BILL REQ. #:  H-4029.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/05/14.   

     AN ACT Relating to providing flexibility in penalty amounts for failure to register vehicles; reenacting and amending RCW 46.16A.030; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 46.16A.030 and 2011 c 171 s 43 and 2011 c 96 s 31 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
     (1) Vehicles must be registered as required by this chapter and must display license plates or decals assigned by the department.
     (2) It is unlawful for a person to operate any vehicle on a public highway of this state without having in full force and effect a current and proper vehicle registration and displaying license plates on the vehicle.
     (3) Vehicle license plates or registration certificates, whether original issues or duplicates, may not be issued or furnished by the department until the applicant makes satisfactory application for a certificate of title or presents satisfactory evidence that a certificate of title covering the vehicle has been previously issued.
     (4) Failure to make initial registration before operating a vehicle on the public highways of this state is a traffic infraction. A person committing this infraction must pay a fine of five hundred twenty-nine dollars, which may ((not)) be suspended, deferred, or reduced. This fine is in addition to any delinquent taxes and fees that must be deposited and distributed in the same manner as if the taxes and fees were properly paid in a timely fashion. The ((five hundred twenty-nine dollar)) fine must be deposited into the vehicle licensing fraud account created in the state treasury in RCW 46.68.250.
     (5) Failure to renew an expired registration before operating a vehicle on the public highways of this state is a traffic infraction.
     (6) It is a gross misdemeanor for a resident, as identified in RCW 46.16A.140, to register a vehicle in another state, evading the payment of any tax or vehicle license fee imposed in connection with registration. It is punishable, in lieu of the fine in subsection (4) of this section, as follows:
     (a) For a first offense:
     (i) Up to three hundred sixty-four days in the county jail;
     (ii) Payment of a fine of five hundred twenty-nine dollars plus any applicable assessments, which may ((not)) be suspended, deferred, or reduced. The fine ((of five hundred twenty-nine dollars)) must be deposited into the vehicle licensing fraud account created in the state treasury in RCW 46.68.250;
     (iii) A fine of one thousand dollars to be deposited into the vehicle licensing fraud account created in the state treasury in RCW 46.68.250, which may ((not)) be suspended, deferred, or reduced; and
     (iv) The delinquent taxes and fees, which must be deposited and distributed in the same manner as if the taxes and fees were properly paid in a timely fashion, and which may ((not)) be suspended, deferred, or reduced;
     (b) For a second or subsequent offense:
     (i) Up to three hundred sixty-four days in the county jail;
     (ii) Payment of a fine of five hundred twenty-nine dollars plus any applicable assessments, which may ((not)) be suspended, deferred, or reduced. The fine ((of five hundred twenty-nine dollars)) must be deposited into the vehicle licensing fraud account created in the state treasury in RCW 46.68.250;
     (iii) A fine of five thousand dollars to be deposited into the vehicle licensing fraud account created in the state treasury in RCW 46.68.250, which may ((not)) be suspended, deferred, or reduced; and
     (iv) The amount of delinquent taxes and fees, which must be deposited and distributed in the same manner as if the taxes and fees were properly paid in a timely fashion, and which may ((not)) be suspended, deferred, or reduced.
     (7) A vehicle with an expired registration of more than forty-five days parked on a public street may be impounded by a police officer under RCW 46.55.113(2).

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   By June 30, 2016, the administrative office of the courts must report to the legislature on the results of the fine changes in section 1, chapter . . ., Laws of 2014 (section 1 of this act). The report must include whether enforcement or prosecution, or both, along with distributions to the vehicle licensing fraud account, increased or decreased due to the changes.