ENROLLED

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE

FOR

Senate Bill No. 355

(Senators Ross and Sharpe, original sponsors)

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[Passed March 9, 1999; to take effect July 1, 1999.]

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AN ACT to amend and reenact section two, article three, chapter seventeen-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to amend and reenact section three, article six-b of said chapter, all relating to eliminating two special revenue accounts maintained by the division of motor vehicles; and allowing assessors to retain the entire fee for farm-use exemption certificates.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section two, article three, chapter seventeen-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that section three, article six-b of said chapter be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. ORIGINAL AND RENEWAL OF REGISTRATION; ISSUANCE OF CERTIFICATES OF TITLE.

§17A-3-2. Every motor vehicle, etc., subject to registration and certificate of title provisions; exceptions.

(a) Every motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer and recreational vehicle when driven or moved upon a highway shall be is subject to the registration and certificate of title provisions of this chapter except:
(1) Any vehicle driven or moved upon a highway in conformance with the provisions of this chapter relating to manufacturers, transporters, dealers, lienholders or nonresidents or under a temporary registration permit issued by the department division as hereinafter authorized under this chapter;
(2) Any implement of husbandry upon which is securely attached a machine for spraying fruit trees and plants of the owner or lessee or for any other implement of husbandry which is used exclusively for agricultural or horticultural purposes on lands owned or leased by the owner thereof of the implement and which is not operated on or over any public highway of this state for any other purpose other than for the purpose of operating it across a highway or along a highway other than an expressway as designated by the commissioner of the division of highways from one point of the owner's land to another part thereof of the owner's land, irrespective of whether or not the tracts adjoin: Provided, That the distance between the points may not exceed twenty-five miles, or for the purpose of taking it or other fixtures thereto attached to the implement, to and from a repair shop for repairs. The foregoing exemption in this subdivision from registration and license requirements shall also apply also applies to any vehicle hereinbefore described in this subsection or to any farm trailer owned by the owner or lessee of the farm on which the trailer is used, when the trailer is used by the owner thereof of the trailer for the purpose of moving farm produce and livestock from the farm along a public highway for a distance not to exceed twenty-five miles to a storage house or packing plant, when the use is a seasonal operation:
(A) The exemptions contained in this section shall also apply to farm machinery and tractors: Provided, That the machinery and tractors may use the highways in going from one tract of land to another tract of land regardless of whether the land be is owned by the same or different persons;
(B) Any vehicle exempted hereunder under this subsection from the requirements of annual registration certificate and license plates and fees therefor for the registration certificate and license plate may not be permitted to use the highways between sunset and sunrise;
(C) Any vehicle exempted hereunder under this section from the requirements of annual registration certificate and license plates shall be permitted to may use the highways as herein provided in this section whether the exempt vehicle is self-propelled, towed by another exempt vehicle or towed by another vehicle for which registration is required to be registered;
(D) Any vehicle used as an implement of husbandry exempt hereunder must under this section shall have the words "farm use" affixed to both sides of the implement in ten inch letters. Any vehicle which would be subject to registration as a Class A or B vehicle if not exempted by this section shall display a farm-use exemption certificate on the lower driver's side of the windshield:
(i) The farm-use exemption certificate shall be provided by the commissioner and shall be issued annually by the assessor of the applicant's county of residence. The assessor shall issue a farm-use exemption certificate to the applicant upon his or her determination pursuant to an examination of the property books or documentation provided by the applicant that the vehicle has been properly assessed as Class I personal property. The assessor shall charge a fee of two dollars for each certificate, one dollar of the fee which shall be retained by the assessor; and one dollar shall be remitted by the assessor to the commissioner of the division of motor vehicles to be deposited in a special revolving fund to be used in the administration of this section.
(ii) A farm-use exemption certificate in no way exempts shall not exempt the applicant from maintaining the security as required by chapter seventeen-d of this code on any vehicle being operated on the roads or highways of this state;
(iii) No person charged with the offense of operating a vehicle without a farm-use exemption certificate, if required under this section, shall may be convicted of the offense if he or she produces in court, or in the office of the arresting officer, a valid farm-use exemption certificate for the vehicle in question within five days;
(3) Any vehicle which is propelled exclusively by electric power obtained from overhead trolley wires though not operated upon rails;
(4) Any vehicle of a type subject to registration which is owned by the government of the United States;
(5) Any wrecked or disabled vehicle which is being towed by a licensed wrecker or dealer on the public highways of this state;
(6) The following recreational vehicles shall be are exempt from the requirements of annual registration, license plates and fees, unless otherwise specified by law, but shall be are subject to the certificate of title provisions of this chapter regardless of highway use: Motorboats, all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles; and
(7) Any special mobile equipment as defined in subsection (r), section one, article one of this chapter.
(b) The provisions of this article relating to recreational vehicles shall become effective on the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-nine.
(c) (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections subsection (a) and (b) of this section:
(1) Mobile homes or manufactured homes are exempt from the requirements of annual registration, license plates and fees;
(2) House trailers may be registered and licensed; and
(3) Factory-built homes are subject to the certificate of title provisions of this chapter.
ARTICLE 6B. LICENSE SERVICES.

§17A-6B-3. Fee required for license certificate; special fund created.

(a) The initial application fee for a certificate to engage in the license service business is twenty-five dollars. The renewal fee for such the certificate is twenty-five dollars.
(b) There is hereby created in the treasury a special fund, named the "motor vehicle license service administration fund," into which shall be paid all of the initial licensing fees, the renewal licensing fees, and certified copies fees. The commissioner of motor vehicles shall use the moneys in this account to administer and enforce the provisions of this article.