H. B. 2421

(By Delegates Kelley, Jenkins, Hunt and Seacrist)
[Introduced February 9, 1995; referred to the
Committee on Roads and Transportation then Finance.]

A BILL to amend and reenact section three, article three, chapter seventeen-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to reducing the fee for registration of Class A vehicles by two dollars if the application is submitted through the mail.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section three, article three, chapter seventeen-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
§17A-3-3. Application for registration; statement of insurance
or other proof o

f security to accompany application; criminal penalties; fees; special revolving fund.
~~(a)~~ Every owner of a vehicle subject to registration hereunder shall make application to the department for the registration thereof upon the appropriate form or forms furnished by the department and every such application shall bear the signature of the owner or his authorized agent, written with pen and ink, and said application shall contain:
(1) The name, bona fide residence and mailing address of the owner, the county in which he resides, or business address of the owner if a firm, association or corporation.
(2) A description of the vehicle including, insofar as the hereinafter specified data may exist with respect to a given vehicle, the make, model, type of body, the manufacturer's serial or identification number or other number as determined by the commissioner.
(3) In the event a motor vehicle is designed, constructed, converted or rebuilt for the transportation of property, the application shall include a statement of its declared gross weight if such motor vehicle is to be used alone, or if such motor vehicle is to be used in combination with other vehicles, the application for registration of such motor vehicle shall include a statement of the combined declared gross weight of such motor vehicle and the vehicles to be drawn by such motor vehicle; declared gross weight being the weight declared by the owner to be the actual combined weight of the vehicle or combination of vehicles and load when carrying the maximum load which the owner intends to place thereon; and the application for registration of each such vehicle shall also include a statement of the distance between the first and last axles of that vehicle or combination of vehicles. The declared gross weight stated in the application shall not exceed the permissible gross weight for the axle spacing listed therein as determined by the table of permissible gross weights contained in chapter seventeen-c of this code; and any vehicle registered for a declared gross weight as stated in the application shall be subject to the single-axle load limit set forth in chapter seventeen-c of this code.
(4) Each such applicant shall state whether such vehicle is or is not to be used in the public transportation of passengers or property, or both, for compensation, and if so used, or to be used, the applicants shall so certify, and shall, as a condition precedent to the registration of such vehicle, obtain a certificate of convenience, or permit from the public service commission.
(5) A statement under penalty of false swearing that liability insurance is in effect within limits which shall be no less than the requirement of section two, article four, chapter seventeen-d of this code, which statement shall contain the name of the applicant's insurer, the name of the agent or agency which issued the policy and the effective date of the policy, and such other information as may be required by the commissioner of motor vehicles, or that the applicant has qualified as a self-insurer meeting the requirements of section two, article six, chapter seventeen-d of the code and that as a self-insurer he has complied with the minimum security requirements as established in section two, article four of said chapter seventeen-d, or that such applicant has submitted bond or other security approved by the commissioner of motor vehicles which shall provide the equivalent of the policy of insurance herein specified, or that the applicant has submitted the required cash or other securities with the state treasurer as set forth in the provisions of section sixteen, article four of said chapter seventeen-d of this code.
In the case of a periodic use or seasonal vehicle, as defined in section three, article two-a, chapter seventeen-d, the owner may provide, in lieu of other statements required by this section, a statement, under penalty of false swearing, that liability insurance is in effect during the portion of the year the vehicle is in actual use, within limits which shall be no less than the requirements of section two, article four, chapter seventeen-d of this code, and other information relating to the seasonal use, on a form designed and provided by the department.
The department shall periodically select for verification, on a random sample basis, not fewer than one percent of the statements of liability insurance required by this section. When a statement is selected for verification, the department shall forward the information provided on the statement to the listed insurer. The insurer shall notify the department, by such form as the commissioner may require, within thirty calendar days if the liability insurance is not in effect, as required by this section.
The department may select for verification any statement of liability insurance submitted by a person who has previously been convicted of violating the provisions of section three, article two-a, chapter seventeen-d of this code, or whose statements of liability insurance have previously been found to be incorrect. The department may also determine the correctness of information relating to proof of other security satisfying the requirements of this section.
If the department determines through the verification process that there is no liability insurance in effect, then within fifteen days of receipt of notice from the insurer, the commissioner of motor vehicles shall inform the registrant that the department of motor vehicles has received the notice from the insurer. This information shall be sent by regular mail and shall request verification of insurance or a statement from the registrant, under penalty of false swearing, that cancellation will not result in the operation of an uninsured vehicle upon the highways of this state, and this verification shall be returned to the commissioner within twenty days of the date of mailing. Following the twenty-day period, if the registrant has not responded, then the commissioner shall send a notice of pending suspension to the registrant by certified mail. The notice of pending suspension shall grant the registrant an additional twenty days from the date of the mailing to provide verification of insurance or other requested information to the commissioner. Following this twenty-day period, an order of suspension shall be directed to the superintendent by the commissioner as provided in section seven, article nine, chapter seventeen-a of this code: Provided, That whenever the commissioner determines that the vehicle was actually insured despite the receipt of a notice from the insurer, and the registrant, under penalty of false swearing produces a statement that cancellation will not result in the operation of an uninsured vehicle upon the highways of this state, or produces verification of insurance, suspension shall be withdrawn and any fees collected by the state shall be returned. The registrant shall be given notice and afforded an opportunity for hearing and judicial review thereof in accordance with the provisions of subsection (c), section seven, article two, chapter seventeen-d of this code.
If any person making an application required under the provisions of this section, therein knowingly provides false information, false proof of security or a false statement of insurance, or if any person, including an applicant's insurance agent, knowingly counsels, advises, aids or abets another in providing false information, false proof of security, or a false statement of insurance in such application, he is guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars, or be imprisoned in the county jail for a period not to exceed fifteen days, or both fined and imprisoned, and in addition to such fine or imprisonment shall have his operator's or chauffeur's license and vehicle registration suspended for a period of six months.
(6) Such further information as may reasonably be required by the department to enable it to determine whether the vehicle is lawfully entitled to registration.
(7) Each such application for registration shall be accompanied by the fees hereafter provided, and an additional fee of one dollar for each motor vehicle for which the applicant seeks registration, ~~such fee to~~ except that the fee for initial or renewed registration of Class A vehicles shall be two dollars less than is otherwise required if the application is submitted through the United States Postal Service. The additional fee of one dollar per vehicle as provided for above shall be deposited in a special revolving fund for the operation by the department of its functions established by the provisions of article two-a, chapter seventeen-d of this code: Provided, That on the first day of July, ~~one~~ one thousand nine hundred eighty-five, the additional fee will ~~reduce~~ be reduced to and remain at fifty cents.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide a discount of two dollars for persons who obtain or renew their Class A vehicle registration through the mail.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.