Minnesota Session Laws - 1991, Regular Session

  

                         Laws of Minnesota 1991 

                         CHAPTER 56-S.F.No. 368 
           An act relating to motor vehicles; requiring the 
          appointment of officers of statutory and home rule 
          charter cities as deputy registrars in certain 
          circumstances; amending Minnesota Statutes 1990, 
          section 168.33, subdivision 2. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1990, section 168.33, 
subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 2.  [POWERS.] The registrar shall have the power 
to 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 the provisions of 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. 
    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.  Any A person appointed by the registrar as a deputy 
registrar for any statutory or home rule charter city shall must 
be a resident of the county in which the city is situated. 
    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. 
     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 shall be is responsible for the 
acts of deputy registrars appointed by the auditor.  Each such 
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 hereunder under this subdivision is not an officer or 
employee of a county or statutory or home rule charter city, 
such the deputy shall in addition give bond to the state in the 
sum of $10,000, or such a larger sum as may be required by the 
registrar, conditioned upon the faithful discharge of duties as 
deputy registrar.  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.  Each deputy registrar appointed hereunder 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 motor vehicle taxes thereon 
on motor vehicles.  The deputy registrar shall keep such records 
and make such reports to the registrar as that officer the 
registrar, from time to time, may require.  Such The records 
shall must be maintained at the facility of the deputy 
registrar.  The records and facilities of the deputy 
registrar shall 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 pursuant to under 
subdivision 7 shall must be deposited in the treasury of the 
place for which appointed, or, if not a public official, such 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 state 
treasurer.  The place for which the deputy registrar is 
appointed through its governing body shall must provide the 
deputy registrar with facilities and personnel to carry out the 
duties imposed by this subdivision if such the deputy is a 
public official.  In all other cases, the deputy shall maintain 
a suitable facility for serving the public. 
    Presented to the governor May 2, 1991 
    Signed by the governor May 6, 1991, 3:07 p.m.