee shall be retained by the respective court to cover the cost of preparing and submitting the abstract of the report to the commissioner.

(2) In addition to the two dollar fee provided for in Subsection F of this Section, the City Court of Bossier City is hereby authorized to collect an additional fee of one dollar for each conviction or forfeiture of bail which shall be added to the fine of the person convicted.

G. Whenever a certified statement of revocation or suspension of a driver's license from the Department of Public Safety is offered in evidence in any court of competent jurisdiction, it shall be received in evidence by such court as prima facie proof of its contents, provided that the party against whom the certificate is sought to be used may summon and examine those making the said certificate as witnesses under cross-examination.

H. Whenever any person is charged with a violation of any provision of this Chapter or regulation of the department, and the law enforcement officer issuing the citation has reason to believe that there exists a medical condition which constitutes cause for revocation or suspension under the provisions of R.S. 32:414(E), notification of such medical condition shall be made to the medical/conviction unit of the office of motor vehicles of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections at the same time and in the same manner as notification of the violation, provided that the law enforcement officer first consults with his superior officer as to his specific observations and such superior officer concurs with the issuing officer's belief.

I. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the record of a conviction for a traffic violation which is based solely on evidence from a traffic camera shall not be forwarded to the Department of Public Safety and Corrections and no record of such conviction shall be made part of any person's driving record.

Acts 1962, No. 310, §1. Amended by Acts 1966, No. 278, §1; Acts 1966, No. 443, §1; Acts 1977, No. 113, §1, eff. June 22, 1977; Acts 1978, No. 509, §1; Acts 1979, No. 687, §1, eff. July 19, 1979; Acts 1980, No. 167, §1; Acts 1983, No. 212, §1; Acts 1985, No. 798, §1; Acts 1986, No. 45, §1, eff. June 13, 1986; Acts 1988, No. 76, §1; Acts 1989, No. 643, §1; Acts 1991, No. 289, §9; Acts 1991, No. 901, §1; Acts 1997, No. 1280, §1; Acts 1997, No. 1288, §1; Acts 1997, No. 1343, §1; Acts 2001, No. 256, §1; Acts 2008, No. 435, §1; Acts 2009, No. 366, §1; Acts 2011, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 9, §1; Acts 2013, No. 253, §1.