263:56-f Suspension for Evasion of Electronic Toll Collection System. –
I. Upon receiving a report from the commissioner of the department of transportation or designee, or another state having a reciprocal toll collection enforcement agreement, that the owner of a vehicle, as defined in RSA 236:31, has violated the terms of RSA 236:31, or a reciprocal toll collection enforcement agreement in accordance with RSA 237:16-c, the director shall notify the owner in writing by first class mail that the owner's motor vehicle registration privileges for the vehicle driven in violation of RSA 236:31 are suspended as of the date which is 30 days from the date of notification unless the toll and any administrative fees assessed by the department of transportation are paid. Furthermore, the registered owner of the vehicle driven in violation of RSA 236:31 is prohibited from transferring a plate to said vehicle or obtaining a new plate for said vehicle or any other vehicle until such tolls and fees are paid. The registered owner is further prohibited from transferring ownership of said vehicle driven in violation of RSA 236:31, or a reciprocal toll collection enforcement agreement in accordance with RSA 237:16-c, to a family member or an individual with the same address listed in department of motor vehicle records, until such tolls and fees are paid. The director shall also notify the owner that he or she may request an administrative hearing before the suspension or prohibitions take effect. The hearing shall be limited in scope and shall not constitute an appeal of the fees or fines related to the unpaid tolls, which can only be determined by the department of transportation. A request for a hearing shall be in writing. A request for a hearing received by the division more than 30 days from the date the notice is issued shall be denied as untimely.
II. (a) The director shall, pursuant to RSA 541-A, adopt by rule, a uniform administrative fine schedule for suspension of registration privileges and reinstatement of those privileges. The fine for each suspension of registration privileges requested by the commissioner of transportation shall not exceed:
(1) $250 for a first requested suspension.
(2) $500 for a second offense within a 12-month period from the time of the first requested suspension.
(3) $1,000 for a third or subsequent offense within a 12-month period from the time of the first requested suspension.
(b) The commissioner of safety, in proven cases of hardship or for other good cause, may suspend all or part of any administrative fine for reinstatement of registration privileges so imposed. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, all administrative fines collected under this section shall be deposited into the highway fund.
III. The director shall adopt rules under RSA 260:5 establishing a uniform administrative hearing process.
IV. (a) The scope of the hearing shall be limited to:
(1) Whether the owner has paid all tolls and administrative fees owed to the department of transportation;
(2) Whether the report from the department of transportation correctly identified the owner of the vehicle at the time of the incident; or
(3) Whether the vehicle, identified as having violated the duty to pay a toll, had been reported as taken without the owner's consent, pursuant to RSA 262:12, or stolen to a law enforcement agency in a timely manner.
(b) A notice of violation may be based in whole or in part upon inspection of any photographic or other recorded image of a vehicle using the bridge or highway subject to a toll or charge. The written certification of any person employed by or under contract with the department of transportation that the notice is so based shall be admissible in any hearing held hereunder and shall create a rebuttable presumption that the owner is liable for such violation.
V. The owner's registration privileges shall be reinstated upon notice to the director from the department of transportation that all tolls, fees, and fines have been paid.
Source. 2004, 241:3. 2008, 84:1, 2; for effective date, see contingent 2008 amendment note set out below. 2019, 312:8, eff. Oct. 1, 2019. 2020, 33:18, eff. Sept. 22, 2020. 2022, 178:1, eff. Jan. 1, 2023.