NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1979 SESSION

CHAPTER 1160

HOUSE BILL 1378

AN ACT TO REQUIRE BREATHALYZER HEARINGS IN SUPERIOR COURT OF JUDICIAL DISTRICT WHERE THE ARREST OCCURRED.

Whereas, the trial of the criminal offense arising out of acts alleged to have been committed while the person was driving or operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor is conducted in the county where the offense occurred; and

Whereas, G.S. 20-16.2(d) requires the hearing involving a revocation for refusal to take the breathalyzer test to be heard before a hearing officer of the Division of Motor Vehicles in the county where the arrest was made; and

Whereas, a person whose driver's license has been revoked for refusing to take the breathalyzer test has the right to file a petition for a hearing in the superior court of the county wherein such person resides under the provisions of G.S. 20-25; and

Whereas, hearings involving revocations for refusal to take the breathalyzer test require the presence of the arresting officer and breathalyzer operator as witnesses, but the majority of other hearings for various suspensions and revocations require only certified copies of records of the Division of Motor Vehicles and/or court records; and

Whereas, under existing law overnight travel is sometimes required of law enforcement officers from coastal areas to mountainous areas and vice versa; and witness' fees and travel allowances will not reimburse the officers for actual expenses; and

Whereas, the required presence of law enforcement officers in distant counties for such hearings sometimes leave small municipalities without adequate police protection; and

Whereas, the present procedure deters the enforcement of G.S. 20-16.2; Now, therefore,

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.  G.S. 20-16.2(e), as it appears in the 1978 Replacement Volume 1C of the General Statutes, is amended by striking the period at the end thereof and adding the words, "except that such hearing shall be conducted in the judicial district where the arrest was made."

Sec. 2.  This act is effective on October 1, 1980.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 23rd day of June, 1980.