61-3-101. Duties of department -- records. (1) The department shall keep a record as specified in this section of all motor vehicles, trailers, and semitrailers of every kind, and of certificates of registration and ownership of those vehicles, and of all manufacturers and dealers in motor vehicles.
     (2) The record must show the following:
     (a) name of owner, residence address by street or rural route, town, and county, and mailing address if different than residence address;
     (b) name and address of conditional sales vendor, mortgagee, or other lienholder and amount due under contract or lien;
     (c) manufacturer of vehicle;
     (d) manufacturer's designation of style of vehicle;
     (e) identifying number;
     (f) year of manufacture;
     (g) character of motive power and shipping weight of vehicle as shown by the manufacturer;
     (h) the distinctive license number assigned to the vehicle, if any;
     (i) if a truck or trailer, the number of tons' capacity or GVW if imprinted on manufacturer's identification plate;
     (j) except as provided in 61-3-103, the name and complete address of any holder of a perfected security interest in the vehicle; and
     (k) other information that may from time to time be found desirable.
     (3) The department shall file applications for registration received by it from the county treasurers of the state and register the vehicles and the vehicle owners as follows:
     (a) under the distinctive license number assigned to the vehicle by the county treasurer;
     (b) alphabetically under the name of the owner;
     (c) numerically under make and identifying number of the vehicle; and
     (d) other index of registration as the department considers expedient.
     (4) Vehicle registration records and indexes and driver's license records and indexes may be maintained by electronic recording and storage media.
     (5) In the case of dealers, the records must show the information contained in the application for dealer's license as required by 61-4-101 through 61-4-105, as well as the distinctive license number assigned to the dealer.
     (6) In order to prevent an accumulation of unneeded records and files, regardless of any other statutory requirements, the department may destroy all records and files that relate to vehicles that have not been registered within the preceding 4 years and that do not have an active lien.
     (7) All records must be open to inspection during all reasonable business hours, and the department shall furnish any information from the records upon payment by the applicant of the cost of the information requested. Prior to providing the information, the department may require the applicant to provide identification. However, the department may, by rule, reasonably restrict disclosure of information on an owner or the owner's vehicle if the owner has requested in writing that the department not disclose the information.

     History: En. Sec. 1, Ch. 75, L. 1917; re-en. Sec. 1755, R.C.M. 1921; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 177, L. 1925; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 129, L. 1927; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 181, L. 1929; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 159, L. 1933; re-en. Sec. 1755, R.C.M. 1935; amd. Secs. 1, 2, Ch. 62, L. 1943; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 208, L. 1957; amd. Sec. 22, Ch. 177, L. 1965; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 256, L. 1965; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 74, L. 1967; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 115, L. 1969; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 207, L. 1969; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 214, L. 1971; amd. Sec. 7, Ch. 343, L. 1977; R.C.M. 1947, 53-101; amd. Sec. 26, Ch. 421, L. 1979; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 15, L. 1981; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 503, L. 1985; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 555, L. 1985; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 236, L. 1991; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 604, L. 1991; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 724, L. 1991.