Session Laws

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 27 of chapter 90 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 1986 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the second sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- Said abstracts shall be made in such form, shall include such information, and shall be certified by the clerk of the court as a true abstract of the record of the court in such manner as the registrar and the administrative justices of the district court department and the Boston municipal court department shall jointly determine.

SECTION 2. Section 1 of chapter 90C of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the definition of "Automobile law violation" and inserting in place thereof the following definition:-

"Automobile law violation", any violation of any statute, ordinance, by-law or regulation relating to the operation or control of motor vehicles other than a violation (1) of any rule, regulation, order, ordinance or by-law regulating the parking of motor vehicles established by any city or town or by any commission or body empowered by law to make such rules and regulations therein, or (2) of any provision of chapter one hundred and fifty-nine B. A recreation vehicle and a snow vehicle, both as defined in section twenty of chapter ninety B, and a motorized bicycle, as defined herein, shall be considered a motor vehicle for purposes of this chapter. A motor boat, as defined in section one of chapter ninety B, shall not be considered a motor vehicle for purposes of this chapter.

SECTION 3. Subsection (B) of section 3 of said chapter 90C, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the second paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-

If the police officer directs that an application for a complaint be filed, he shall so indicate on the citation. If he so indicates, the citation given to the violator shall have printed thereon a statement that the violator shall, if he so requests in writing to the appropriate district court within four days of the alleged violation, be granted a hearing on said violation before any process shall issue, as provided in section thirty-five A of chapter two hundred and eighteen, and such printed statement shall be deemed to satisfy the notice requirements of said section thirty-five A of said chapter two hundred and eighteen. If an application for a complaint is so indicated and a complaint is issued, with or without the above-mentioned hearing, the procedure established for criminal cases shall then be followed. If the police officer directs that an application for a complaint be filed, the citation shall serve as the application and the police chief or person authorized by him shall deposit all parts of the citation, except the police officer's copy and the police department copy, with the clerk-magistrate of the appropriate district court at a time no later than the end of the fourth court day after the date of the violation. The police chief may, from time to time, designate one person to sign all such complaints.

SECTION 4. Chapter 279 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out section 42, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 42. If judgment is rendered against a corporation upon an indictment or complaint under the laws of the commonwealth, or if a corporation fails to pay an assessment for a civil motor vehicle infraction as provided in chapter ninety C, the court may issue a warrant of distress to compel payment of the penalty or assessment, as the case may be, as prescribed by law, together with interest thereon if so ordered by the court.

SECTION 5. An automobile law violation for which a citation was issued prior to July first, nineteen hundred and eighty-six, and which qualifies as a civil motor vehicle infraction under the terms set forth in section ten of chapter thirty-five of the acts of nineteen hundred and eighty-six, shall be subject to disposition in accordance with the provisions of this section as an alternative to disposition under the criminal procedures applicable by law at the time of the violation; provided, however, that such violation has not been finally disposed of prior to the effective date of this chapter; and, provided further, that no criminal warrant regarding such citation is pending at the time the alternative disposition provided herein is applied. In such cases the court may issue to the violator a notice allowing him a period of twenty days within which to pay the amount due, which shall include the assessment due on the original citation and an additional assessment of fifteen dollars; provided, however, that if the citation involves more than one motor vehicle violation that qualifies as a civil motor vehicle infraction as herein provided, said additional assessment shall be twenty-five dollars; and provided, further, that the total additional assessment against a person who has not attained seventeen years shall not exceed fifteen dollars. The provision of the first paragraph of section eight of chapter two hundred and fifty-eight B of the General Laws providing for waiver of assessment shall apply to the additional assessment provided for herein. All such additional assessments shall be collected, transmitted, and deposited in accordance with the provisions of the second paragraph of section eight of said chapter two hundred and fifty-eight B and section nine.

The notice required to be sent to the violator shall recite the date and nature of the violation and the violator's failure to pay the amount of the assessment or request a hearing in accordance with the law. Payment of the total amount owed, as indicated in the notice, shall be required in accordance with the provisions for payment set forth in the third paragraph of subsection (A) of section three of chapter ninety C of the General Laws. Said notice shall indicate said provisions for payment. A violator receiving said notice shall not be entitled to a hearing thereafter.

If the violator fails to make payment within said twenty-day period, the clerk-magistrate shall notify the registrar thereof. Such notice to the registrar may be given more than once in the same case if necessary. Nothing herein shall be deemed to prevent, in addition to notice to the registrar, the sending of such additional written notices or court process to the violator as may be deemed necessary.

Upon receipt of said notice, the registrar and the justice and clerk-magistrate of the court where the action is pending shall proceed in accordance with the procedures set forth in the second paragraph of subsection (C) of said section three of said chapter ninety C and the violator shall be required to take such actions and shall be bound by the consequences of the failure to take such actions as are provided therein.

The aforementioned notice to the violator allowing a twenty-day period for payment shall inform the violator of the consequences for failure to make payment as provided in said second paragraph of said subsection (C) of said section three of said chapter ninety C.