HF 1604

1st Engrossment - 84th Legislature (2005 - 2006) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to motor vehicles; providing for deputy
registrars of motor vehicles; amending Minnesota
Statutes 2004, section 168.33, subdivision 2.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 168.33,
subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Deputy registrars.

(a) The registrar may
appoint, hire, and discharge and fix the compensation of the
necessary employees, in the manner provided by law, as may be
required to enable the registrar to properly carry out the
duties imposed by this chapter. The registrar may appoint, and
for cause discontinue, a deputy registrar for any statutory or
home rule charter city as the public interest and convenience
may require, without regard to whether the county auditor of the
county in which the city is situated has been appointed as the
deputy registrar for the county or has been discontinued as the
deputy registrar for the county, and without regard to whether
the county in which the city is situated has established a
county license bureau which issues motor vehicle licenses as
provided in section 373.32.

(b) The registrar may appoint, and for cause discontinue, a
deputy registrar for any statutory or home rule charter city as
the public interest and convenience may require, if the auditor
for the county in which the city is situated chooses not to
accept appointment as the deputy registrar for the county or is
discontinued as a deputy registrar, or if the county in which
the city is situated has not established a county license bureau
which issues motor vehicle licenses as provided in section
373.32. A person appointed by the registrar as a deputy
registrar for any statutory or home rule charter city must be a
resident of the county in which the city is situated.

(c) The registrar may appoint, and for cause discontinue,
the county auditor of each county as a deputy registrar. Upon
approval of the county board, the auditor, with the approval of
the director of motor vehicles, may appoint, and for cause
discontinue, the clerk or equivalent officer of each statutory
or home rule charter city or any other person as a deputy
registrar as public interest and convenience may require,
regardless of the appointee's county of residence. At the
request of the governing body of a statutory or home rule
charter city, the auditor shall appoint, and may for cause
discontinue, the clerk or equivalent officer of a city, or
another officer or employee of the city designated by the
governing body, as a deputy registrar:

(1) if the city is a county seat or, if not, is larger than
the seat of the county in which it is situated; and

(2) no office of a deputy registrar is situated within the
city or within 15 miles of the city by the most direct public
route.

(d) Notwithstanding any other provision, a person other
than a county auditor or a director of a county license bureau,
who was appointed by the registrar before August 1, 1976, as a
deputy registrar for any statutory or home rule charter city,
may continue to serve as deputy registrar and may be
discontinued for cause only by the registrar. The county
auditor who appointed the deputy registrars is responsible for
the acts of deputy registrars appointed by the auditor. Each
deputy, before entering upon the discharge of duties, shall take
and subscribe an oath to faithfully discharge the duties and to
uphold the laws of the state. If a deputy registrar appointed
under this subdivision is not an officer or employee of a county
or statutory or home rule charter city, the deputy shall in
addition give bond to the state in the sum of $10,000, or a
larger sum as may be required by the registrar, conditioned upon
the faithful discharge of duties as deputy registrar.

(e) Until January 1, deleted text begin 2009 deleted text end new text begin 2015 new text end , a corporation governed by
chapter 302A may be appointed a deputy registrar. Upon
application by an individual serving as a deputy registrar and
the giving of the requisite bond as provided in this
subdivision, personally assured by the individual or another
individual approved by the commissioner of public safety, a
corporation named in an application shall become the duly
appointed and qualified successor to the deputy registrar. The
appointment of any corporation as a deputy registrar expires
January 1, deleted text begin 2009 deleted text end new text begin 2015 new text end . A county board shall appoint, or the
commissioner shall appoint if the county board declines to do
so, an individual as successor to the corporation as a deputy
registrar. The county board or commissioner shall appoint as
the successor agent to a corporation whose appointment expires
under this paragraph an officer of the corporation if the
officer applies for appointment before July 1, deleted text begin 2009 deleted text end new text begin 2015 new text end .

(f) Each deputy registrar appointed under this subdivision
shall keep and maintain, in a convenient public place within or
in close proximity to the place for which appointed, a
registration and motor vehicle tax collection bureau, to be
approved by the registrar, for the registration of motor
vehicles and the collection of taxes on motor vehicles. The
deputy registrar shall keep records and make reports to the
registrar as the registrar, from time to time, may require. The
records must be maintained at the facility of the deputy
registrar. The records and facilities of the deputy registrar
must at all times be open to the inspection of the registrar or
the registrar's agents. The deputy registrar shall report to
the registrar by the next working day following receipt all
registrations made and taxes and fees collected by the deputy
registrar. The filing fee imposed under subdivision 7 must be
deposited in the treasury of the place for which appointed or,
if not a public official, a deputy shall retain the filing fee,
but the registration tax and any additional fees for delayed
registration the deputy registrar has collected the deputy
registrar shall deposit by the next working day following
receipt in an approved state depository to the credit of the
state through the commissioner of finance. The place for which
the deputy registrar is appointed through its governing body
must provide the deputy registrar with facilities and personnel
to carry out the duties imposed by this subdivision if the
deputy is a public official. In all other cases, the deputy
shall maintain a suitable facility for serving the public.

Sec. 2. new text begin DEPUTY REGISTRAR AND DRIVER'S LICENSE AGENT
APPOINTMENT.
new text end

new text begin Notwithstanding any restriction in law or rule concerning
proximity of deputy motor vehicle registrar offices or predicted
number of annual applications processed, the commissioner of
public safety shall appoint the auditor of Carver County as a
deputy motor vehicle registrar and driver's license agent in the
city of Chanhassen. All provisions of Minnesota Statutes,
sections 168.33 and 171.061, not inconsistent with this section,
apply to the appointments under this section.
new text end