Amends existing law to provide for registration fees.

LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO Sixty-eighth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2026 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES HOUSE BILL NO. 717 BY TRANSPORTATION AND DEFENSE COMMITTEE AN ACT1 RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLES; AMENDING SECTION 49-401A, IDAHO CODE, TO ESTAB-2 LISH A FEE; AMENDING SECTION 49-402, IDAHO CODE, TO ESTABLISH A LATE FEE3 FOR FAILURE TO RENEW VEHICLE REGISTRATION WITHIN THIRTY DAYS AND TO MAKE4 TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY AND PROVIDING AN EF-5 FECTIVE DATE.6

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:7

SECTION 1. That Section 49-401A, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby8 amended to read as follows:9 49-401A. OWNER TO SECURE REGISTRATION FROM A COUNTY ASSESSOR OR THE10 DEPARTMENT. (1) Every owner of a motor vehicle, trailer or semitrailer who11 intends to operate the vehicle upon any highway in this state shall, before12 the same is so operated, apply to a county assessor or to the department or13 an agent of the department and obtain registration for vehicles pursuant to14 sections 49-402(1) through (3), 49-402A, 49-402B and 49-422, Idaho Code.15 All others shall be obtained from the department except as provided in sub-16 section (2) of this section. Owners of vehicles specified in section 49-426,17 Idaho Code, are exempt from the provisions of this section. Owners of ve-18 hicles operating on a temporary basis as provided in sections 49-431(3),19 49-432 and 49-433, Idaho Code, are exempt from the provisions of this section20 to the extent that the temporary permits in use are unexpired.21 (2) Commercial vehicles in excess of twenty-six thousand (26,000)22 pounds gross weight, farm and noncommercial vehicles in excess of sixty23 thousand (60,000) pounds gross weight and all vehicles registered under24 section 49-435, Idaho Code, shall be registered by the department. All other25 commercial, farm and noncommercial vehicles and the vehicles in paragraphs26 (a), (b), and (c) of this subsection shall be registered by the county asses-27 sor or by the department or an agent of the department.28 (a) Motor vehicles equipped primarily to haul passengers on a commer-29 cial basis, doing strictly an intrastate business, and having gross30 weights of twenty-six thousand (26,000) pounds or less.31 (b) Any farm vehicle or combination of vehicles where each vehicle or32 combination of vehicles shall not exceed a gross weight of sixty thou-33 sand (60,000) pounds.34 (c) Nonresident vehicles or combination of vehicles owned by transient35 labor used in hauling unprocessed agricultural products for hire and36 not exceeding sixty thousand (60,000) pounds gross weight shall regis-37 ter their vehicle for the appropriate gross weight scale for the annual38 fee if registered on or before June 30 and for one-half (1/2) the annual39 fee if not registered until on or after July 1 of any year, with the as-40 sessor of the county in which the owner resides.41

2 (3) Commercial, farm and noncommercial vehicles of any weight doing1 strictly an intrastate business may be registered by the county assessor or2 by the department or an agent of the department by mutual agreement between3 the department and the county.4 (4) Failure to apply for registration for a vehicle within thirty (30)5 days of becoming a resident, as that term is defined in section 49-119, Idaho6 Code, shall result in a fee of seventy-five dollars ($75.00) that shall be7 deposited in the state highway account.8

SECTION 2. That Section 49-402, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby9 amended to read as follows:10 49-402. ANNUAL REGISTRATION. (1) The annual fee for operating each11 pickup truck, each neighborhood electric vehicle and each other motor ve-12 hicle having a maximum gross weight not in excess of eight thousand (8,000)13 pounds and that complies with the federal motor vehicle safety standards as14 defined in section 49-107, Idaho Code, shall be:15 Vehicles one (1) and two (2) years old .........................$69.0016 Vehicles three (3) and four (4) years old ......................$57.0017 Vehicles five (5) and six (6) years old ........................$57.0018 Vehicles seven (7) and eight (8) years old .....................$45.0019 Vehicles over eight (8) years old .............................$45.0020 There shall be twelve (12) registration periods, starting in January21 for holders of validation registration stickers numbered 1, and proceed-22 ing consecutively through December for holders of validation registration23 stickers numbered 12, each of which shall start on the first day of a calen-24 dar month and end on the last day of the twelfth month from the first day of25 the beginning month. Registration periods shall expire at midnight on the26 last day of the registration period in the year designated by the validation27 registration sticker. The numeral digit on the validation registration28 stickers shall, as does the registration card, fix the registration period29 under the staggered registration system for the purpose of reregistration30 and notice of expiration.31 A vehicle that has once been registered for any of the above-designated32 periods shall, upon reregistration, be registered for the period bearing the33 same number, and the registration card shall show and be the exclusive proof34 of the expiration date of registration and licensing. Vehicles may be ini-35 tially registered for less than a twelve (12) month period, or for more than a36 twelve (12) month period, and the fee prorated on a monthly basis if the frac-37 tional registration tends to fulfill the purpose of the monthly series reg-38 istration system.39 (2) For all school buses operated either by a nonprofit, nonpublic40 school or operated pursuant to a service contract with a school district for41 transporting children to or from school or in connection with school-ap-42 proved activities, the annual fee shall be twenty-four dollars ($24.00) and43 shall be subject to staggered registration for the purpose of reregistration44 and notice of expiration.45 (3) For all motorcycles and motor-driven cycles that comply with the46 federal motor vehicle safety standards, operated on the public highways, the47 annual fee shall be nineteen dollars ($19.00) and shall be subject to stag-48

3 gered registration for the purpose of reregistration and notice of expira-1 tion.2 (4) For operation of an all-terrain vehicle, utility type vehicle or3 motorbike, excluding a motorbike with an engine displacement of fifty (50)4 cubic centimeters or less, on city, county or highway district roads or5 highways open to such use, a restricted vehicle license plate fee pursuant6 to section 49-450, Idaho Code, shall be paid. In addition, the certifi-7 cate of number fee specified in section 67-7122, Idaho Code, shall be paid8 as provided in section 67-7122, Idaho Code. The certificate of number and9 restricted vehicle license plate exemption provided in section 49-426(2),10 Idaho Code, applies to all-terrain vehicles, utility type vehicles, motor-11 bikes and motorcycles used for the purposes described in section 49-426(2),12 Idaho Code. Nonresidents shall be allowed to purchase a restricted vehicle13 license plate and validation sticker pursuant to section 67-7124, Idaho14 Code, for an all-terrain vehicle, utility type vehicle, or motorbike.15 (5) For all motor homes, the fee shall be as specified in subsection (1)16 of this section and shall be in addition to the fees provided for in section17 49-445, Idaho Code.18 (6) Registration fees shall not be subject to refund.19 (7) A financial institution or repossession service contracted to20 a financial institution repossessing vehicles under the terms of a secu-21 rity agreement shall move the vehicle from the place of repossession to the22 financial institution's place of business on a repossession plate. The23 repossession plate shall also be used for demonstrating the vehicle to a24 prospective purchaser for a period not to exceed ninety-six (96) hours. The25 registration fees for repossession plates shall be as required in subsection26 (1) of this section for a vehicle one (1) and two (2) years old. All other27 fees required under chapter 4, title 49, Idaho Code, shall be in addition to28 the registration fee. The repossession plate shall be subject to staggered29 registration for the purpose of reregistration and notice of expiration.30 (8) A wrecker or towing business engaged in the process of towing motor-31 ized vehicles that have been wrecked, abandoned, salvaged or may be disabled32 may apply for a wrecker plate to be displayed on those vehicles being towed,33 provided the power unit is properly registered under this chapter. The reg-34 istration fees for wrecker plates shall be as required in subsection (1) of35 this section for a vehicle one (1) and two (2) years old. All other fees re-36 quired under chapter 4, title 49, Idaho Code, shall be in addition to the reg-37 istration fee and shall be subject to staggered registration for the purpose38 of reregistration and notice of expiration.39 (9) In addition to the annual registration fee in this section, there40 shall be an initial program fee of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) and an an-41 nual program fee of fifteen dollars ($15.00) for all special license plate42 programs for those license plates issued pursuant to sections 49-404A,43 49-407, 49-408, 49-409, 49-414, 49-416, 49-418 and 49-418D, Idaho Code. For44 special plates issued pursuant to section 49-417E, Idaho Code, there shall45 be an initial program fee of seventy dollars ($70.00) and an annual program46 fee of fifty dollars ($50.00). For special plates issued pursuant to sec-47 tions 49-406 and 49-406A, Idaho Code, there shall be an initial program fee48 of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) but there shall be no annual renewal fee.49 For special plates issued pursuant to sections 49-415D, 49-417, 49-417A,50

4 49-417B, 49-417C, 49-417D, 49-418A, 49-418B, 49-418C, 49-419, 49-419A,1 49-419C, 49-419E, 49-420, 49-420A, 49-420B, 49-420C, 49-420D, 49-420E,2 49-420J, 49-420K, 49-420L, 49-420M, 49-420N, 49-420O, 49-420P, 49-420Q,3 49-420R, 49-420S, and 49-420T, and 49-420T 49-420U, Idaho Code, and unless4 otherwise expressly provided for in this chapter, any new special plate5 program effective on and after January 1, 2013, pursuant to section 49-402D,6 Idaho Code, there shall be an initial program fee of thirty-five dollars7 ($35.00) and an annual program fee of twenty-five dollars ($25.00). The fees8 contained in this subsection shall be applicable to all new special plate9 programs and shall be subject to staggered registration for the purpose of10 reregistration and notice of expiration. The initial program fee and the11 annual program fee shall be deposited in the state highway account and shall12 be used to fund the cost of administration of special license plate programs,13 unless otherwise specified by law.14 (10) Any vehicle that does not meet federal motor vehicle safety stan-15 dards shall not be registered and shall not be permitted to operate on public16 highways of the state, as defined in section 40-117, Idaho Code, unless oth-17 erwise specifically authorized.18 (11) In addition to annual registration fees as provided in this sec-19 tion, registrants may pay a fee to purchase an Idaho state parks passport20 authorizing resident motor vehicle entry into all Idaho state parks. Reg-21 istrants may pay the fee for a one (1) year or two (2) year period of time.22 The fee shall be ten dollars ($10.00) for one (1) year and twenty dollars23 ($20.00) for two (2) years. All fees collected pursuant to this subsection24 shall be deposited into the park and recreation fund and shall be subject to25 appropriation. Fees collected pursuant to this subsection shall not be con-26 sidered a motor vehicle registration fee as provided in section 17, article27 VII of the constitution of the state of Idaho.28 (12) Failure to renew a vehicle's registration within thirty (30) days29 of its expiration shall result in a fee of seventy-five dollars ($75.00) that30 shall be deposited in the state highway account. The fee described in this31 subsection does not apply to a vehicle when the owner has informed the de-32 partment that the vehicle is not in use and will not be operated on state33 highways. The fee may be waived when renewing or issuing a new registration34 for that vehicle.35

SECTION 3. An emergency existing therefor, which emergency is hereby36 declared to exist, this act shall be in full force and effect on and after37 July 1, 2026.38