61-3-101. Duties of department -- records. (1) The department shall keep a record as specified in this section of all motor vehicles, trailers, and semitrailers of every kind, of certificates of registration and ownership of those vehicles, and of all manufacturers and dealers in motor vehicles.
     (2) The record must show the following:
     (a) the name of the owner, the residence address by street or rural route, town, and county, and the mailing address if different from the residence address;
     (b) the name and address of the conditional sales vendor, mortgagee, or other lienholder and the amount due under contract or lien;
     (c) the manufacturer of the vehicle;
     (d) the manufacturer's designation of the style of the vehicle;
     (e) the identifying number;
     (f) the year of manufacture;
     (g) the character of the motive power and the shipping weight of the vehicle as shown by the manufacturer;
     (h) the distinctive license number assigned to the vehicle, if any;
     (i) if a truck or trailer, the number of tons' capacity or GVW if imprinted on the manufacturer's identification plate;
     (j) except as provided in 61-3-103, the name and complete address of any holder of a perfected security interest in the vehicle; and
     (k) other information that may from time to time be found desirable.
     (3) The department shall file applications for registration received by it from county treasurers and register the vehicles and the vehicle owners as follows:
     (a) under the distinctive license number assigned to the vehicle by the county treasurer;
     (b) alphabetically under the name of the owner;
     (c) numerically under make and identifying number of the vehicle; and
     (d) under another index of registration as the department considers expedient.
     (4) The department shall determine the amount of motor vehicle taxes and fees to be collected at the time of registration for each light vehicle subject to tax under 61-3-503 and for each bus, truck having a manufacturer's rated capacity of more than 1 ton, and truck tractor subject to a fee in lieu of tax under 61-3-528 and 61-3-529. The county treasurer shall collect the taxes and fees on each motor vehicle at the time of its registration.
     (5) Vehicle registration records and indexes and driver's license records and indexes may be maintained by electronic recording and storage media.
     (6) In the case of dealers, the records must show the information contained in the application for a dealer's, wholesaler's, or auto auction license as required by chapter 4, parts 1 and 2, of this title, as well as the distinctive license number assigned to the dealer.
     (7) In order to prevent an accumulation of unneeded records and files, regardless of any other statutory requirements, the department may destroy all records and files that relate to vehicles that have not been registered within the preceding 4 years and that do not have an active lien.
     (8) All records must be open to inspection during reasonable business hours, and the department shall furnish any information from the records upon payment by the applicant of the cost of the information requested. Prior to providing the information, the department may require the applicant to provide identification. However, the department may, by rule, reasonably restrict disclosure of information on an owner if the owner has requested in writing that the department not disclose the information or if the demands of individual privacy clearly exceed the merits of public disclosure.

     History: En. Sec. 1, Ch. 75, L. 1917; re-en. Sec. 1755, R.C.M. 1921; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 177, L. 1925; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 129, L. 1927; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 181, L. 1929; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 159, L. 1933; re-en. Sec. 1755, R.C.M. 1935; amd. Secs. 1, 2, Ch. 62, L. 1943; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 208, L. 1957; amd. Sec. 22, Ch. 177, L. 1965; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 256, L. 1965; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 74, L. 1967; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 115, L. 1969; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 207, L. 1969; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 214, L. 1971; amd. Sec. 7, Ch. 343, L. 1977; R.C.M. 1947, 53-101; amd. Sec. 26, Ch. 421, L. 1979; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 15, L. 1981; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 503, L. 1985; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 555, L. 1985; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 236, L. 1991; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 604, L. 1991; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 724, L. 1991; amd. Sec. 18, Ch. 496, L. 1997; amd. Sec. 12, Ch. 409, L. 1999; amd. Sec. 15, Ch. 416, L. 1999.