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.