SECTION 217.36. Refusal to Register by Local Government and Record Notation

(a) Enforcement of traffic warrant. A municipality may enter into a contract with the department under Government Code, Chapter 791, to indicate in the state's motor vehicle records that the owner of the vehicle is a person for whom a warrant of arrest is outstanding for failure to appear or who has failed to pay a fine on a complaint involving a violation of a traffic law. In accordance with Transportation Code, §702.003, a county tax assessor-collector may refuse to register a motor vehicle if such a failure is indicated in the motor vehicle record for that motor vehicle. A municipality is responsible for obtaining the agreement of the county in which the municipality is located to refuse to register motor vehicles for failure to pay civil penalties imposed by the municipality.

(b) Refusal to register vehicle in certain counties. A county may enter into a contract with the department under Government Code, Chapter 791 to indicate in the state's motor vehicle records that the owner of the vehicle has failed to pay a fine, fee, or tax that is past due. In accordance with Transportation Code, §502.010, a county tax assessor-collector may refuse to register a motor vehicle if such a failure is indicated in the motor vehicle record for that motor vehicle.

(c) Record notation. A contract between the department and a county, municipality, or local authority entered into under Transportation Code §502.010 or Transportation Code §702.003 will contain the terms set out in this subsection.

(1) To place or remove a registration denial flag on a vehicle record, the contracting entity must submit a magnetic tape or other acceptable submission medium as determined by the department in a format prescribed by the department.

(2) The information submitted by the contracting entity will include, at a minimum, the vehicle identification number and the license plate number of the affected vehicle.

(3) If the contracting entity data submission contains bad or corrupted data, the submission medium will be returned to the contracting entity with no further action by the department.

(4) The magnetic tape or other submission medium must be submitted to the department from a single source within the contracting entity.

(5) The submission of a magnetic tape or other submission medium to the department by a contracting entity constitutes a certification by that entity that it has complied with all applicable laws.

Source Note: The provisions of this §217.36 adopted to be effective March 12, 2015, 40 TexReg 1096; amended to be effective March 1, 2022, 47 TexReg 968