Senate Bill No. 71
(By Senators Bowman, McKenzie, Kessler and Hunter)
____________
[Introduced January 12, 2007; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
____________
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 state resident in possession for more than sixty days
of a motor vehicle, trailer or other vehicle registered to a person
in another state may operate that vehicle in this 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 new state resident in
possession for more than sixty days of a motor vehicle registered
to a nonstate resident to operate that vehicle in this 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.