Dear jclazyd-ga;
Thank you for allowing me to answer your interesting question.
The answer depends in part on the circumstances under which you
acquired your South Carolina driver license. Under Florida law a
driver license suspension requires a mandatory surrender of one?s
driver license.
Title XXIII
MOTOR VEHICLES Chapter 322
DRIVERS' LICENSES
322.059 Mandatory surrender of suspended driver's license and registration
http://www.flsenate.gov/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=Ch0322/SEC059.HTM&Title=->2005->Ch0322->Section%20059#0322.059
If you obtained your South Carolina license under the premise that you
were already a valid license holder in Florida then your South
Carolina license is actually invalid. If the police should stop you
for a minor violation and you present your South Carolina license then
you probably will not be discovered as a suspended driver in Florida.
The reasoning behind this is because the routine check of the
out-of-state driver license will be requested through South Carolina?s
crime network CJIS, (The South Carolina Criminal Justice Information
and Communications System). However, if you are involved in an
accident or, heaven forbid, get another DUI or find yourself arrested
for some other offense, a more thorough check will be done including
one locally through FCIC (Florida Crime Information Center System) as
well as NCIC (the National Crime Information Center) which will reveal
your prior offense including your current Florida suspension. This in
turn will also reveal that the South Carolina drivers license you
THOUGHT was valid really isn?t because you failed to comply with the
mandatory surrender set forth in Florida statute 322.059.
The bottom line here is (somehow) your Florida suspension fell through
the cracks and South Carolina, who happens to be a member of the
Nonresident Violator Compact (NRVC) (as is Florida). As such, South
Carolina would recognize and enforce Florida?s suspension against you
if they had known about it. The result would have been a denial at the
time you applied for your South Carolina license.
Such a denial of licensure is covered in South Carolina Code 56-1-40
which says, in part:
?The department may not issue a motor vehicle driver's license to or
renew the driver's license of a person?.whose driver's license or
privilege to operate a motor vehicle currently is suspended or revoked
in this State or another jurisdiction??
SOUTH CAROLINA CODE
http://www.scstatehouse.net/code/t56c001.htm
The bottom line is that, since your South Carolina license is most
likely invalid (if someone were to look into this deeper they would
discover this), that you are technically not a valid licensed driver
IN EITHER STATE. This of course means that you stand as much of a
chance of getting into serious trouble by getting stopped by the
police in South Carolina as you do if you were to get stopped in
Florida. My guess (from my 20+ years of law enforcement experience) is
that through a disclosure from your insurance company or in your
attempt to renew your SC license at some point, that this error on the
part of South Carolina DMV (assuming that?s how it happened) will
eventually be caught by the DMV and your Florida suspension will
eventually be found out. Don?t be surprised if you receive a letter
some day advising you that your SC licensed has been revoked as
invalid (because, as I said, technically it is). Until then it would
behoove you to drive cautiously ? if at all.
I hope you find that my answer exceeds your expectations. If you have
any questions about my research please post a clarification request
prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating and your
final comments and I look forward to working with you again in the
near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher
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