§ 394 Drivers' schools
VTL § 394
1.Definitions. As used in this section:
(a)"Drivers' school" means the business of giving instruction for hire in driving motor vehicles or motorcycles.
(b)"Person" includes an individual, firm, corporation, partnership, joint venture, joint adventurer or association.
(c)"Place of business" means a designated location at which the business of a drivers' school is transacted and its records kept.
2.License. No person shall engage in the business of conducting a drivers' school without being the holder of a license for such purpose issued by the commissioner. An application for license under this section shall be filed with the commissioner and shall contain such information as he shall prescribe. Every such application shall be accompanied by an application fee of fifty dollars, which shall in no event be refunded. If an application is approved by the commissioner, the applicant upon the payment of an additional fee of five dollars for each month or fraction thereof from the date of issuance to the date of expiration prescribed by the commissioner, but in no event more than a total of fifty dollars, shall be granted a license which shall be valid until such date of expiration. The annual fee for renewal thereof shall be fifty dollars. Upon renewal, the commissioner may in his discretion issue a license which shall be valid for up to a two-year period. The fee for a two-year renewal shall be one hundred dollars. Fees for renewal of a license valid for a period of less than two years shall be prorated on a quarterly basis and any portion of a quarter shall be considered a quarter. The commissioner shall issue a license certificate to each licensee, which certificate shall be conspicuously displayed in the place of business of the licensee. In case of the loss, mutilation or destruction of a license certificate, the commissioner shall issue a duplicate thereof upon proof of the facts and payment of a fee of two dollars.
3.Place of business.
4.Refusal to issue a license. The commissioner may deny the application of any person for a license, if, in his discretion, he determines that:
(d)Such applicant has failed to furnish satisfactory evidence of good character, reputation and fitness;
(e)Such applicant does not have a place of business as required by this section;
(f)Such applicant is not the true owner of the drivers' school.
5.Suspension, revocation and refusal to renew a license. The commissioner, or any employee of the department of motor vehicles deputized by him, may suspend or revoke a license or refuse to issue a renewal thereof for any of the following causes:
Notwithstanding the renewal of a license, the commissioner may revoke or suspend such license for causes and violations, as prescribed by this section, occurring during the two license periods immediately preceding the renewal of such license.
The commissioner, or any person deputized by him, in addition to or in lieu of revoking or suspending a license to conduct a driving school in accordance with the provisions of this section, may by order require the licensee to pay to the people of this state a penalty in a sum not exceeding five hundred dollars for each violation, and upon the failure of such licensee to pay such penalty within twenty days after the mailing of such order, postage prepaid, registered or certified, and addressed to the last known place of business of such licensee, unless such order is stayed by a court of competent jurisdiction or in accordance with the provisions of article three-A of this chapter, the commissioner may revoke the license of such licensee or may suspend the same for such period as he may determine. Civil penalties assessed under this subdivision shall be paid to the commissioner for deposit into the state treasury, and unpaid civil penalties may be recovered by the commissioner in a civil action in the name of the commissioner. In addition, as an alternative to such civil action, and provided that no proceeding for judicial review shall then be pending and the time for initiation of such proceeding shall have expired, the commissioner may file with the county clerk of the county in which the licensee is located a final order of the commissioner containing the amount of the penalty assessed. The filing of such final order shall have the full force and effect of a judgment duly docketed in the office of such clerk and may be enforced in the same manner and with the same effect as that provided by law in respect to executions issued against property upon judgments of a court of record.
6.Hearing. Except where a refusal to issue a license or renewal, or revocation or suspension, is based solely on a court conviction or convictions, a licensee or applicant shall have an opportunity to be heard, such hearing to be held at such time and place as the commissioner shall prescribe. Provided, however, upon a written notice of temporary suspension delivered by certified mail to the licensee, a license may be temporarily suspended pending a hearing. Any such notice of temporary suspension shall provide that the suspension is effective seventy-two hours after mailing of such notice and shall provide that a hearing be scheduled within ten days after the effective date of the temporary suspension.
A licensee or applicant entitled to a hearing shall be given due notice thereof. The sending of a notice of a hearing by registered mail to the last known address of a licensee or applicant ten days prior to the date of the hearing shall be deemed due notice. The commissioner, or the person deputized by him to conduct a hearing, shall have power to subpoena witnesses, administer oaths to witnesses and take testimony of any person or cause his deposition to be taken. A subpoena issued under this section shall be regulated by the civil practice law and rules. Officers or employees in the department of taxation and finance, making service of such subpoenas are not entitled to fees and mileage.
7.Supervision; records. The commissioner shall approve the form of contract used by all licensees, and may prescribe reasonable rules governing the terms which may be included in such contracts. Every licensee shall keep such records as the commissioner may by regulation require. The records of the licensee shall be open to the inspection of the commissioner or his representatives at all times during reasonable business hours. The commissioner shall prescribe such reasonable rules and regulations as he may deem necessary to carry out the provisions of this section.
7-a. Certification of driving time. The commissioner shall establish by regulation a certification process by drivers' schools of the amount of time a holder of a learner's permit has spent operating a motor vehicle or motorcycle while under the immediate supervision of a driving instructor holding an instructor's certificate issued pursuant to subdivision eight of this section. A certificate issued pursuant to this section shall be deemed to be proof of all or a portion of the supervised driving experience required under certification pursuant to paragraph (d) of subdivision two of section five hundred two of this chapter.
8.Instructors.
8-a. Fees; deposited. Fees assessed under this section shall be paid to the commissioner for deposit to the general fund.
9.Employees. A licensee may employ, in connection with a driving school a person who has been convicted of a crime, in accordance with article twenty-three-A of the correction law.
10.Judicial review. The action of the commissioner in refusing to issue or renew, or revoking or suspending a license or instructor's certificate may be reviewed in a proceeding under article seventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules.
11.Penalties.
12.Unlicensed operation; procedures and penalties.
(ii)Any person who operates a drivers' school without being licensed as required by subdivision two of this section who has previously had a civil penalty assessed for unlicensed operation shall pay to the people of this state a civil penalty in the sum of one thousand dollars. Such civil penalty may not be avoided.
