61-3-303. Application for registration. (1) Each owner of a motor vehicle operated or driven upon the public highways of this state shall for each motor vehicle owned, except as otherwise provided in this section, file or cause to be filed in the office of the county treasurer where the owner permanently resides at the time of making the application or, if the vehicle is owned by a corporation or used primarily for commercial purposes, in the taxing jurisdiction of the county where the vehicle is permanently assigned, an application for registration or reregistration upon a blank form to be prepared and furnished by the department. The application must contain:
     (a) name and address of owner, giving county, school district, and town or city within whose corporate limits the motor vehicle is taxable, if taxable, or within whose corporate limits the owner's residence is located if the motor vehicle is not taxable;
     (b) name and address of the holder of any security interest in the motor vehicle;
     (c) description of motor vehicle, including make, year model, engine or serial number, manufacturer's model or letter, gross weight, declared weight on all trucks for which the rated capacity is 1 ton or less, and type of body and, if a truck, rated capacity;
     (d) declared weight on all trailers operating intrastate, except travel trailers or trailers and semitrailers registered as provided in 61-3-711 through 61-3-733; and
     (e) other information that the department may require.
     (2) A person who files an application for registration or reregistration of a motor vehicle, except of a mobile home as defined in 15-1-101(1), shall upon the filing of the application pay to the county treasurer:
     (a) the registration fee, as provided in 61-3-311 and 61-3-321 or 61-3-456; and
     (b) except as provided in 61-3-456 or unless it has been previously paid:
     (i) the personal property taxes assessed against the vehicle for the current year of registration and the immediately previous year; or
     (ii) the new motor vehicle sales tax against the vehicle for the current year of registration.
     (3) The application may not be accepted by the county treasurer unless the payments required by subsection (2) accompany the application. The department of revenue may not assess and the county treasurer may not collect taxes or fees for a period other than:
     (a) the current year; and
     (b) the immediately previous year if the vehicle was not registered or operated on the highways of the state, regardless of the period of time since the vehicle was previously registered or operated.
     (4) The department of revenue may make full and complete investigation of the tax status of the vehicle. An applicant for registration or reregistration shall submit proof from the tax or other appropriate records of the proper county at the request of the department of revenue.

     History: En. Sec. 5, Ch. 75, L. 1917; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 207, L. 1919; re-en. Sec. 1759, R.C.M. 1921; amd. Sec. 22, Ch. 113, L. 1925; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 181, L. 1929; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 158, L. 1931; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 158, L. 1933; re-en. Sec. 1759, R.C.M. 1935; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 72, L. 1937; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 195, L. 1953; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 256, L. 1955; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 223, L. 1957; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 245, L. 1963; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 290, L. 1967; amd. Sec. 9, Ch. 296, L. 1967; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 214, L. 1971; amd. Sec. 12, Ch. 74, L. 1975; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 55, L. 1977; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 521, L. 1977; amd. Sec. 43, Ch. 566, L. 1977; R.C.M. 1947, 53-114(1), (3); amd. Sec. 4, Ch. 502, L. 1979; amd. Sec. 7, Ch. 712, L. 1979; amd. Sec. 23, Ch. 614, L. 1981; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 433, L. 1985; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 503, L. 1985; amd. Sec. 16, Ch. 516, L. 1985; amd. Sec. 4, Ch. 421, L. 1987; amd. Sec. 21, Ch. 611, L. 1987; amd. Sec. 6, Ch. 724, L. 1991; amd. Sec. 131, Ch. 27, Sp. L. November 1993; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 88, L. 1995; amd. Sec. 3, Ch. 257, L. 1995.