2023 New Mexico Statutes › Chapter 66 - Motor Vehicles › Article 3 - Registration Laws; Security Interests; Anti-Theft Provisions; Bicycles; Equipment; Unsafe Vehicles; Off-Highway Motor Vehicles; Other Vehicles › Part 1 - REGISTRATION, CERTIFICATES OF TITLE AND REGISTRATION PLATES GENERALLY › Section 66-3-19 - Renewal of registration; staggered period for vehicles; exception for manufactured homes and freight trailers; late registration.

A. The department, in order to operate a more uniform system of vehicle registration, is authorized for certain or all vehicles to:
(1) prorate registration fees by quarterly increments for periods in excess of twelve months, but not exceeding twenty-four months;
(2) determine the specific registered vehicle owners and the numbers of these to be assigned to each registration period in order to maintain the system;
(3) notify each registered vehicle owner by mail at the last known address within an appropriate period prior to the expiration of the current registration period. The notice shall include a renewal-of-registration application form specifying the amount of registration fees due and the specific dates of the registration period covered by the renewal application;
(4) provide for the retention of registration plates;
(5) provide for the issuance of validating stickers to be affixed either to retained registration plates or elsewhere on the vehicles as prescribed by the department to signify the registration of the vehicles for the current registration period; and
(6) provide for identification purposes clearly recognizable distinctions between current and expired registration plates and validation stickers. To this end, the department, by whatever system or device the secretary may direct that is approved by the chief of the New Mexico state police division of the department of public safety, shall ensure a practicable display of the proper and current registration of vehicles.
B. Certificates of title need not be renewed annually but shall remain valid until canceled by the department for cause or upon transfer of any interest shown in the certificate of title.
C. The vehicle registration of vehicles registered under the provisions of Subsection A of this section expires on the last day of the period for which the vehicle has been registered. Every vehicle registration other than vehicles registered in accordance with Subsection A of this section, manufactured homes and freight trailers expires December 31. The department may receive applications for renewal of registration and may issue new registration evidence and registration plates or validating stickers at any time prior to expiration of the current registration.
D. The registration of a manufactured home or freight trailer need not be renewed annually, and the initial registration shall be effective and considered a current registration for the purpose of the Motor Vehicle Code as long as the ownership of the vehicle is not transferred. The transfer of title provisions of the Motor Vehicle Code do apply to manufactured homes and freight trailers, and the transferee is required to register the vehicle in accordance with Section 66-3-103 NMSA 1978. The department is authorized and directed to issue distinctive registration plates for manufactured homes and freight trailers that identify the plates as permanent registration plates.
E. It is unlawful to operate or transport or cause to be transported upon any highways in this state any vehicle, except a commercial motor vehicle registered in another state or a manufactured home, subject to registration under the provisions of the Motor Vehicle Code without having paid the registration fee or without having secured and constantly displayed the registration plate required by the Motor Vehicle Code. If a vehicle, other than a manufactured home, is operated or transported after the expiration of the vehicle registration, the owner of the vehicle is subject to a penalty of the greater of ten dollars ($10.00) or, if the vehicle is operated or transported thirty-one or more days after the expiration of the registration, an amount equal to seventy-five percent of the registration fee. Any duly appointed deputy or agent of the department has the authority to seize the vehicle and hold it until the fee, penalty and any fine that may be imposed for violation of law are paid and may sell the vehicle in the manner provided by law for the distraint and sale of personal property.
F. It is unlawful to operate, transport or cause to be transported upon any highways in this state or to maintain in any place in this state a manufactured home subject to registration under the provisions of the Motor Vehicle Code without having paid the registration fee or without having secured and constantly displayed the registration plate required by the Motor Vehicle Code. Violation of this subsection subjects the owner to a penalty of five dollars ($5.00), and no other administrative penalty for failure to register under the Motor Vehicle Code shall be imposed upon manufactured homes that are subject to the provisions of Section 66-6-10 NMSA 1978. Any duly appointed deputy or agent of the department has authority to seize the manufactured home and hold it until the fee, penalties and any fine that may be imposed for violation of law are paid and may sell the manufactured home in the manner provided by law for the distraint and sale of personal property.
G. This section authorizes a staggered system of registration of vehicles.
History:
1953 Comp., § 64-3-19, enacted by Laws 1978, ch. 35, § 39; 1981, ch. 361, § 8; 1989, ch. 318, § 7; 1990, ch. 120, § 25; 1993, ch. 328, § 1; 1995, ch. 44, § 2; 1995, ch. 135, § 12.
ANNOTATIONS
Cross references.
— For general definitions applicable to this section,
see
66-1-4 to 66-1-4.20 NMSA 1978.
For giving notice,
see
66-2-11 NMSA 1978.
For disposition of fees,
see
66-6-23 NMSA 1978.
1995 Multiple Amendments.
— Laws 1995, ch. 135, § 12, effective January 1, 1996, and Laws 1995, ch. 44, § 2, effective July 1, 1995, enacted virtually identical amendments to this section that were reconciled. Pursuant to 12-1-8 NMSA 1978, Laws 1995, ch. 135, § 12, as the last act signed by the governor, is set out above and incorporates both amendments. The amendments enacted by Laws 1995, ch. 135, § 12, and Laws 1995, ch. 44, § 2 are described below. To view the session laws in their entirety,
see
the 1995 session laws on
NMOneSource.com
.
The nature of the difference between the amendments is that Laws 1995, ch. 135, § 12, made an exception to the registration requirements for commercial motor vehicles registered in another state and increased the penalty for failing to register a vehicle that is operated or transported on a highway of this state. Laws 1995, ch. 44, § 2, made virtually identical changes and also provided for twenty-four (24) month registration fees.
Laws 1995, ch. 44, § 2, effective July 1, 1995, and Laws 1995, ch. 135, § 12, effective January 1, 1996, in the section heading, deleted "and prorated vehicles" following "trailers"; in Subsection A, redesignated part of Paragraph (4) as Paragraph (5) and rewrote the new paragraph; redesignated former Paragraph (5) as Paragraph (6) and substituted "chief" for "commanding officer"; in Subsection E, inserted "a commercial motor vehicle registered in another state" following "except" and inserted the language beginning "the greater" at the end of the second sentence; and made minor stylistic changes throughout the section.
The 1993 amendment,
effective July 1, 1993, substituted "department" for "director" near the beginning of Subsection A and in the last sentence of Subsection D; substituted "department" for "division" in Subsection B, the present third sentence of Subsection C, and the last sentence of Subsections E and F; in Subsection C, added the present first sentence, deleted "For vehicles whose registration expires December 31" from the beginning of the present third sentence, and deleted the former last sentence, which read: "Renewals for these vehicles shall be made on or before March 2 of the following year"; in Subsection E, substituted "the owner of the vehicle is subject to a penalty" for "there shall be a charge to the owner" in the second sentence and inserted "penalty" in the last sentence; and deleted "with respect to a manufactured home" after "subsection" in the second sentence of Subsection F.
The 1990 amendment,
effective July 1, 1990, substituted "manufactured homes" for "mobile homes" in the catchline; in subsection A, inserted "division of the department of public safety" following "state police" in Paragraph (5), and made minor stylistic changes in Paragraphs (3) and (5); and, in Subsection F, deleted the former second sentence relating to the penalty for violation of the subsection with respect to a travel trailer and substituted "manufactured home" for "house trailer" in three places.
The 1989 amendment,
effective July 1, 1989, substituted "operate" for "establish" in the introductory paragraph of Subsection A; deleted "staggered" following "initial" in Subsection A(1); in Subsection A(2) deleted "staggered" following "each" and substituted "maintain" for "initiate"; made minor stylistic changes in Subsection B; in Subsection C substituted all of the language of the first sentence beginning with "vehicles" for "staggered vehicles, mobile homes and freight trailers shall expire December 31", and deleted the former fourth and fifth sentences which read: "No person shall display a new registration plate or validating sticker, other than staggered vehicles, prior to December 15. Applications for renewal of prorated registration shall be made by December 31 of each year."; substituted "manufactured home" for "mobile home" several times in Subsections D, E and F; in Subsection E substituted the present second sentence for the former second and third sentences, which read: "If a vehicle, other than a mobile home, is unlawfully operated or transported, there shall be a charge to the owner of one dollar ($1.00) a day beginning from the date of expiration of the vehicle registration. This charge shall not exceed one hundred dollars ($100)."; and deleted "and motor vehicles" at the end of Subsection G.
Criminal penalties do not exclude section's administrative penalties.
— The criminal penalties prescribed by 64-10-7, 1953 Comp. (similar to 66-8-7 NMSA 1978) do not exclude imposition of the administrative penalties prescribed by 64-3-14, 1953 Comp. (similar to this section). 1961 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 61-72.
Section's penalties are civil and not "another penalty".
— When 64-10-7, 1953 Comp. (similar to 66-8-7 NMSA 1978) speaks of "another penalty," it means another penalty for the criminal act. Such a penalty must be either a term of imprisonment or a fine payable into the current school fund. The administrative penalties of 64-3-14, 1953 Comp. (similar to this section) do not meet this test. 1961 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 61-72.
Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references.
— 60 C.J.S. Motor Vehicles § 132.