Title 39, Motor Vehicles

1. If the department determines that an applicant for registration of a vehicle is not entitled to registration, it may refuse to register the vehicle. The applicant has no further right to apply for registration on the statements contained in the application unless the departmen…

The department shall rescind or suspend the registration of a vehicle for any of the following: 1. When the department determines a vehicle is unsafe or unfit to be operated or is not equipped as required by law. 2. When the person to whom the registration card or registration nu…

Whenever the owner of any motor vehicle which is stolen or embezzled files an affidavit alleging either of such facts, the department immediately shall suspend the registration of such vehicle and may not transfer the registration thereof nor reregister the same until such time a…

The department shall furnish to every motor vehicle owner two number plates for each registered motor vehicle, and one number plate for each registered motorcycle, trailer, or housetrailer. The department may, in its discretion, furnish only one number plate for each registered a…

Motor vehicle number plates may not be assigned as a reward for any political activity, in recognition of any political affiliation or membership in any political party, or on the basis of political favoritism. However, an elected state office may be assigned a single or double d…

The director may design and issue plates of distinctly different color for each classification of motor vehicle, and there must at all times be a marked contrast between the background color of the plates and that of the numerals and letters on the plates. License plates must be …

Owners of motor vehicles required to be registered under subdivisions a and b of subsection 2 of section 39-04-19, who hold an unrevoked and unexpired official amateur radio station license issued by the federal communications commission, Washington, D.C., may receive special pla…

A resident factory representative of any motor vehicle manufacturer may procure from the director a manufacturer's plate, which must be designed by the director, for a fee of one hundred fifty dollars, which fee is for a twelve-month period. If such plate is procured at other tha…

1. The director may issue distinctive number plates to individuals eligible for interment in the North Dakota veterans' cemetery. The director shall issue a number plate under this section upon receiving: a. Payment of all other fees required under this chapter for registration o…

The director, in cooperation with the North Dakota firefighter's association, shall design a decorative decal that contains an insignia representing service in the pursuit of firefighting and which is to be placed on a distinctive number plate. On payment of all other fees requir…

The director shall design a decorative decal that contains the insignia of the North Dakota FFA foundation to be placed on a distinctive number plate. On payment of all other fees required under this chapter for registration of the motor vehicle and payment of an additional fee o…

1. The director shall develop an organization number plate program for distinctive number plates for qualifying public and for nonprofit organizations recognized by the internal revenue service as tax exempt under 26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3). When appropriate, the department shall design…

1. The director may issue distinctive number plates to a surviving spouse, parent, including stepmother, stepfather, parent through adoption, and foster parent who stands or stood in loco parentis, grandparents, child, including stepchild and child through adoption, and sibling, …

1. The director shall issue patriotic plates under this section upon receiving: a. Payment of all other fees required under this chapter for registration of a motor vehicle; b. Payment of an initial fee of twenty-five dollars of which twenty dollars is deposited in the highway ta…

1. As used in this section: a. "Fire department" means a certified city fire department, certified rural fire department, or certified fire protection district that has filed a certificate of existence under section 18-04-02. b. "Volunteer emergency responder" means an emergency …

1. The director shall issue distinctive number plates to individuals eligible under this section upon receiving: a. Payment of all other fees required under this chapter for registration of a motor vehicle; and b. Verification, as determined by the department, of an individual's …

1. The director shall issue blackout number plates under this section upon receiving payment of: a. All other fees required under this chapter for registration of a motor vehicle; and b. An additional fee of twenty-five dollars per registration period. 2. Blackout number plates i…

The director may issue, without charge, upon application and payment of the regular license fee, plates marked with the international symbol of accessibility for the mobility impaired, to a motor vehicle owner possessing a parking certificate issued under subsection 4 of section …

At the request of a registrant, the department may provide special license plates marked with not more than seven numerals, letters, or combinations of numerals and letters, upon application for a special license plate and payment of an additional fee of twenty-five dollars per r…

1. Any motor vehicle which is at least forty years old may be permanently licensed by the department upon the payment of a registration fee of ten dollars. The department shall design and issue a distinctive number plate for this purpose. In lieu of the distinctive number plate, …

On the death of a prisoner of war to whom was issued a special number plate under subdivision o of subsection 2 of section 39-04-18, the director shall comply with this section. If the deceased prisoner of war was survived by a spouse, the director shall transfer the number plate…

A person who owns a motor vehicle that is at least twenty-five years old but that is not eligible for registration under section 39-04-10.4 may register that motor vehicle as a collector's motor vehicle. The motor vehicle is eligible for collector's registration if it is owned an…

The director shall issue, without an additional charge, upon application and payment of the registration fee, special number plates or validation decals making them distinctly different from other number plates, to any person registering a truck or combination of trucks and trail…

The director, in cooperation with the adjutant general, shall issue distinctive number plates to members of the national guard. A plate issued under this section must bear the national guard insignia designated by the adjutant general and the letters "NG" before the number. The d…

Upon request, the department shall issue identical plates that contain the word "SHERIFF" for the vehicles used and owned by a sheriff's department and the word "POLICE" for the motor vehicles used and owned by a city's police department. The plates must be in black letters and o…

Unless otherwise provided by law, an individual may not operate a vehicle on a public highway of this state unless the vehicle has a distinctive number assigned to the vehicle by the department, and two number plates, bearing the distinctive number conspicuously displayed, horizo…

1. Number plates must be of metal or other suitable material bearing the name of the state, either in full or by abbreviation, the number of the year, the slogan "Peace Garden State" and a distinctive number for assignment to each vehicle. The distinctive number may be in figures…

If any number plate, tab, sticker, or registration card issued under the provisions of this chapter is lost, mutilated, or becomes illegible, the person who is entitled thereto shall make immediate application for and obtain a duplicate or substitute upon furnishing information o…

Every vehicle registration, except those described in sections 39-04-14.1 and 39-04-14.4, under this chapter expires on December thirty-first each year and must be renewed annually upon application by the owner and by payment of the fees required by law, such renewal to take effe…

Except as otherwise provided in this section, the registration of a motor vehicle whose registered gross weight does not exceed twenty thousand pounds [9071.84 kilograms] expires on the last day of the month which is the anniversary of the month it was originally registered. The …

The director may establish a procedure for the implementation of a staggered registration system for vehicles registered pursuant to the international registration plan. Procedures established under this section may provide for a one-time collection of up to eighteen months of re…

The possession of a receipt, via the department's online registration renewal service, is prima facie evidence of compliance with motor vehicle registration laws, with reference to the vehicle therein described, for a period of fifteen days from the date of the printed receipt.

Every motorcycle registration under this chapter expires on March thirty-first and must be renewed every year upon application by the owner and by payment of the fees required by law. The renewal takes effect on the first day of April. The department may prorate the initial regis…

The registration fee for a vehicle becomes due as soon as the vehicle is used upon the highways of this state. The registration for a vehicle becomes delinquent immediately upon expiration of the prior registration.

The possession of a certificate made out by a notary public or an authorized agent of a licensed vehicle dealer who took the acknowledgment of the application when the vehicle was first registered or required to be registered under the laws of this state, if such certificate show…

1. a. Except as provided in this section, a motor vehicle as defined in section 39-01-01 or a trailer operated or intended to be operated upon a highway, road, or street in this state must be registered annually with the department. b. A semitrailer or a farm trailer operated or …

A person operating a motor vehicle in violation of subdivision c or e of subsection 2 of section 39-04-18 shall purchase an annual registration for that motor vehicle for a fee that is not discounted from the appropriate amount listed in a table in section 39-04-19. A law enforce…

1. Any owner, lessee, or operator of a motor vehicle who is employed in this state on a temporary or full-time basis may choose to purchase a temporary registration permit in lieu of registering the vehicle pursuant to section 39-04-18, if the vehicle displays a valid registratio…

Motor vehicles required to pay registration fees or a mile tax shall pay the following fees: 1. Nonresidents electing to pay mile tax in lieu of registration, when authorized to do so by the department, shall pay a fee of twenty dollars for a trip permit which is valid for a peri…

Trucks or combinations of trucks and trailers owned and operated by a bona fide resident of this state, but no more than one truck tractor and lowboy trailer unit, of a gross weight of twenty-four thousand one pounds [10886.67 kilograms] or more and used exclusively in soil and w…

1. In addition to all other fees required under this chapter for registration of a motor vehicle, the department shall collect at the beginning of each annual registration period: a. An electric vehicle road use fee of one hundred twenty dollars for each electric vehicle register…

When a motor vehicle first becomes subject to registration during the calendar year, the registration fee must be for the remainder of the year prorated on a monthly basis, one-twelfth of the annual registration fee for each calendar month or fraction thereof. Penny adjustments m…

Except as otherwise provided by law, a motor vehicle, or a combination of motor vehicles, may not be operated upon the highways of this state when the gross weight exceeds the registered gross weight for which the vehicle or combination of vehicles was licensed. Any person violat…

Any owner of a motor vehicle transporting property who has licensed the vehicle for any gross weight limitations may change the registration to a higher registered gross weight limitation by the payment of the difference between the fee required for the new registration and the f…

Any motor vehicle not having an advertised manufacturer's weight shall pay a license fee based upon the actual weight as determined by the director from satisfactory proofs submitted to the director. Any truck not having a manufacturer's advertised load capacity shall pay a licen…

The registration and license fee for a motor vehicle or for any lawful combination of motor vehicles used for the transportation of property must be based upon the registered gross weight of the motor vehicle or combination of vehicles. The minimum gross weight for which the moto…

1. Whenever the ownership of a vehicle registered under the provisions of this chapter, chapter 39-18, or chapter 39-29.2 is transferred or assigned, the registration of the vehicle expires and the transferor shall remove the number plates. 2. Upon applying for the transfer of th…

It is unlawful for any person to commit any of the following acts: 1. To operate, or for the owner thereof knowingly to permit anyone to operate, upon a highway any vehicle the registration of which has been canceled or revoked, or for which the registration fees required in this…

The taxes or fees provided for in this chapter are in lieu of all other personal property taxes, either state or local, upon such motor vehicles and upon any trailer or semitrailer for which a certificate of title is required to be issued and has been issued pursuant to the provi…

1. Any moneys in the registration fund accruing from license fees or from other like sources, in excess of the amount required to pay salaries and other necessary expenses, in accordance with the legislative assembly's appropriation for such purposes, must be promptly deposited i…