Title 23, Title 23: Motor Vehicles

§ 6. Vehicle registration renewal by municipal clerks By written agreement, the Commissioner may authorize any municipal clerk to renew vehicle, snowmobile, or motorboat registrations upon receipt of a completed application and the required fees, which shall be forwarded to the C…

§ 7. Enhanced driver’s license; maintenance of database information; fee (a) The face of an enhanced license shall contain the individual’s name, date of birth, gender, a unique identification number, full facial photograph or imaged likeness, address, signature, issuance and exp…

§ 8. Personal radio frequency identification chip number protection Personal radio frequency identification chip numbers shall be given protections as codified in the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act, 18 U.S.C. chapter 123, as of January 1, 2008, not including any subsequent amend…

§ 101. Commissioner The Department of Motor Vehicles is created and established, and the head of the Department shall be a Commissioner of Motor Vehicles. (Amended 1989, No. 127 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. March 15, 1990.)

§ 102. Duties of Commissioner (a) The Commissioner shall: (1) register motor vehicles and dealers; (2) license operators; (3) file reports received concerning crashes involving motor vehicles; (4) prepare full statistics from and preserve, properly filed and indexed, such registr…

§ 103. Appointment of officials and inspectors With the approval of the Governor, the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles may appoint and employ inspectors who shall devote their entire time to the duties of their appointment while so employed. In addition, the Commissioner shall appo…

§ 104. Public records (a) Any information contained in Department records is subject to and shall be released pursuant to the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act, 18 U.S.C. chapter 123 as amended. (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, except for requests fro…

§ 105. Hearing before Commissioner (a) In the administration of the laws relating to motor vehicles and to the operators and the operation of motor vehicles, the Commissioner may conduct hearings, subpoena witnesses, administer oaths, and take testimony. He or she may also cause …

§ 106. Procedure upon hearings The Commissioner shall determine the rules and procedure under which such hearings shall be held. On request of the Commissioner, the State’s Attorney of the county where such hearing is to be held shall attend and represent the State.

§ 107. Notice of hearings Notice of a hearing held by the Commissioner or the hearing officer under the provisions of sections 105 and 106 of this title shall state the place, day, and hour thereof, and warn the petitioner that he or she may then appear through himself, herself, …

§ 108. Application forms (a) The Commissioner shall prepare and furnish all forms for applications, crash reports, conviction reports, a pamphlet containing the full text of the motor vehicle laws of the State, and all other forms needed in the proper conduct of the Commissioner’…

§ 109. Lists of suspensions (a) [Repealed.] (b) Notwithstanding 1 V.S.A. chapter 5, subchapter 3, a list of all persons whose operating license, nonresident operating privileges, or privilege of an unlicensed operator to operate a vehicle is suspended or revoked in this State sha…

§ 110. Bad checks received for fees (a) Whenever any check issued in payment of any fee or for any other purpose is tendered to the Department of Motor Vehicles and payment is not honored by the bank on which the check is drawn, the Commissioner shall send a written notice of its…

§ 111. Emergency extension of time The Commissioner, with the approval of the Governor, may in an emergency extend the period for which any vehicle registration, operator’s license, or vehicle certificate of periodic inspection is valid for periods not to exceed 30 days each. (Ad…

§ 112. Motor vehicle law book The pamphlet of the motor vehicle laws of the State, issued by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, may be furnished to interested parties for a fee of $30.00. The fee for any supplement shall be $15.00. This pamphlet shall be made available to all St…

§ 113. Recall of defective vehicles; fee to manufacturers The Commissioner shall charge a fee, to be fixed by him or her at cost, to a person or company requesting listings to be furnished of motor vehicles to be recalled by a manufacturer or company. (Added 1977, No. 142 (Adj. S…

§ 114. Fees (a) The Commissioner shall be paid the following fees for miscellaneous transactions: (b) The Commissioner shall furnish the items listed in subsection (a) of this section upon a request that completely identifies the information sought or pursuant to a contract with …

§ 115. Nondriver identification cards (a)(1) Any Vermont resident may make application to the Commissioner and be issued an identification card that is attested by the Commissioner as to true name, correct age, residential address unless the listing of another address is requeste…

§ 115a. Legislative intent; existing nondriver identification card holders It is the intent of the General Assembly that the provisions of subsection 115(g) of this title not require persons who, prior to July 1, 2004, were issued a nondriver identification card without a photogr…

§ 115b. Early renewal (a) The holder of a nondriver identification card issued under the provisions of section 115 of this chapter may renew the nondriver identification card at any time prior to the expiration of the nondriver identification card. If one or more years remain bef…

§ 116. Issuance of mobile identification (a) Definitions. As used in this section: (1) “Data field” means a discrete piece of information that appears on a mobile identification. (2) “Full profile” means all the information provided on a mobile identification. (3) “Limited profil…

§ 117. Record-keeping requirements; certificates of title (a) Original records. Original certificate of title records, including surrendered certificates of title and requests for salvage title, as issued pursuant to chapters 21 and 36 of this title, shall be maintained as an ele…

§ 201. Applications to be under oath All applications, all proofs that the Commissioner may require, and all requests for personal information shall be under oath or the applications and proofs shall contain and be verified by written declarations that they are made subject to th…

§ 202. Impersonating another in an application or aiding an applicant by false representation A person who does any of the following shall be fined not more than $1,000.00 or imprisoned not more than two years, or both, and shall have his or her privilege to operate suspended for…

§ 203. Counterfeiting, fraud, and misuse; penalty (a) A person shall not: (1) counterfeit or cause to be counterfeited or have in his or her possession any counterfeit number plate, validating sticker, marker, inspection sticker, registration certificate, in-transit registration …

§ 204. Surrender of license or registration (a) A person whose license to operate a motor vehicle, nondriver identification card, or motor vehicle registration has been issued in error shall immediately surrender the license or registration upon demand of the Commissioner or the …

§ 205. Notification of change of name or address The owner of a registered motor vehicle, snowmobile, or motorboat; a person licensed to operate a motor vehicle in this State; and a person licensed under chapter 27 or 28 of this title or 32 V.S.A. chapter 219 shall notify the Com…

§ 206. Surcharge A person convicted of violating a provision of this chapter shall be assessed a surcharge of $50.00, which shall be added to any fine or surcharge imposed by the court. The court shall collect and transfer the surcharge assessed under this section to be credited …

§ 207. Refund of money erroneously paid Upon application of the Commissioner, the Commissioner of Finance and Management shall issue a warrant in favor of any person equitably entitled to a refund of money erroneously paid into the State Treasury for a license or permit to operat…

§ 208. Reciprocal recognition of nonresident registrations, licenses, and permits; foreign visitors As determined by the Commissioner, and consistent with section 601 of this title, a motor vehicle owned by a nonresident shall be considered as registered and a nonresident operato…

§ 301. Persons required to register (a) As used in this section: (1) “Resident” means an individual living in the State who intends to make the State the individual’s place of domicile either permanently or for an indefinite number of years. (2) “Temporary resident” means an indi…

§ 302. Period of registration (a) Except as otherwise provided in this title, every motor vehicle shall be registered for a period of 12 months from date of issue. Registrations made pursuant to subsections 305(b), 371(b), 376(b), and 376(c) of this title shall expire and the cer…

§ 303. Application required (a) The Commissioner or the Commissioner’s duly authorized agent shall register a motor vehicle, trailer, or semi-trailer that is required or permitted to be registered in Vermont upon application on a form prescribed by the Commissioner that is filed …

§ 304. Registration certificates; number plates; vanity and other special plates (a) The Commissioner shall issue to the registrant of a motor vehicle a certificate of registration in the form the Commissioner may prescribe, on which shall appear the name of the registrant, his o…

§ 304a. Special registration plates and placards for individuals with disabilities (a) As used in this section: (1) “Ambulatory disability” means an impairment that prevents or impedes walking. An individual shall be considered to have an ambulatory disability if the individual: …

§ 304b. Conservation motor vehicle registration plates (a) The Commissioner shall, upon application, issue conservation registration plates for use only on vehicles registered at the pleasure car rate, on motorcycles, on trucks registered for less than 26,001 pounds, and on vehic…

§ 304c. Motor vehicle registration plates: Building Bright Futures (a) The Commissioner shall, upon application, issue “Building Bright Futures” registration plates for use only on vehicles registered at the pleasure car rate, on trucks registered for less than 26,001 pounds, on …

§ 305. Registration periods (a) The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles shall issue registration certificates and number plates upon initial registration, and registration certificates for each succeeding renewal period of registration upon payment of the registration fee. Number plat…

§ 306. Title to number plates All number plates shall be the property of the State, and title shall not pass to a person registering a motor vehicle under the provisions of this title. (Amended 2019, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 143.)

§ 307. Carrying of registration certificate; replacement and corrected certificates (a) An individual shall not operate a motor vehicle nor draw a trailer or semi-trailer unless all required registration certificates are carried in some easily accessible place in the motor vehicl…

§ 308. Suspension, revocation, and denial of registration; reinstatement fee (a) The Commissioner may suspend or revoke the registration of any motor vehicle registered in this State and repossess the number plates assigned to it, when he or she is satisfied that: (1) the vehicle…

§ 309. Registering motor vehicle of which applicant is not the owner A person who registers or attempts to register a motor vehicle, snowmobile, all-terrain vehicle, or motorboat of which he or she is not the bona fide owner, as defined in section 4 of this title, shall be fined …

§ 310. Loaning or permitting the use of number plates A person shall not loan or permit the use of the number plates assigned by the Commissioner to a motor vehicle owned by such person. (Amended 1971, No. 228 (Adj. Sess.), § 6.)

§ 311. Permits for nonregisterable vehicles (a) The Commissioner, for an annual fee of $2.00 and under such conditions as he or she may prescribe, may permit licensed operators to operate motor vehicles not otherwise registerable across a public highway; however, an unlicensed pe…

§ 312. Temporary registration pending issuance of certificate of title (a) In his or her discretion, the Commissioner may issue a temporary registration certificate to a person required to obtain a certificate of title in accordance with chapter 21 of this title upon payment of t…

§ 313. Commercial vehicle operation; denial of registration The Commissioner is authorized to refuse registration if a commercial motor vehicle is being operated by a commercial motor carrier that has been prohibited from operating in interstate commerce by an agency with authori…