Court Opinion

ID: 9654743
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 18:49:18.55183+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:13:13.092265
License: Public Domain

SANDSTROM, Justice,
concurring specially.
[¶ 20] I agree with the result reached by the majority opinion. I write separately to note apparently erroneous premises and dicta.
[¶ 21] There are two underlying premises of the appellant’s argument on appeal:
1. The record establishes that appellant’s vehicle displayed a valid Montana temporary registration certificate.
*8052. The appellant was entitled to operate his vehicle in North Dakota with a valid Montana temporary registration certificate.
Neither premise appears to be correct.
I
[¶ 22] The record simply does not establish that the appellant was displaying a valid Montana temporary registration certificate. He was displaying what purported to be a Montana temporary registration certificate (actually, it apparently purported to be a “MONTANA TEMPORARY WINDOW STICKER” and “40 DAY PERMIT ONLY (1) PER VEHICLE SALE”). The appellant testified that he was displaying a Montana temporary registration certificate. The officer testified that it purported to be a Montana temporary registration certificate but that he doubted its authenticity. No competent, admissible evidence was presented that a temporary registration certificate had even been issued in Montana. See N.D.R.Ev. 902 and 1005.
II
[¶ 23] The law does not establish that the appellant was entitled to operate his vehicle in North Dakota with a valid Montana temporary registration certificate.
[¶ 24] “Because the operation of a motor vehicle is a privilege, the legislature of each state may, in the exercise of the police power, enact reasonable regulations requiring the licensing or registration of motor vehicles....” 7A Am.Jur.2d Automobiles and Highway Traffic § 59 (1997) (footnotes omitted).
[¶ 25] “It is well settled that the police power of a state to regulate the use of motor vehicles on its highways extends to nonresidents as well as residents, and that a state may prohibit the use of its highways by a foreign motor vehicle unless and until it is licensed in accordance with state laws. While states may allow nonresidents to use vehicles in-state for limited periods of time without complying with their licensing or registration laws, but as a pure matter of state power, a state can stop a nonresident motorist at its boundaries and require him or her, as a condition of operating the motor vehicle on the highways of the state, to pay a reasonable license fee.” 7A Am.Jur.2d Automobiles and Highway Traffic § 60 (1997) (footnotes omitted).
[¶ 26] For an indication of the general state of state laws, we may look at the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Laws and Ordinances, Uniform Vehicle Code, 2000 (“UVC”). Under UVC §§ 3-402, 1-120, 3-407, temporary permits are valid in a state only if issued by the motor vehicle department of that state. And under UVC § 3-403, a nonresident owner of any foreign vehicle may operate the vehicle in a state without registering in that state if a number of conditions are met, including “displays upon it a valid registration card and registration plate or plates issued for such vehicle in, the place of residence of such owner.” (Emphasis added.)
[¶ 27] North Dakota law follows this pattern. Under N.D.C.C. § 39-04-11:
Except as otherwise specifically provided, a person may not operate or drive a vehicle on the public highways of this state unless the vehicle has a distinctive number assigned to it by the department, and two number plates, bearing the distinctive number conspicuously displayed, horizontally and in an upright position, one on the front and one on the rear of the vehicle, each securely fastened ....
[¶ 28] Under N.D.C.C. § 39-04-18(2): “The following motor vehicles may be operated upon the highways, roads, and *806streets of this state without being registered, under such limitations as are herein specified;” subject to further specified limitations:
e. Passenger motor vehicles registered in any other state or territory; provided, however, that such motor vehicles have displayed thereon the current license plates issued by the state or territory in which they are registered and provided further that the owners or operators thereof are not residents of this state for any purpose and are not gainfully employed or stationed in this state.
(Emphasis added.)
[¶ 29] Thus, the specific statutes require “foreign” vehicles to display current license plates.
[¶ 30] The majority opinion appears to suggest that N.D.C.C. § 39-04-17, relating to temporary certificates, may apply here. It does not and cannot for several reasons. The specific provision of N.D.C.C. § 39-04-18 would apply over the general. And under the plain language of N.D.C.C. § 39-04-17, it applies only to North Dakota-issued certificates. Section 39-04-17, N.D.C.C., provides:
The possession of a certificate made out by a notary public or an authorized agent of a licensed vehicle dealer who took the acknowledgment of the application when the vehicle was first registered or required to be registered under the laws of this state, where such certificate shows the date of application, the make, registered weight, and year model of the motor vehicle, the manufacturer’s number of the motor vehicle which such application describes, and further shows that such notary public, or authorized agent of a vehicle dealer, personally mailed the application with the remittance fee, is prima facie evidence of compliance with motor vehicle law with reference to the vehicle therein described, for a period of thirty days from the date of such application. Any violation of this section is an infraction punishable by a fine of not less than fifty dollars.
[¶ 31] By its terms, N.D.C.C. § 39-04-17 is limited to vehicles “registered or required to be registered under the laws of this state.” Additionally, the displayed “certificate” was not executed by the required person under the statute. It was not issued by a notary public and the seal of the notary. It was not issued by an authorized agent of a licensed vehicle dealer. A licensed vehicle dealer is one licensed under N.D.C.C. ch. 39-22. A licensed vehicle dealer must maintain a place of business in North Dakota. N.D.C.C. § 39-22-15. Further, such a certificate is valid only “for a period of thirty days from the date of such application.” The purported Montana certificate purported to be valid for more than thirty days, and the purported certificate reflected that it was more than thirty days past issuance. The application referenced in N.D.C.C. § 39-04-17 must be to the North Dakota Motor Vehicle Department under N.D.C.C. § 39-04-02.
Ill
[¶ 32] In conclusion, the record does not establish a valid Montana temporary registration certificate; there appears to be no right to operate a motor vehicle in North Dakota under a temporary registration certificate from Montana; and no one — not the appellant, not the majority, and not the dissent — has cited contrary authority.
[¶ 33] DALE V. SANDSTROM