AN ACT Relating to the enforcement of failure to renew an expired vehicle registration; reenacting and amending RCW 46.16A.030; and prescribing penalties.

(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))$529, which may not be suspended 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))$529 fine must be deposited into the vehicle licensing fraud account created in the state treasury in RCW 46.68.250.

(b) Failure to renew an expired registration of a vehicle that is parked, standing, and unoccupied on the public right-of-way or on publicly owned property is a traffic infraction to the registered owner. Such an infraction under this subsection (5)(b) is not part of the registered owner's driving record under RCW 46.52.101 and 46.52.120, and must be processed in the same manner as a parking infraction, including for the purposes of RCW 3.50.100, 35.20.220, 46.16A.120, and 46.20.270(2). The penalty for failure to renew an expired registration as enforced under this subsection (5)(b) is $150 if the registration is expired for two months or less and $242 if the registration is expired for more than two months.

(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:

(ii) Payment of a fine of ((five hundred twenty-nine dollars))$529 plus any applicable assessments, which may not be suspended or reduced. The fine of ((five hundred twenty-nine dollars))$529 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))$1,000 to be deposited into the vehicle licensing fraud account created in the state treasury in RCW 46.68.250, which may not be suspended 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 or reduced;

(ii) Payment of a fine of ((five hundred twenty-nine dollars))$529 plus any applicable assessments, which may not be suspended or reduced, except as provided in RCW 10.05.180. The fine of ((five hundred twenty-nine dollars))$529 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))$5,000 to be deposited into the vehicle licensing fraud account created in the state treasury in RCW 46.68.250, which may not be suspended 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 or reduced.

(7) A vehicle with an expired registration of more than ((forty-five))45 days parked on a public street may be impounded by a police officer under RCW 46.55.113(2).