321.40  Application for renewal — notification — reasons for refusal.
  1.  Application for renewal for a vehicle registered under this chapter shall be made on or after the first day of the month prior to the month of expiration of registration and up to and including the last day of the month following the month of expiration of registration. The application for renewal shall be submitted to the county treasurer of the county of the owner’s residence; or if a nonresident, to the county treasurer of the county where the primary users of the vehicle are located; or if a lessor of the vehicle pursuant to chapter 321F which has a gross vehicle weight of less than ten thousand pounds, to the county treasurer of the county of the lessee’s residence; or if a firm, association, or corporation with vehicles in multiple counties, to the county treasurer of the county where the primary user of the vehicle is located. The registration shall be renewed upon payment of the appropriate annual registration fee. Application for renewal for a vehicle registered under chapter 326 shall be made on or after the first day of the month prior to the month of expiration of registration and up to and including the last day of the month of expiration of registration.
  2.  On or before the fifteenth day of the eleventh month of a vehicle’s registration year, the department shall create an electronic file and the county treasurer shall send a statement of fees due to the appropriate owner of record. After the department has generated the electronic file used to produce statements for a registration month, and before the fifteenth day of the month following expiration of a vehicle’s registration year, the department shall create a subsequent electronic file and the county treasurer shall send a statement of fees due to the appropriate owner of record for any vehicle subsequently registered for that registration month. The statement shall be mailed or electronically transmitted to the most current address of record, showing information sufficient to identify the vehicle and a listing of the various fees as appropriate. Failure to receive a statement shall have no effect upon the accrual of penalty at the appropriate date.
  3.  Registration receipts issued for renewals shall have the word “renewal” imprinted thereon and, if the owner making a renewal application has been issued a certificate of title, the title number shall appear on the registration receipt. All registration receipts for renewals shall be typewritten or printed by other mechanical means. The applicant shall receive a registration receipt.
  4.  The county treasurer shall refuse to renew the registration of a vehicle registered to a person when notified by the department through the distributed teleprocessing network that the person has not paid restitution as defined under section 910.1, subsection 10, to a clerk of the court located within the state. Each clerk of court shall, on a daily basis, notify the department through the Iowa court information system of the full name and social security number of all persons who owe delinquent restitution and whose restitution obligation has been satisfied or canceled. This subsection does not apply to the transfer of a registration or the issuance of a new registration.
  5.  The county treasurer shall refuse to renew the registration of a vehicle registered to the applicant for renewal of registration if the applicant has failed to pay any local vehicle taxes due in that county on that vehicle or any other vehicle owned or previously owned by the applicant until such local vehicle taxes are paid.
  6.  a.  The department or the county treasurer shall refuse to renew the registration of a vehicle registered to the applicant if the department or the county treasurer knows that the applicant has a delinquent account, charge, fee, loan, taxes, or other indebtedness owed to or being collected by the state, from information provided pursuant to sections 421.17 and 421.65. An applicant may contest this action by initiating a contested case proceeding with the agency that referred the debt for collection pursuant to section 421.65. The department of revenue and the department of transportation shall notify the county treasurers through the distributed teleprocessing network of persons who owe such a delinquent account, charge, fee, loan, taxes, or other indebtedness.
  b.  A county treasurer, in cooperation with the department of revenue, may collect from a person applying for renewal of a vehicle registration delinquent taxes, including penalties and interest owed to the state, and nontax liabilities being collected by the central collection unit of the department of revenue pursuant to section 421.17, subsection 27. The applicant may remit full payment of the balance owed including applicable penalties and interest, along with a processing fee of five dollars, to the county treasurer at the time of registration renewal. Upon full payment of the required balance owed including applicable penalties and interest, the processing fee, and the vehicle registration fee, the county treasurer shall issue the registration to the person. A county treasurer collecting on behalf of the department of revenue shall update the vehicle registration records through the distributed teleprocessing network on a daily basis for all persons who have paid taxes or other balances owed pursuant to this subsection. A county treasurer shall forward all funds collected for the department of revenue to the department of revenue. 
  7.  a.  The department or the county treasurer shall refuse to renew the registration of a vehicle registered to an applicant if the department or the county treasurer knows that the applicant has not paid a civil penalty imposed on the applicant pursuant to section 321N.3, subsection 3. An applicant may contest this action by initiating a contested case proceeding with the department. The department shall notify the county treasurers through the distributed teleprocessing network of persons who have not paid such civil penalties.
  b.  The county treasurer of the county of an applicant’s residence and in which the applicant’s vehicle is registered, in cooperation with the department, may collect a civil penalty imposed on the applicant pursuant to section 321N.3, subsection 3, when the applicant applies for renewal of a vehicle registration. The applicant may remit full payment of the civil penalty, along with a processing fee of five dollars, to the county treasurer at the time of registration renewal. Upon full payment of the civil penalty, the processing fee, and the vehicle registration fee, the county treasurer shall issue the registration to the applicant. A county treasurer collecting a civil penalty on behalf of the department pursuant to this subsection shall update the vehicle registration records through the distributed teleprocessing network on a daily basis for all applicants who have paid civil penalties pursuant to this subsection. A county treasurer shall forward all funds collected on behalf of the department to the department.
  8.  The county treasurer shall refuse to renew the registration of a vehicle registered to an applicant if the county treasurer knows that the applicant has one or more uncontested, delinquent parking tickets issued pursuant to section 321.236, subsection 1, paragraph “b”, owing to the county, or owing to a city with which the county has an agreement authorized under section 331.553. However, a county treasurer may renew the registration if the treasurer determines that an error was made by the county or city in identifying the vehicle involved in the parking violation or if the citation has been dismissed as against the owner of the vehicle pursuant to section 321.484. This subsection does not apply to the transfer of a registration or the issuance of a new registration. Notwithstanding section 28E.10, a county treasurer may utilize the department’s vehicle registration and titling system to facilitate the purposes of this subsection.
  9.  When application is made for the renewal of a motor vehicle registration on or after December 1, 1982, the person in whose name the registration is recorded shall notify the county treasurer of the type of fuel used by the vehicle if the type of fuel used is different from that which is shown on the registration receipt. If a motor vehicle registration indicates that the vehicle uses or may use a special fuel as defined in chapter 452A the county treasurer shall issue a special fuel user identification sticker. The person who owns or controls the vehicle shall affix the sticker in a prominent place on the vehicle adjacent to the place where the special fuel is delivered into the motor vehicle fuel supply tank.
  10.  a.  The clerk of the district court shall notify the county treasurer of any delinquent court debt, as defined in section 602.8107, which is being collected by the department of revenue pursuant to section 602.8107, subsection 3, or the county attorney pursuant to section 602.8107, subsection 4. The county treasurer shall refuse to renew the vehicle registration of the applicant upon such notification from the clerk of the district court in regard to such applicant.
  b.  If the applicant enters into or renews an installment agreement as defined in section 602.8107, that is satisfactory to the department of revenue, the county attorney, or the county attorney’s designee, the department of revenue, county attorney, or a county attorney’s designee shall provide the county treasurer with written or electronic notice of the installment agreement within five days of entering into the installment agreement. The county treasurer shall temporarily lift the registration hold on an applicant for a period of ten days if the treasurer receives such notice in order to allow the applicant to register a vehicle for the year. If the applicant remains in compliance with the installment agreement entered into with the department of revenue or the county attorney or the county attorney’s designee, subsequent lifts of registration holds shall be granted without additional restrictions.
[S13, §1571-m6; C24, 27, 31, 35, §4875; C39, §5001.24; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §321.40; 82 Acts, ch 1218, §1]
82 Acts, ch 1062, §6, 7, 38; 85 Acts, ch 32, §78; 85 Acts, ch 77, §1; 85 Acts, ch 87, §2; 95 Acts, ch 57, §1; 95 Acts, ch 169, §1, 10; 95 Acts, ch 194, §4, 12; 97 Acts, ch 104, §12, 61; 2000 Acts, ch 1028, §2, 4; 2002 Acts, ch 1043, §1; 2003 Acts, ch 145, §248; 2005 Acts, ch 54, §1, 12; 2007 Acts, ch 126, §54; 2008 Acts, ch 1113, §79; 2008 Acts, ch 1172, §18; 2009 Acts, ch 41, §250; 2010 Acts, ch 1146, §2, 3, 26; 2012 Acts, ch 1093, §6; 2015 Acts, ch 138, §89, 161, 162; 2016 Acts, ch 1101, §2, 24; 2017 Acts, ch 29, §92, 93; 2020 Acts, ch 1064, §15, 28; 2020 Acts, ch 1074, §84, 92; 2020 Acts, ch 1118, §73, 74; 2021 Acts, ch 86, §33; 2024 Acts, ch 1145, §10, 26
Referred to in §321.26, 321.34, 321.152, 321.153, 321.236, 331.553, 331.557, 364.2, 421.17, 422.20, 422.72, 423B.2
2024 amendment to subsection 1 effective January 1, 2025; 2024 Acts, ch 1145, §26
Subsection 1 amended