SECOND REGULAR SESSION

HOUSE BILL NO. 1588

91ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE TROUPE.

Read 1^st time January 23, 2002, and 1000 copies ordered printed.

TED WEDEL, Chief Clerk

3436L.01I

AN ACT

To repeal sections 301.130 and 301.135, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof two new sections relating to motor vehicle registration.

Section A. Sections 301.130 and 301.135, RSMo, are repealed and two new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 301.130 and 301.135, to read as follows:

301.130. 1. The director of revenue, upon receipt of a proper application for registration, required fees and any other information which may be required by law, shall issue to the applicant a certificate of registration in such manner and form as the director of revenue may prescribe and a set of license plates, or other evidence of registration, as provided herein. Each set of license plates shall bear the name or abbreviated name of this state, the words "SHOW-ME STATE", the month and year in which the registration shall expire, and an arrangement of numbers or letters, or both, as shall be assigned from year to year by the director of revenue. Special plates for qualified disabled veterans will have the "DISABLED VETERAN" wording on the license plates in preference to the words "SHOW-ME STATE" and special plates for members of the national guard will have the "NATIONAL GUARD" wording in preference to the words "SHOW-ME STATE".

2. The arrangement of letters and numbers of license plates shall be uniform throughout each classification of registration.

3. The background of all license plates, or the letters and numerals thereof, shall be coated with a material which will reflect the lights of other vehicles. The nature and specifications of this material shall be determined after a public hearing by the director of revenue, director of prison industries, and superintendent of the state highway patrol, and shall meet the standards established by the state transportation department.

4. Figures on license plates, except those which may be used to designate gross weights for which commercial motor vehicles are registered, shall not be less than three inches in height and the strokes thereof not less than five-sixteenths of an inch in width. In the case of motorcycles and motortricycles, the letters and figures shall be not less than one inch in height and the strokes thereof one-eighth of an inch in width. The director may provide for the arrangement of the numbers in groups or otherwise, and for other distinguishing marks on the plates.

5. All property-carrying commercial motor vehicles to be registered at a gross weight in excess of twelve thousand pounds, all passenger-carrying commercial motor vehicles, local transit buses, school buses, trailers, semitrailers, motorcycles, motortricycles, motorscooters and driveaway vehicles shall be registered with the director of revenue as provided for in subsection 3 of section 301.030, but only one license plate shall be issued for each such vehicle.

6. The plates issued to manufacturers and dealers shall bear the letter "D" preceding the number, and the director may place upon the plates other letters or marks to distinguish commercial motor vehicles and trailers and other types of motor vehicles.

7. No motor vehicle or trailer shall be operated on any highway of this state unless it shall have displayed thereon the license plate or set of license plates issued by the director of revenue and authorized by section 301.140. Each such plate shall be securely fastened to the motor vehicle in a manner so that all parts thereof shall be plainly visible and reasonably clean so that the reflective qualities thereof are not impaired. License plates shall be fastened to all motor vehicles except trucks, tractors, truck tractors or truck-tractors licensed in excess of twelve thousand pounds on the front and rear of such vehicles not less than eight nor more than forty-eight inches above the ground, with the letters and numbers thereon right side up. The license plates on trailers, motorcycles, motortricycles and motorscooters shall be displayed on the rear of such vehicles, with the letters and numbers thereon right side up. The license plate on trucks, tractors, truck tractors or truck-tractors licensed in excess of twelve thousand pounds shall be displayed on the front of such vehicles not less than eight nor more than forty-eight inches above the ground, with the letters and numbers thereon right side up. The license plate or plates authorized by section 301.140, when properly attached, shall be prima facie evidence that the required fees have been paid.

8. (1) The director of revenue shall issue annually a tab or set of tabs as evidence of the annual payment of registration fees and the current registration of a vehicle in lieu of the set of plates; except that the director shall annually issue a new license plate or set of plates as provided in this section for vehicles registered pursuant to subsection 2 of section 301.277, commercial motor vehicles in excess of twelve thousand pounds, trailers, buses and dealers.

(2) The vehicle owner to whom a tab or set of tabs is issued shall affix and display such tab or tabs on the middle of the license plate, no more than one per plate. Beginning January 1, 2003, an alternative tab design shall be available, at the option of the vehicle owner, for vehicle owners whose annual registration fees are set by section 301.055, whereby the tabs issued annually by the director of revenue pursuant to subsection 1 of this section shall be designed and manufactured so as to adhere to the inside of a motor vehicle's windshield and to be visible from the exterior of the vehicle, and shall be affixed by the vehicle owner to the interior side of the motor vehicle's rear windshield in the lower corner on the driver's side. Whenever a vehicle owner opts for a window tab, the director of revenue shall also issue a tab which reads "window tab" to be placed on the license plate in the space designated for renewal tabs. For all vehicle owners whose annual registration fees are set by any section other than section 301.055, the system of tab design and placement on the license plate shall continue as it was on the date this section was enacted.

(3) A tab or set of tabs issued by the director when attached to a vehicle in the prescribed manner shall be prima facie evidence that the registration fee for such vehicle has been paid.

(4) Except as provided in subdivision (1) of this subsection, the director of revenue shall issue plates for a period of at least five years.

(5) For those commercial motor vehicles and trailers registered pursuant to section 301.041, the plate issued by the director of revenue shall be a permanent nonexpiring license plate for which no tabs shall be issued. Nothing in this section shall relieve the owner of any vehicle permanently registered pursuant to this section from the obligation to pay the annual registration fee due for the vehicle. The permanent nonexpiring license plate shall be returned to the director of revenue upon the sale or disposal of the vehicle by the owner to whom the permanent nonexpiring license plate is issued, or the plate may be transferred to a replacement commercial motor vehicle when the owner files a supplemental application with the Missouri highway reciprocity commission for the registration of such replacement commercial motor vehicle. Upon payment of the annual registration fee, the director of revenue shall issue a certificate of registration or other suitable evidence of payment of the annual fee, and such evidence of payment shall be carried at all times in the vehicle for which it is issued.

(6) Upon the sale or disposal of any vehicle permanently registered under this section, or upon the termination of a lease of any such vehicle, the permanent nonexpiring plate issued for such vehicle shall be returned to the director and shall not be valid for operation of such vehicle, or the plate may be transferred to a replacement vehicle when the owner files a supplemental application with the Missouri highway reciprocity commission for the registration of such replacement vehicle. If a vehicle which is permanently registered under this section is sold, wrecked or otherwise disposed of, or the lease terminated, the registrant shall be given credit for any unused portion of the annual registration fee when the vehicle is replaced by the purchase or lease of another vehicle during the registration year.

9. The director of revenue may prescribe rules and regulations for the effective administration of this section. No rule or portion of a rule promulgated under the authority of this section shall become effective unless it has been promulgated pursuant to the provisions of section 536.024, RSMo.

301.135. Any motor vehicle which is eligible for permanent registration pursuant to the provisions of section 301.131 may also be licensed by the owner thereof with personalized license plates in the same manner as that otherwise provided by law. Such registration and license plates shall be made and issued only upon the payment of an annual fee equivalent to that regularly charged for personalized license plates in addition to the one-time permanent registration fee authorized by section 301.131. Such license plates may have a tab or other identifying characteristics to readily show the year for which issued. Effective January 1, 2003, an alternative tab design shall be available, at the option of the vehicle owner, whereby the tab is designed and manufactured so as to adhere to the inside of a motor vehicle's windshield and to be visible from the exterior of the vehicle, and if so designed and manufactured shall be affixed by the vehicle owner to the interior side of the motor vehicle's rear windshield in the lower corner on the driver's side. Whenever a vehicle owner opts for a window tab, the director of revenue shall also issue a tab which reads "window tab" to be placed on the licence plate in the space designated for renewal tabs.

Missouri House of Representatives