Senate passes bill to require courts and DOT to track driver improvement course completion

Senate File 27, a bill requiring courts and the Department of Transportation (DOT) to share information about court-ordered driver improvement courses and to record course completion in DOT’s electronic database, passed the Senate on a roll call after brief debate.

The bill requires the DOT to include in its electronic database whether a person has been ordered to take a driver improvement course and whether the person completed that course. When a judicial branch orders a person to take a driver improvement course, the clerk of court must notify DOT of the order and notify DOT within 10 days of completion, the bill says.

Supporters framed the bill as a technical update to existing practice. Senator Klimesh of Winneshiek, who opened discussion on the bill, said it would add “details indicating if a person has undergone a driver improvement course and if they completed the action.” Senator Bennett of Linn said he had served on the bill’s subcommittee and called the change “a reasonable inclusion in our databases.”

There was no extended debate. Senator Klimesh moved that Senate File 27 be read for the final time and placed on its passage; the motion carried. The roll call showed the measure passed with 47 votes in favor and zero opposed; the title was agreed to and the bill will be messaged to the House.

Senate File 27 makes no change to who may be ordered to take a course or to penalty structures; it only prescribes data reporting and recordkeeping obligations between courts and DOT.

Votes at a glance for this item: motion to read and place on passage moved by Senator Klimesh; recorded roll call result 47–0 in favor.