Chapter 4 - General Offenses And Penalties
CHAPTER 4 - GENERAL OFFENSES AND PENALTIES
31-4-101. General prohibitions.
(a) No person shall knowingly operate, nor shall an ownerknowingly permit to be operated, upon any highway any vehicle:
(i) Unless a valid certificate of title, certificate ofregistration and license plates or temporary permits have been issued for thevehicle except as otherwise provided by this act;
(ii) Unless valid license plates or permits issued for thevehicle are displayed on the vehicle as provided by this act except asotherwise provided by this act;
(iii) With license plates, validation stickers or license permitsaltered, mutilated or obscured so as to prevent the license plate number frombeing easily read.
(b) No person shall alter or mutilate any valid license plate,sticker or permit.
(c) Repealed by Laws 1991, ch. 116, 2.
(d) No person shall sell or transfer his interest in a vehiclefor which a certificate of title is required unless he has obtained acertificate and assigns his interest on the title except as otherwise providedby this act.
(e) No person shall operate a vehicle in any manner with anexpired or improper registration, permit, decal or any other departmentapproved registration upon any highway or other publicly maintained roadway inthis state.
31-4-102. Falsifications; alterations, forgery or counterfeiting;penalties.
(a) No person shall knowingly make a false statement in anyapplication or other document required under this act.
(b) No person shall alter with fraudulent intent, forge orcounterfeit any certificate of title, certificate of registration, orassignment of a certificate of title. No person shall hold or use anycertificate of title or certificate of registration knowing the same to havebeen altered, forged or counterfeited.
(c) Any person convicted of a violation of subsection (a) or(b) of this section is guilty of a felony punishable by a fine of not more thanfive thousand dollars ($5,000.00), imprisonment for not more than two (2)years, or both.
31-4-103. Failure to maintain liability coverage; penalties;exceptions.
(a) No owner of a motor vehicle currently required to beregistered or which is required to be registered within a period of time, shalloperate or permit the operation of his motor vehicle without having in fullforce and effect a motor vehicle liability policy in amounts provided by W.S.31-9-405(b) or a bond in amounts provided by W.S. 31-9-102(a)(xi). Violation ofthis subsection is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for not more thansix (6) months, a fine of not less than two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00) normore than seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), or both. On a second or subsequentviolation of this subsection, the person may be fined not less than fivehundred dollars ($500.00) nor more than one thousand five hundred dollars($1,500.00), imprisoned for not more than six (6) months, or both. In additionto the fine or imprisonment imposed for a second or subsequent violation ofthis subsection, the judge shall require the defendant to deliver theregistration and license plates of the vehicle involved to the county treasurerfor the county where the citation was issued, and the registration and licenseplates shall be held by the county treasurer until such time as the judgedetermines that the defendant has met all obligations imposed by law. Excusableneglect or mistake by another is a defense for any violation of this subsection.If evidence of excusable neglect or mistake by another is presented and thedefendant is convicted, the court may consider this evidence in imposing apenalty under this subsection. The judge may suspend part or all of thesentence under this subsection and place the defendant on probation subject toconditions imposed by the judge which shall include a condition that thedefendant shall deliver the registration and license plates of the vehicleinvolved to the county treasurer for the county where the citation was issued.This subsection does not apply to a vehicle owned by a nonresident andregistered in a state requiring insurance if a vehicle insurance policy meetingrequirements of the laws and regulations of that state is in effect or unlessit otherwise complies with the laws of that state concerning compulsoryfinancial responsibility. The department shall report any violation of thissubsection to the motor vehicle administrator in the state wherein the vehicleis registered. A vehicle owned by a nonresident and registered in a state notrequiring insurance is exempt from this subsection.
(b) Any police officer as defined by W.S. 31-5-102(a)(xxxiii),issuing a citation for any moving violation under W.S. 31-5-101 through31-5-1402 or inspecting any vehicle, shall require the operator of any motorvehicle required to be registered to produce evidence of whether the operatoror owner of the motor vehicle has in full force and effect a motor vehicleliability policy in amounts provided by W.S. 31-9-405(b) or a bond in amountsprovided by W.S. 31-9-102(a)(xi). If the operator cannot show written proof offinancial responsibility, the driver shall have seven (7) days to produce suchproof. Any operator or owner of a motor vehicle required to be registered whois not able to demonstrate evidence of compliance with subsection (a) of thissection may be charged with violating that subsection. Additionally, the judgemay order any driver failing to produce written proof of financialresponsibility to pay restitution in accordance with W.S. 7-9-101 through7-9-115. Effective January 1, 1993, the displaying or exhibiting of a validlyissued insurance identification card as provided by W.S. 31-8-201 by anoperator or owner of the motor vehicle constitutes compliance with thissection. No operator or owner of a motor vehicle charged with violating thissection shall be convicted if he produces in court one (1) of the followingwhich was valid at the time of arrest or at the time the citation was issued:
(i) A liability insurance policy previously issued to him;
(ii) Evidence of a bond on file with the department in amountsprovided by W.S. 31-9-102(a)(xi).
(c) Upon receipt of a notice of a conviction under subsection(a) of this section, the department shall require the person convicted to fileand maintain, for a three (3) year period, proof of financial responsibility asrequired by W.S. 31-9-401 through 31-9-414. Failure to provide proof offinancial responsibility within thirty (30) days after notification shallresult in the suspension of the person's driver's license and nonresidentoperating privileges. The suspension shall remain in effect until the requiredproof of financial responsibility is received by the department.
(d) This section does not apply to:
(i) Self-insurers pursuant to W.S. 31-9-414;
(ii) A vehicle owned by the United States government, any stateor political subdivision thereof which is self-insured;
(iii) A vehicle meeting the requirements of W.S. 31-9-408 and 31-9-409;
(iv) A commercial vehicle registered or proportionallyregistered in this and any other jurisdiction provided the vehicle is coveredby a vehicle insurance policy complying with the laws of any other jurisdictionin which it is registered.
(e) The department shall adopt by rule and regulation anon-line verification system for motor vehicle insurance or bond as required bythis section, subject to the following:
(i) The verification system shall be accessible through theInternet, World Wide Web or a similar proprietary or common carrier electronicsystem by authorized personnel of the department, the courts, law enforcementpersonnel, any other entities authorized by the department, and insurersauthorized by the insurance department to issue the insurance required by thissection;
(ii) The verification system shall be available twenty-four (24)hours a day to verify the insurance status of any vehicle registered in Wyomingthrough the vehicle's identification number, policy number, registered owner'sname or other identifying characteristic or marker as prescribed by thedepartment in its rules and regulations;
(iii) The verification system shall be installed and operationalno later than July 1, 2008, following an appropriate testing period;
(iv) The department may contract with a private vendor to assistin establishing and maintaining the verification system, which may include adatabase of information reported to the department by insurers or may providefor direct inquiry of insurers' records by authorized personnel;
(v) The verification system shall include appropriateprovisions, consistent with industry standards, to secure its data againstunauthorized access and to maintain a record of all information requests;
(vi) Information contained in the verification system shall onlybe available for inspection under W.S. 16-4-201 through 16-4-205 as provided inW.S. 16-4-203(d)(x);
(vii) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (b) of thissection and W.S. 31-8-203(a), any police officer as defined by W.S.31-5-102(a)(xxxiii), during a traffic stop or accident investigation, mayaccess information relating to a motor vehicle or an operator subject to thetraffic stop, or to a motor vehicle or operator involved in an accident, fromthe on-line verification system to establish compliance with this section andto verify the current validity of the policy described on any insuranceidentification card issued pursuant to W.S. 31-8-201 and produced by theoperator of a motor vehicle during the traffic stop or accident investigation.
31-4-104. General penalty.
Anyperson who violates any provision of this act for which no separate penalty isprovided upon conviction shall be punished by a fine not to exceed sevenhundred fifty dollars ($750.00), imprisonment not to exceed six (6) months, orboth.
31-4-105. Renumbered as 31-18-707 by Laws 1993, ch. 68, 3.