H. B. 3310
(By Delegates Barker, Hrutkay and R. Thompson)
[Introduced March 25, 2005; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §17A-9-7 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to transferring the enforcement
powers from the state police to the county sheriff when a
person fails to maintain liability insurance; assessing an
additional hundred dollar fee to reinstate a persons
registration for failure to maintain liability insurance; and
allocating eighty percent of the hundred dollars to the county
sheriff and the remaining twenty dollars to the Department of
Motor Vehicles.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17A-9-7 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 9. OFFENSES AGAINST REGISTRATION LAWS AND SUSPENSION OR
REVOCATION OF REGISTRATION.
§17A-9-7. Surrender of evidences of registration, etc., upon cancellation, suspension or revocation; willful
failure or refusal to surrender; fee for
reinstatement.
Whenever the registration of a vehicle, a certificate of
title, a registration card, registration plate or plates, a
temporary registration plate or marker, the right to issue
temporary registration plates or markers, any nonresident or other
permit, or any license certificate or dealer special plates issued
under the provisions of article six of this chapter, is canceled,
suspended or revoked as authorized in this chapter, the owner,
holder or other person in possession of the evidences of the
registration, title, permit or license or any special dealer plates
shall, except as otherwise provided in article six of this chapter,
immediately return the evidences of the registration, title, permit
or license that was canceled, suspended or revoked, together with
any dealer special plates relating to any license certificate, or
any dealer special plate or plates if only the dealer special plate
is suspended, to the Division: Provided, That the owner or holder
shall, before reinstatement, pay a fee of ten dollars in addition
to all other fees, which shall be collected by the Division and
credited to a Special Revolving Fund in the State Treasury to be
appropriated to the Division for use in enforcement of the
provisions of this code.
If any person willfully fails or refuses to return to the Division the evidences of the registration, title, permit or
license that have been canceled, suspended or revoked, or any
dealer special plates, when obligated so to do as provided in this
section, the Commissioner shall immediately notify the
superintendent of the state police county sheriff of the county
where the person resides, who shall, as soon as possible, secure
possession of the evidence of registration, title, permit or
license or any special dealer plates and return it to the Division.
The superintendent of the state police county sheriff shall make a
report in writing to the Commissioner, within two weeks after being
notified by the Commissioner, as to the result of his or her
efforts to secure the possession and return of the evidences of
registration, title, permit or license, or any dealer special
plates.
When a county sheriff or his or her designee secures
possession of a registration, title, permit or license or any
special dealer plates, there shall be an additional one hundred
dollar charge assessed to redeem a persons registration, title,
permit or license or any special dealer plates. Eighty percent of
the redemption charge shall be allocated to the county sheriff to
be used in the enforcement of this section, and twenty percent of
the redemption charge shall be allocated to the Department of Motor
Vehicles and deposited in the Special Revolving Fund in the State
Treasury to be appropriated to the Division for use in enforcement of the provisions of this code.
For each registration, certificate of title, registration
card, registration plate or plates, temporary registration plate or
marker, permit, license certificate or dealer special plate, which
the owner, holder or other person in possession of the
registration, title, permit or license or any special dealer plates
shall have willfully failed or refused, as provided in this
section, to return to the Division within ten days from the time
that the cancellation, suspension or revocation becomes effective,
and which has been certified to the superintendent of the state
police county sheriff as specified in this section, the owner or
holder shall, before the registration, title, permit or license or
any special dealer plates may be reinstated, if reinstatement is
permitted, in addition to all other fees and charges, pay a fee of
fifteen one hundred dollars, which shall be collected by the
Division of Motor Vehicles, paid into the state treasury and
credited to the general fund to be appropriated to the state police
county sheriff for application in the enforcement of the road laws.
A total of twenty-five dollars may be collected on each
reinstatement for each vehicle to which any cancellation,
suspension or revocation relates: Provided, That when any motor
vehicle registration is suspended for failure to maintain motor
vehicle liability insurance the reinstatement fee is one hundred
dollars, and if the vehicle owner fails to surrender the vehicle registration and the orders go to the state police county sheriff,
an additional fee of fifty dollars shall be required before the
motor vehicle registration may be reinstated. A total of one two
hundred fifty dollars may be collected on each reinstatement of any
motor vehicle registration canceled, suspended or revoked for
failure to maintain motor vehicle liability insurance.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to transfer the enforcement
powers from the state police to the county sheriff when a person
fails to maintain liability insurance; assessing an additional
hundred dollar fee to reinstate a persons registration for failure
to maintain liability insurance; and allocating eighty percent of
the hundred dollars to the county sheriff and the remaining twenty
dollars to the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.