Senate Bill No. 47
(By Senators Bailey and Caldwell)
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[Introduced January 9, 2002; referred to the Committee
on Transportation; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section eight, article ten, chapter
seventeen-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to vehicles exempt
from payment of registration fees; and extending the
exemption to apply to certain other vehicles owned or
operated by senior centers, councils on aging, sheltered
workshops, community action groups and head start programs.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section eight, article ten, 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:
ARTICLE 10. FEES FOR REGISTRATION, LICENSING, ETC.
§17A-10-8. Vehicles exempt from payment of registration fees.
The following specified vehicles shall be exempt from the
payment of any registration fees:
(1) Any vehicle owned or operated by the United States
government, the state of West Virginia or any of their political
subdivisions. The proper representative of the United States
government, the state of West Virginia, or any of their
political subdivisions shall make an application for
registration for the vehicle and the registration plate or
plates issued for the vehicle shall be displayed as provided in
this chapter;
(2) Any fire vehicle owned or operated by a volunteer fire
department organized for the protection of community property;
(3) Any ambulance or any other emergency rescue vehicle
owned or operated by a nonprofit, charitable organization, and
used exclusively for charitable purposes;
(4) Any vehicle owned by a disabled veteran as defined by
the provisions of Public Law 663 of the 79th Congress of the
United States, or Public Law 187 of the 82nd Congress of the
United States, or Public Law 77 of the 90th Congress of the
United States; except for vehicles used for hire which are owned
by disabled veterans;
(5) Not more than one vehicle owned by a veteran with a
hundred percent total and permanent service-connected disability as certified by the director of the Department of Veterans'
Affairs of West Virginia and not used for commercial purposes;
(6) Not more than one Class A or Class G vehicle, as defined
in section one of this article, owned by a former prisoner of
war and not used for commercial purposes. For purposes of this
subdivision, the term "prisoner of war" means any member of the
armed forces of the United States, including the United States
coast guard and national guard, who was held by any hostile
force with which the United States was actually engaged in armed
conflict during any period of the incarceration; or any person,
military or civilian, assigned to duty on the U.S.S. Pueblo who
was captured by the military forces of North Korea on the
twenty-third of January, one thousand nine hundred sixty-eight,
and thereafter held prisoner; except any person who, at any
time, voluntarily, knowingly and without duress, gave aid to or
collaborated with or in any manner served any such hostile
force; and
(7) Not more than one Class A or Class G vehicle, as defined
in section one of this article, owned by a recipient of the
congressional medal of honor and not used for commercial
purposes; and
(8) Any vehicle owned by senior centers, councils on aging,
sheltered workshops, community action groups and head start programs: Provided, That these groups or organizations must
maintain adequate liability insurance on all vehicles exempted
from the payment of the registration fee.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to extend the exemption
from payment of registration fees for certain vehicles owned or
operated by senior centers, councils on aging, sheltered
workshops, community action groups and head start programs.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.