H. B. 2767
(By Delegates Smirl and Johnson)
[Introduced February 24, 1995; referred to the
Committee on Roads and Transportation then Finance.]
A BILL to amend article six-b, chapter seventeen-a of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
ten-a, relating to allowing a license service to issue
vehicle registration renewals; application for registration
plates or decals; accountability; maintenance of records;
payment of collected fees and report; prohibitions on
issuance of registration plates or decals; suspension of
right to issue renewal registrations; fees for services; and
access to division's computer.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article six-b, chapter seventeen-a of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
ten-a, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6B. LICENSE SERVICES.
§17A-6B-10a. License services authorized to issue renewals of
registration of motor vehicles.
(a) A license service, subject to the limitations and
conditions set forth in this section, may receive applications
for renewal of any vehicle registration. The license service
shall also issue the renewals of registration in accordance with
all of the provisions in article three of this chapter pertaining
to renewal of vehicle registration including, but not limited to,
the payment of the taxes and fees required under article three of
this chapter.
(b) Application by a license service to the commissioner for
registration plates or decals shall be made on the form
prescribed and furnished by the commissioner for that purpose and
shall be accompanied by a fee of three dollars for each registration plate or decal. No refund or credit of fees paid by
license services to the commissioner for registration plates or
decals shall be allowed.
(c) The commissioner shall provide each licensing service
with the necessary forms, supplies, registration plates,
registration decals and instructions necessary to enable it to
perform the duties and functions specified in this section.
(d) No registration plates or decals may be delivered to any
license service until the license service has fully accounted to
the commissioner for the registration plates or decals last
delivered to the license service, by showing the number issued to
purchasers by the license service and any on hand.
(e) Every license service who has made application for and
received registration plates or decals shall maintain in
permanent form a record of all registration plates or decals
delivered to the licensee, a record of all registration plates or
decals issued, and a record of any other information pertaining
to the receipt or the issuance of registration plates or decal
the commissioner may require. Each record shall be kept for a period of at least three years from the date of the making of the
record.
(f) The application, fees and taxes shall be postmarked or
submitted to the division of motor vehicles within forty-eight
hours after issuance of the registration plate or decal. The
payment shall be accompanied by a report showing the name of the
county, the name and address of the person who obtained the
registration and paid the registration fee therefor, the vehicle
registered, the registration number, the date the registration
was issued, the signature of the licensee and any other
information the commissioner may reasonably require in order to
maintain the functions and records of the division. The
commissioner shall deposit all fees he or she receives from the
licensing services businesses for renewal of registrations in the
state treasury to the credit of the state road fund as provided
in section twenty-one, article two of this chapter.
(g) A license service shall not issue, assign or deliver a
registration plate or to anyone other than the bona fide
applicant for renewal of title and registration of the vehicle to be registered. Not more than one registration plate or decal
shall be issued to the same bona fide applicant for the same
vehicle. A license service shall not issue a registration plate
or decal to anyone possessed of an annual registration plate for
a vehicle which has been sold or exchanged. A license service
shall not lend to anyone, or use on any vehicle which he may own,
a registration plate or decal.
(h) No license service shall issue, assign or deliver a
registration plate or decal to anyone unless and until the
license service has physical possession of the application and
appropriate fees and taxes of the vehicle for which the
registration is being renewed.
(i) If the commissioner finds that the provisions of this
section or his or her directions are not being complied with by
a license service, he or she may suspend the right of the license
service to issue registration plates or decals.
(j) A license service may charge a fee not to exceed five
dollars for issuing a registration plate or decal.
(k) In order that a license service may comply with the provisions of this section and this article, the commissioner
shall provide the license service with the ability to access
information in the division's computer data base through the
license service's computer: Provided, That the license service
shall pay all costs of obtaining computer access to the
division's computer.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow a license
service to issue renewals of registration. It also requires the
Commissioner of Motor Vehicles to allow a business access to the
Division of Motor Vehicles for the purpose of retrieving
information.
Section 10a is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.