Senate Bill No. 232
(By Senators McKenzie, Bowman and Barnes)
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[Introduced January 20, 2006; referred to the Committee
on Transportation and Infrastructure; and then to the Committee
on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §17A-3-1a of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to prohibiting a person
who
has recently taken up residence in the state who is in
possession of a motor vehicle for more than sixty days which
is registered to another person not residing in the state to
operate said vehicle in the state without a West Virginia
registration and title.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17A-3-1a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. ORIGINAL AND RENEWAL OF REGISTRATION; ISSUANCE OF
CERTIFICATES OF TITLE.
§17A-3-1a. Registration of vehicles of new residents.
(a) Every owner of a motor vehicle, trailer or other vehicle, shall, within thirty days after taking up residence in
the state, apply to the division and obtain registration and
title for the vehicle.
(b) No person taking up residence in the state who is in
possession of a motor vehicle, trailer or other vehicle for more
than sixty days which is registered to another person not
residing in the state, may operate that vehicle in the state
without a West Virginia registration and title for the vehicle.
(b) (c) For the purposes of this chapter there is a
rebuttable presumption that a natural person is a resident of
this state if any of the following elements exist including, but
not limited to:
(1) The person is registered to vote in this state.
(2) The person enrolls the person's child to be educated in
a public elementary or secondary school in this state.
(3) The person is receiving public assistance from this
state.
(4) The person resides or has continuously remained in this
state for a period exceeding thirty days except for infrequent or
brief absences.
(5) The person has accepted employment or engages in any
trade, profession, or occupation within this state, except that
this does not include a person who is commuting from the person's
residence in another state or whose employment is seasonal or temporary, not exceeding ninety days.
(6) The person has filed for a homestead tax exemption on
property in this state.
"Resident" does not include a person who is attending a
college, university or other educational institution in this
state, if the person has a domicile in another state and has a
valid operator's license and vehicle registration issued by the
state of domicile. "Resident" also does not include members of
the armed forces that are stationed in West Virginia providing
that their vehicles are properly registered in their state of
residence or a member of the armed forces stationed in another
state or country providing that their vehicles are properly
registered in that state or country.
A corporation, association, partnership, company or firm
whose principal place of business is located within this state is
a resident of this state.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to vehicles
registered under proportional registration agreement.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to prevent a new resident
of the state from avoiding purchase of a West Virginia license
plate by claiming that the vehicle is "borrowed" from a resident
of another state. This bill prohibits a person who
has newly
taken up residence in the state who is in possession of a motor
vehicle for more than sixty days which is registered to another
person not residing in the state, to operate that vehicle in the
state without a West Virginia registration and title.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.