HF 2607 (LSB 5585HV (2) 90)

HOUSE FILE 2607

BY  COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION

(SUCCESSOR TO HSB 610)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to vehicles, including the initial registration and issuance of certificate of title by any county treasurer and the definitions of terms for purposes of motor vehicle franchisers.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 321.20, subsection 4, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   4.  Notwithstanding this section or any other provision of law to the contrary, if the program required by subsection 2 is not implemented by July 1, 2019, an owner of a vehicle subject to registration or a lessor of a vehicle pursuant to chapter 321F that is subject to registration and has a gross vehicle weight of less than ten thousand pounds, may apply to the any county treasurer of a county contiguous to the county designated for the owner under subsection 1 for the initial registration and issuance of a certificate of title.  However, any reference in this chapter to the county where a vehicle is registered or the county where a certificate of title was issued shall be deemed to refer to the applicable county described in subsection 1, regardless of which county treasurer received application for and issued the initial registration and certificate of title under this subsection.
    Sec. 2.  Section 321.166, subsection 2, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   2.  Every registration plate or pair of plates shall display a registration plate number which shall consist of alphabetical or numerical characters or a combination thereof and the name of this state, which may be abbreviated. Every registration plate issued by the county treasurer shall display the name of the county, including any plate issued pursuant to section 321.34, except Pearl Harbor and purple heart registration plates issued prior to January 1, 1997; and collegiate, fire fighter, and medal of honor registration plates; and regular registration plates issued pursuant to section 321.20, subsection 4. Special truck registration plates shall display the word “special”. The department may adopt rules to implement this subsection.
    Sec. 3.  Section 322A.1, unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   When The following words and phrases when used in this chapter shall, unless the context otherwise requires for the purpose of this chapter, have the meanings respectively ascribed to them:
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   Under current law, a person must generally apply for vehicle registration and issuance of certificate of title to the county treasurer where the person resides or where the primary users of the vehicle are located. However, in 2016, the general assembly required the department of transportation (DOT) to develop and implement, by January 1, 2018, a program to allow for electronic applications, titling, registering, and funds transfers for vehicles subject to registration (program) in order to improve the efficiency and timeliness of the processes and to reduce costs for all parties involved. At the same time, the general assembly conditionally authorized an owner of a vehicle subject to registration to apply to the county treasurer of a county contiguous to the county designated for the owner if the DOT had not yet implemented the program by January 1, 2018. In 2018, the general assembly amended the program implementation date to July 1, 2019.
   This bill strikes the contiguous county authorization and instead provides for the initial registration and issuance of certificate of title by any county treasurer. In addition to an owner of a vehicle subject to registration, a lessor of a vehicle pursuant to Code chapter 321F (leasing and renting of vehicles), if such vehicle is subject to registration and has a gross vehicle weight of less than 10,000 pounds, is authorized to apply for initial registration and issuance of certificate of title to any county treasurer. The bill does not make corresponding changes. Instead, for all other registration and certificate of title actions provided or required in Code chapter 321 (motor vehicles and law of the road), references to the county where a vehicle is registered or the county where a certificate of title was issued are deemed to refer to the appropriate county under current law.
   Current law requires registration plates to display the name of the county that issues the plates, unless a specific exception is provided. The bill specifies such an exception for regular registration plates issued pursuant to the bill. 
   The bill removes the context clause applicable to defined terms in Code chapter 322A (motor vehicle franchisers). In 2022, the Iowa supreme court relied on the context clause included in Code section 322A.1 to apply an alternate definition of “community” than how “community” is defined in Code chapter 322A (Sioux City Truck Sales, Inc. v. Iowa Dept. of Transportation, 975 N.W.2d 333 (Iowa 2022)). The bill provides the same introduction to defined words and phrases to Code chapter 322A as is used for Code chapter 321.