Section NEW-5 - Summons or citation(a) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary and except as otherwise provided in this chapter, beginning January 1, 2025, whenever any motor vehicle is determined, by means of an automated speed enforcement system, to have exceeded the posted maximum speed limit by not less than five miles per hour in violation of section 291C-, the State's third-party contractor shall cause a summons or citation, as described in this section, to be sent by first-class mail, that is postmarked within ten calendar days after the date of the incident, to the registered owner of the motor vehicle at the address on record at the vehicle licensing division. If the end of the ten-calendar-day period falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday, then the ending period shall run until the end of the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday. The registered owner shall be determined by the identification of the motor vehicle license plate.(b) The form and content of the summons or citation shall be adopted or prescribed by the administrative judge of the district courts and printed on a form commensurate with the form of other summonses or citations used in modern methods of arrest that are designed to include all necessary information to make the summons or citation valid within the laws of the State; provided that any summons or citation issued pursuant to the automated speed enforcement systems program shall contain a clear and unobstructed photographic, digital, or other visual image of the motor vehicle license plate, and speed units measured by the speed reader that shall be used as evidence of the violation.(c) Every summons or citation shall be consecutively numbered and each copy thereof shall bear the number of its respective original.(d) Before mailing the summons or citation for a traffic infraction pursuant to subsection (a), the applicable county police department shall review and verify the validity of the clear and unobstructed photographic, digital, or other visual image of the license plate of the motor vehicle required under this section.(e) Upon receipt of the summons or citation, the registered owner shall respond as provided for in section 291D-6. A record of the mailing of the summons or citation prepared in the ordinary course of business shall be prima facie evidence of notification.(f) Procedures regarding answering a notice, court actions, and court hearings shall be pursuant to sections 291D-6, 291D-7, 291D-8, and 291D-13; provided that it shall not be a defense to any citation issued pursuant to this chapter that another person was driving the defendant's motor vehicle at the time of incident, unless the motor vehicle was stolen as documented by a police report; provided further that any reference to the defendant's commission of the traffic infraction or similar language shall be interpreted to mean commission of the traffic infraction.Added by L 2024, c 112,§ 2, eff. 7/1/2024.