Minnesota Session Laws - 1998, Regular Session

                            CHAPTER 405-H.F.No. 2654 
                  An act relating to public safety; allowing 
                  personalized license plates to be issued for certain 
                  trucks resembling pickup trucks; providing for 
                  separate form for assignment of vehicle title; 
                  clarifying transfer from dealer provision; increasing 
                  allowable radius for transportation of certain farm 
                  products; specifying requirements for motor vehicle 
                  broker sign; driving while impaired; clarifying that 
                  juvenile's age as it relates to DWI-related driver's 
                  license revocation refers to the date of violation 
                  instead of the date of conviction; providing 
                  reasonable time to petition for driver's license 
                  reinstatement; ensuring uniformity of amount of 
                  handling charge allowed for certain driver's license 
                  reinstatements; clarifying reinstatement handling fee; 
                  appropriating money; amending Minnesota Statutes 1996, 
                  sections 168.12, subdivision 2a; 168A.01, by adding a 
                  subdivision; 168A.11, subdivision 1; and 221.025; 
                  Minnesota Statutes 1997 Supplement, sections 168.27, 
                  subdivision 10; 169.121, subdivision 4; 171.19; 
                  171.20, subdivision 4; and 171.29, subdivision 2. 
        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
           Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 168.12, 
        subdivision 2a, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 2a.  [PERSONALIZED PLATES; RULES.] Personalized 
        license plates must be issued to an applicant for registration 
        of a passenger automobile including a passenger automobile 
        registered as a classic car, pioneer car, collector car, or 
        street rod; van; pickup truck as defined in section 168.011, 
        subdivision 29, and any other truck with a registered gross 
        weight of 9,000 pounds or less and commonly known as a pickup 
        truck manufacturer's nominal rated capacity of one ton or less 
        and resembling a pickup truck; motorcycle including a classic 
        motorcycle; or self-propelled recreational vehicle, upon 
        compliance with the laws of this state relating to registration 
        of the vehicle and upon payment of a one-time fee of $100 in 
        addition to the registration tax required by law for the 
        vehicle.  The registrar shall designate a replacement fee for 
        personalized license plates that is calculated to cover the cost 
        of replacement.  This fee must be paid by the applicant whenever 
        the personalized license plates are required to be replaced by 
        law.  In lieu of the numbers assigned as provided in subdivision 
        1, personalized license plates must have imprinted on them a 
        series of not more than seven numbers and letters in any 
        combination.  When an applicant has once obtained personalized 
        plates, the applicant shall have a prior claim for similar 
        personalized plates in the next succeeding year as long as 
        current registration is maintained.  The commissioner of public 
        safety shall adopt rules in the manner provided by chapter 14, 
        regulating the issuance and transfer of personalized license 
        plates.  No words or combination of letters placed on 
        personalized license plates may be used for commercial 
        advertising, be of an obscene, indecent, or immoral nature, or 
        be of a nature that would offend public morals or decency.  The 
        call signals or letters of a radio or television station are not 
        commercial advertising for the purposes of this subdivision. 
           Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision 1, 
        personalized license plates issued under this subdivision may be 
        transferred to another motor vehicle owned or jointly owned by 
        the applicant, upon the payment of a fee of $5, which must be 
        paid into the state treasury and credited to the highway user 
        tax distribution fund.  The registrar may by rule provide a form 
        for notification.  A personalized license plate issued for a 
        classic car, pioneer car, collector car, street rod, or classic 
        motorcycle may not be transferred to a vehicle not eligible for 
        such a license plate. 
           Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, if the 
        personalized license plates are lost, stolen, or destroyed, the 
        applicant may apply and shall receive duplicate license plates 
        bearing the same combination of letters and numbers as the 
        former personalized plates upon the payment of the fee required 
        by section 168.29.  
           Fees from the sale of permanent and duplicate personalized 
        license plates must be paid into the state treasury and credited 
        to the highway user tax distribution fund. 
           Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1997 Supplement, section 
        168.27, subdivision 10, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 10.  [ESTABLISHED PLACE OF BUSINESS.] All licensees 
        under this section shall have an established place of business 
        which shall include as a minimum: 
           (1) For a new motor vehicle dealer, the following: 
           (a) a commercial building owned or under lease by the 
        licensee.  The lease shall be for a minimum term of one year.  
        The building shall contain office space where the books, 
        records, and files necessary to conduct the business are kept 
        and maintained with personnel available during normal business 
        hours.  Dealership business hours must be conspicuously posted 
        on the place of doing business and readily viewable by the 
        public; 
           (b) a bona fide contract or franchise (1) in effect with a 
        manufacturer or distributor of the new motor vehicles the dealer 
        proposes to sell, broker, wholesale, or auction, or (2) in 
        effect with the first-stage manufacturer or distributor of new 
        motor vehicles purchased from a van converter or modifier which 
        the dealer proposes to sell, broker, wholesale, or auction, or 
        (3) in effect with the final stage manufacturer of the new type 
        A, B, or C motor homes which the dealer proposes to sell, 
        broker, wholesale, or auction; 
           (c) a facility for the repair and servicing of motor 
        vehicles and the storage of parts and accessories, not to exceed 
        ten miles distance from the principal place of business.  Such 
        service may be provided through contract with bona fide 
        operators actually engaged in such services; 
           (d) an area either indoors or outdoors to display motor 
        vehicles which is owned or under lease by the licensee; and 
           (e) a sign clearly identifying the dealership by name which 
        is readily viewable by the public. 
           (2) For a used motor vehicle dealer, the following: 
           (a) a commercial building owned or under lease by the 
        licensee.  The lease shall be for a minimum term of one year.  
        The building shall contain office space where the books, 
        records, and files necessary to conduct the business are kept 
        and maintained with personnel available during normal business 
        hours or automatic telephone answering service during normal 
        business hours.  Dealership business hours must be conspicuously 
        posted on the place of doing business and readily viewable by 
        the public; 
           (b) an area either indoors or outdoors to display motor 
        vehicles which is owned or under lease by the licensee; and 
           (c) a sign clearly identifying the dealership by name which 
        is readily viewable by the public. 
           (3) For a motor vehicle lessor, the following:  a 
        commercial office space where the books, records, and files 
        necessary to conduct the business are kept and maintained with 
        personnel available during normal business hours or an automatic 
        telephone answering service during normal business hours.  
        Business hours must be conspicuously posted on the place of 
        doing business and readily viewable by the public.  The office 
        space must be owned or under lease for a minimum term of one 
        year by the licensee. 
           (4) For a motor vehicle wholesaler, the following:  a 
        commercial office space where the books, records, and files 
        necessary to conduct the business are kept and maintained with 
        personnel available during normal business hours or an automatic 
        telephone answering service during normal business hours.  The 
        office space must be owned or under lease for a minimum term of 
        one year by the licensee. 
           (5) For a motor vehicle auctioneer, the following:  a 
        permanent enclosed commercial building, within or without the 
        state, on a permanent foundation, owned or under lease by the 
        licensee.  The lease shall be for a minimum term of one year.  
        The building shall contain office space where the books, 
        records, and files necessary to conduct the business are kept 
        and maintained with personnel available during normal business 
        hours or an automatic telephone answering service during normal 
        business hours.  
           (6) For a motor vehicle broker, the following:  a 
        commercial office space where books, records, and files 
        necessary to conduct business are kept and maintained with 
        personnel available during normal business hours, or an 
        automatic telephone answering service available during normal 
        business hours.  Business hours must be conspicuously posted on 
        the place of business and readily viewable by the public.  A 
        sign, clearly identifying the motor vehicle broker by name and 
        viewable by the public, must be posted on the place of business. 
        listing the broker's business hours, must be posted in a 
        location and manner readily viewable by a member of the public 
        visiting the office space.  The office space must be owned or 
        under lease for a minimum term of one year by the licensee. 
           (7) If a new or used motor vehicle dealer maintains more 
        than one place of doing business in a county, the separate 
        places shall be listed on the application.  If additional places 
        of business are maintained outside of one county, separate 
        licenses shall be obtained for each county. 
           (8) If a motor vehicle lessor, wholesaler, auctioneer, or 
        motor vehicle broker maintains more than one permanent place of 
        doing business, either in one or more counties, the separate 
        places shall be listed in the application, but only one license 
        shall be required.  If a lessor proposes to sell previously 
        leased or rented vehicles or if a broker proposes to establish 
        an office at a location outside the seven-county metropolitan 
        area, as defined in section 473.121, subdivision 2, other than 
        cities of the first class, the lessor or broker must obtain a 
        license for each nonmetropolitan area county in which the 
        lessor's sales are to take place or where the broker proposes to 
        locate an office. 
           (9) If a motor vehicle dealer, lessor, wholesaler, or motor 
        vehicle broker does not have direct access to a public road or 
        street, any privately owned roadway providing access to a public 
        road or street must be clearly identified and adequately 
        maintained. 
           Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 168A.01, is 
        amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
           Subd. 17c.  [SECURE REASSIGNMENT.] "Secure reassignment" 
        means a separate form that (1) may be used by a dealer to assign 
        and warrant title to a vehicle; (2) is prescribed by the 
        department; and (3) contains security features complying with 
        the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act, as amended, 
        codified at United States Code, title 49, chapter 327, and 
        regulations of the United States Department of Transportation 
        adopted under that act. 
           Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 168A.11, 
        subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
           Subdivision 1.  [APPLICATION UPON TRANSFER.] If a dealer 
        buys a vehicle and holds it for resale and procures the 
        certificate of title from the owner, and complies with 
        subdivision 2 hereof, the dealer need not apply for a 
        certificate of title, but upon transferring the vehicle to 
        another person other than by the creation of a security interest 
        shall promptly execute the assignment and warranty of title by a 
        dealer, showing the names and addresses of the transferee and of 
        any secured party holding a security interest created or 
        reserved at the time of the resale, and the date of the security 
        agreement in the spaces provided therefor on the certificate or 
        secure reassignment.  With respect to motor vehicles subject to 
        the provisions of section 325E.15, the dealer shall also, in the 
        space provided therefor on the certificate or secure 
        reassignment, state the true cumulative mileage registered on 
        the odometer or that the exact mileage is unknown if the 
        odometer reading is known by the transferor to be different from 
        the true mileage.  The transferee shall complete the application 
        for title section on the certificate of title or separate title 
        application form prescribed by the department.  The dealer shall 
        mail or deliver the certificate to the department registrar or 
        deputy registrar with the transferee's application for a new 
        certificate and appropriate taxes and fees, within ten days. 
           Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1997 Supplement, section 
        169.121, subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 4.  [ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTIES.] (a) The commissioner 
        of public safety shall revoke the driver's license of a person 
        convicted of violating this section or an ordinance in 
        conformity with it as follows:  
           (1) for an offense under subdivision 1:  not less than 30 
        days; 
           (2) for an offense under subdivision 1a:  not less than 90 
        days; 
           (3) for an offense occurring within five years after a 
        prior impaired driving conviction or a prior license revocation, 
        or any time after two or more prior impaired driving convictions 
        or prior license revocations:  (i) if the current conviction is 
        for a violation of subdivision 1, not less than 180 days and 
        until the court has certified that treatment or rehabilitation 
        has been successfully completed where prescribed in accordance 
        with section 169.126; or (ii) if the current conviction is for a 
        violation of subdivision 1a, not less than one year and until 
        the court has certified that treatment or rehabilitation has 
        been successfully completed where prescribed in accordance with 
        section 169.126; 
           (4) for an offense occurring within five years after the 
        first of two prior impaired driving convictions or prior license 
        revocations:  not less than one year, together with denial under 
        section 171.04, subdivision 1, clause (9), until rehabilitation 
        is established in accordance with standards established by the 
        commissioner; 
           (5) for an offense occurring any time after three or more 
        prior impaired driving convictions or prior license 
        revocations:  not less than two years, together with denial 
        under section 171.04, subdivision 1, clause (9), until 
        rehabilitation is established in accordance with standards 
        established by the commissioner.  
           (b) If the person convicted of violating this section is 
        under the age of 21 years at the time of the violation, the 
        commissioner of public safety shall revoke the offender's 
        driver's license or operating privileges for a period of six 
        months or for the appropriate period of time under paragraph 
        (a), clauses (1) to (5), for the offense committed, whichever is 
        the greatest period.  
           (c) For purposes of this subdivision, a juvenile 
        adjudication under this section, section 169.129, an ordinance 
        in conformity with either of them, or a statute or ordinance 
        from another state in conformity with either of them is an 
        offense.  
           (d) Whenever department records show that the violation 
        involved personal injury or death to any person, not less than 
        90 additional days shall be added to the base periods provided 
        above.  
           (e) If the person is convicted of violating subdivision 1, 
        paragraph (f), the commissioner of public safety shall revoke 
        the person's driver's license for twice the period of time 
        otherwise provided for in this subdivision.  
           (f) Except for a person whose license has been revoked 
        under paragraph (b), and except for a person who commits a 
        violation described in subdivision 3, paragraph (c), clause (4), 
        (child endangerment), any person whose license has been revoked 
        pursuant to section 169.123 as the result of the same incident, 
        and who does not have a prior impaired driving conviction or 
        prior license revocation, is subject to the mandatory revocation 
        provisions of paragraph (a), clause (1) or (2), in lieu of the 
        mandatory revocation provisions of section 169.123. 
           Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 1997 Supplement, section 
        171.19, is amended to read: 
           171.19 [PETITION FOR LICENSE REINSTATEMENT.] 
           Any person whose driver's license has been refused, 
        revoked, suspended, canceled, or disqualified by the 
        commissioner, except where the license is revoked or 
        disqualified under section 169.123 or 171.186, may file a 
        petition for a hearing in the matter in the district court in 
        the county wherein such person shall reside and, in the case of 
        a nonresident, in the district court in any county, and such 
        court is hereby vested with jurisdiction, and it shall be its 
        duty, to set the matter for hearing upon 15 days' written notice 
        to the commissioner, and thereupon to take testimony and examine 
        into the facts of the case to determine whether the petitioner 
        is entitled to a license or is subject to revocation, 
        suspension, cancellation, disqualification, or refusal of 
        license, and shall render judgment accordingly.  The petition 
        for hearing must either be filed within 180 days of the 
        effective date of the order of revocation, suspension, 
        cancellation, disqualification, or refusal to license or be 
        filed before expiration of the withdrawal period, whichever 
        occurs first.  The petition shall be heard by the court without 
        a jury and may be heard in or out of term.  The commissioner may 
        appear in person, or by agents or representatives, and may 
        present evidence upon the hearing by affidavit personally, by 
        agents, or by representatives.  The petitioner may present 
        evidence by affidavit, except that the petitioner must be 
        present in person at such hearing for the purpose of 
        cross-examination.  In the event the department shall be 
        sustained in these proceedings, the petitioner shall have no 
        further right to make further petition to any court for the 
        purpose of obtaining a driver's license until after the 
        expiration of one year after the date of such hearing. 
           Sec. 7.  Minnesota Statutes 1997 Supplement, section 
        171.20, subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 4.  [REINSTATEMENT FEE.] Before the license is 
        reinstated, a person whose driver's license has been suspended 
        under section 171.16, subdivision 2; 171.18, except subdivision 
        1, clause (10); or 171.182, or who has been disqualified from 
        holding a commercial driver's license under section 171.165 must 
        pay a fee of $25 until June 30, 1999, and $20 thereafter.  When 
        this fee is fees are collected by a county-operated office of 
        deputy registrar, a $3.50 handling charge is imposed in the 
        amount specified under section 168.33, subdivision 7.  The 
        handling charge must be deposited in the treasury of the place 
        for which the deputy registrar was appointed and the 
        reinstatement fee and surcharge must be deposited in an approved 
        state depository as directed under section 168.33, subdivision 
        2.  A suspension may be rescinded without fee for good cause. 
           Sec. 8.  Minnesota Statutes 1997 Supplement, section 
        171.29, subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 2.  [FEES, ALLOCATION.] (a) A person whose driver's 
        license has been revoked as provided in subdivision 1, except 
        under section 169.121 or 169.123, shall pay a $30 fee before the 
        driver's license is reinstated. 
           (b) A person whose driver's license has been revoked as 
        provided in subdivision 1 under section 169.121 or 169.123 shall 
        pay a $250 fee plus a $10 surcharge before the driver's license 
        is reinstated.  The $250 fee is to be credited as follows: 
           (1) Twenty percent shall be credited to the trunk highway 
        fund. 
           (2) Fifty-five percent shall be credited to the general 
        fund. 
           (3) Eight percent shall be credited to a separate account 
        to be known as the bureau of criminal apprehension account.  
        Money in this account may be appropriated to the commissioner of 
        public safety and the appropriated amount shall be apportioned 
        80 percent for laboratory costs and 20 percent for carrying out 
        the provisions of section 299C.065. 
           (4) Twelve percent shall be credited to a separate account 
        to be known as the alcohol-impaired driver education account.  
        Money in the account is appropriated as follows: 
           (i) The first $200,000 in a fiscal year is to the 
        commissioner of children, families, and learning for programs in 
        elementary and secondary schools. 
           (ii) The remainder credited in a fiscal year is 
        appropriated to the commissioner of transportation to be spent 
        as grants to the Minnesota highway safety center at St. Cloud 
        State University for programs relating to alcohol and highway 
        safety education in elementary and secondary schools. 
           (5) Five percent shall be credited to a separate account to 
        be known as the traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury 
        account.  $100,000 is annually appropriated from the account to 
        the commissioner of human services for traumatic brain injury 
        case management services.  The remaining money in the account is 
        annually appropriated to the commissioner of health to establish 
        and maintain the traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury 
        registry created in section 144.662 and to reimburse the 
        commissioner of economic security for the reasonable cost of 
        services provided under section 268A.03, clause (o). 
           (c) The $10 surcharge shall be credited to a separate 
        account to be known as the remote electronic alcohol monitoring 
        pilot program account.  The commissioner shall transfer the 
        balance of this account to the commissioner of finance on a 
        monthly basis for deposit in the general fund. 
           (d) When these fees are collected by a county-operated 
        office of deputy registrar, a handling charge is imposed in the 
        amount specified under section 168.33, subdivision 7.  The 
        handling charge must be deposited in the treasury of the place 
        for which the deputy registrar was appointed and the 
        reinstatement fees and surcharge must be deposited in an 
        approved state depository as directed under section 168.33, 
        subdivision 2. 
           Sec. 9.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 221.025, is 
        amended to read: 
           221.025 [EXEMPTIONS.] 
           The provisions of this chapter requiring a certificate or 
        permit to operate as a motor carrier do not apply to the 
        intrastate transportation described below:  
           (a) the transportation of students to or from school or 
        school activities in a school bus inspected and certified under 
        section 169.451 and the transportation of children or parents to 
        or from a Head Start facility or Head Start activity in a Head 
        Start bus inspected and certified under section 169.451; 
           (b) the transportation of solid waste, as defined in 
        section 116.06, subdivision 22, including recyclable materials 
        and waste tires, except that the term "hazardous waste" has the 
        meaning given it in section 221.011, subdivision 31; 
           (c) a commuter van as defined in section 221.011, 
        subdivision 27; 
           (d) authorized emergency vehicles as defined in section 
        169.01, subdivision 5, including ambulances; and tow trucks 
        equipped with proper and legal warning devices when picking up 
        and transporting (1) disabled or wrecked motor vehicles or (2) 
        vehicles towed or transported under a towing order issued by a 
        public employee authorized to issue a towing order; 
           (e) the transportation of grain samples under conditions 
        prescribed by the board; 
           (f) the delivery of agricultural lime; 
           (g) the transportation of dirt and sod within an area 
        having a 50-mile radius from the home post office of the person 
        performing the transportation; 
           (h) the transportation of sand, gravel, bituminous asphalt 
        mix, concrete ready mix, concrete blocks or tile and the mortar 
        mix to be used with the concrete blocks or tile, or crushed rock 
        to or from the point of loading or a place of gathering within 
        an area having a 50-mile radius from that person's home post 
        office or a 50-mile radius from the site of construction or 
        maintenance of public roads and streets; 
           (i) the transportation of pulpwood, cordwood, mining 
        timber, poles, posts, decorator evergreens, wood chips, sawdust, 
        shavings, and bark from the place where the products are 
        produced to the point where they are to be used or shipped; 
           (j) the transportation of fresh vegetables from farms to 
        canneries or viner stations, from viner stations to canneries, 
        or from canneries to canneries during the harvesting, canning, 
        or packing season, or transporting sugar beets, wild rice, or 
        rutabagas from the field of production to the first place of 
        delivery or unloading, including a processing plant, warehouse, 
        or railroad siding; 
           (k) the transportation of property or freight, other than 
        household goods and petroleum products in bulk, entirely within 
        the corporate limits of a city or between contiguous cities 
        except as provided in section 221.296; 
           (l) the transportation of unprocessed dairy products in 
        bulk within an area having a 100-mile radius from the home post 
        office of the person providing the transportation; 
           (m) the transportation of agricultural, horticultural, 
        dairy, livestock, or other farm products within an area having a 
        25-mile 100-mile radius from the person's home post office and 
        the carrier may transport other commodities within the 25-mile 
        100-mile radius if the destination of each haul is a farm; 
           (n) passenger transportation service that is not charter 
        service and that is under contract to and with operating 
        assistance from the department or the metropolitan council; 
           (o) the transportation of newspapers, as defined in section 
        331A.01, subdivision 5, telephone books, handbills, circulars, 
        or pamphlets in a vehicle with a gross vehicle weight of 10,000 
        pounds or less; and 
           (p) transportation of potatoes from the field of 
        production, or a storage site owned or otherwise controlled by 
        the producer, to the first place of processing. 
           The exemptions provided in this section apply to a person 
        only while the person is exclusively engaged in exempt 
        transportation. 
           Sec. 10.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
           $15,775,000 is appropriated from the trunk highway fund to 
        the commissioner of administration to complete renovation and 
        life safety improvements to the transportation building in the 
        capitol complex.  This is the final state appropriation for this 
        project. 
           Sec. 11.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
           Sections 3 and 4 are effective the day following final 
        enactment. 
           Presented to the governor April 10, 1998 
           Signed by the governor April 20, 1998, 11:30 a.m.