§ 41-6a-502.5. Impaired driving -- Penalty -- Reporting of convictions -- Sentencing requirements.

(1) With the agreement of the prosecutor, a plea to a class B misdemeanor violation of Section 41-6a-502 committed on or after July 1, 2008, may be entered as a conviction of impaired driving under this section if:

(a) the defendant completes court ordered probation requirements; or

(b)

(i) the prosecutor agrees as part of a negotiated plea; and

(ii) the court finds the plea to be in the interest of justice.

(2) A conviction entered under this section is a class B misdemeanor.

(3)

(a)

(i) If the entry of an impaired driving plea is based on successful completion of probation under Subsection (1)(a), the court shall enter the conviction at the time of the plea.

(ii) If the defendant fails to appear before the court and establish successful completion of the court ordered probation requirements under Subsection (1)(a), the court shall enter an amended conviction of Section 41-6a-502.

(iii) The date of entry of the amended order under Subsection (3)(a)(ii) is the date of conviction.

(b) The court may enter a conviction of impaired driving immediately under Subsection (1)(b).

(4) For purposes of Section 76-3-402, the entry of a plea to a class B misdemeanor violation of Section 41-6a-502 as impaired driving under this section is a reduction of one degree.

(5)

(a) The court shall notify the Driver License Division of each conviction entered under this section.

(b) Beginning on July 1, 2012, a court shall, monthly, send to the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing, created in Section 58-1-103, a report containing the name, case number, and, if known, the date of birth of each person convicted during the preceding month of a violation of this section for whom there is evidence that the person was driving while impaired, in whole or in part, by a prescribed controlled substance.

(6)

(a) The provisions in Subsections 41-6a-505(1), (2), and (3) that require a sentencing court to order a convicted person to participate in a screening, an assessment, or an educational series, or obtain substance abuse treatment or do a combination of those things, apply to a conviction entered under this section.

(b) The court shall render the same order regarding screening, assessment, an educational series, or substance abuse treatment in connection with a first, second, or subsequent conviction under this section as the court would render in connection with applying respectively, the first, second, or subsequent conviction requirements of Subsection 41-6a-505(1), (2), or (3).

(7)

(a) Except as provided in Subsection (7)(b), a report authorized by Section 53-3-104 may not contain any evidence of a conviction for impaired driving in this state if the reporting court notifies the Driver License Division that the defendant is participating in or has successfully completed the program of a driving under the influence court.

(b) The provisions of Subsection (7)(a) do not apply to a report concerning:

(i) a CDL license holder; or

(ii) a violation that occurred in a commercial motor vehicle.

Amended by Chapter 109, 2010 General Session