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.