MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2012 Regular Session
To: Judiciary, Division B; Finance
By: Senator(s) Polk
AN ACT TO AMEND THE MISSISSIPPI MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY INSPECTION LAW; TO AMEND SECTION 63-13-1, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO RENAME THE LAW AS THE MISSISSIPPI MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY LAW; TO AMEND SECTION 63-13-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO MAKE TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS TO CONFORM TO THE TENOR OF THE ACT; TO AMEND SECTION 63-13-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE THE COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC SAFETY TO DESIGNATE THE MOTOR VEHICLE INSPECTION DEPARTMENT AND TO PROMULGATE RULES AND REGULATIONS; TO AMEND SECTION 63-13-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO EXEMPT CERTAIN VEHICLES THAT ARE SUBJECT TO INSPECTION BY OTHER ENTITIES FROM SAFETY INSPECTIONS UNDER THIS CHAPTER; TO AMEND SECTION 63-13-9, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REFERENCE WINDOW TINT INSPECTIONS AND INSPECTIONS OF VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH A LIQUEFIED PETROLEUM OR NATURAL GAS CARBURETION SYSTEM; TO AMEND SECTIONS 63-13-15, 63-13-21 AND 63-13-23, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM; TO AMEND SECTION 63-7-59, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, DEALING WITH WINDOW TINT, TO CONFORM; TO AMEND SECTION 27-19-43, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE AN ADDITIONAL TAG FEE; TO AMEND SECTION 37-41-53, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM; TO REPEAL SECTION 63-13-8, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH PROVIDES A GRACE PERIOD FOR OBTAINING A VALID INSPECTION STICKER; TO REPEAL SECTION 63-13-15, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH PROVIDES FOR LICENSING OF OFFICIAL INSPECTION STATIONS; TO REPEAL SECTION 63-13-17, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH PROHIBITS IMPROPER REPRESENTATION AS AN INSPECTION STATION; TO REPEAL SECTION 63-13-19, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH PROVIDES FOR INSPECTIONS BY DEALERS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 63-13-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
63-13-1. This chapter shall be known and cited as "The Mississippi Motor Vehicle Safety * * * Law."
SECTION 2. Section 63-13-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
63-13-3. No person shall drive or move on any highway any motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer or pole trailer, or any combination thereof, unless the equipment upon * * * the motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer or pole trailer is in good working order and adjustment * * * and * * * is in such safe mechanical condition as not to endanger the driver or other occupant or any person upon the highway. This section does not apply to disabled vehicles being moved to a garage or service station by means of another vehicle, or to farm trailers engaged in farm operations, or to any farm tractor, combine, cotton picker, semitrailer, pole trailer, or other agricultural or farming equipment or machinery, or any combination thereof, used primarily for agricultural purposes, and not normally used on the public highways of the state. * * * Pulpwood trucks or log trucks used exclusively during daylight hours are not * * * required under the provisions of this chapter to have any lights in addition to headlights and taillights.
SECTION 3. Section 63-13-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
63-13-5. The Commissioner of Public Safety * * * shall designate the Motor Vehicle Inspection Department of this state and shall make necessary rules and regulations for the administration and enforcement of this chapter * * *. No specific brand or type of equipment shall be named or designated as inspection equipment, and only standard of performance shall be set; * * * the rules and regulations shall be so drawn as not to provide a monopoly of one (1) type of equipment but shall provide approval of at least two (2) different brands of competitive equipment.
SECTION 4. Section 63-13-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
63-13-7. * * *
* * * The commissioner shall except from the provisions of this chapter all passenger buses and other vehicles certified by the United States Department of Transportation and subject to its rules and regulations and its periodical inspections * * * and all school buses in the State of Mississippi subject to safety inspections under the rules of the State Department of Education promulgated pursuant to Section 37-41-53.
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SECTION 5. Section 63-13-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
63-13-9. * * * A test shall be made to determine the luminous reflectance and light transmittance of the windows of vehicles that have been tinted or darkened after factory delivery, as shall be designated by the Motor Vehicle Inspection Department by rules and regulations under Section 63-7-59.
A vehicle equipped with a liquefied petroleum or natural gas carburetion system * * * must be inspected and approved by an inspector or qualified installer authorized by the State Liquefied Compressed Gas Board to inspect and approve the installation of such systems under Section 75-57-47.
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SECTION 6. Section 63-13-15, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
63-13-15. * * * The * * * Motor Vehicle Inspection Department shall establish inspection points in association with any other Department of Public Safety facility, including, but not limited to, License Examiner Stations.
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* * * The person making the actual inspection * * * or under whose immediate personal supervision such inspection is made must possess the qualifications required by the commissioner. No person shall be designated * * * to make * * * inspections * * * unless the person has been approved for that purpose by the Motor Vehicle Inspection Department.
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SECTION 7. Section 63-13-21, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
63-13-21. (1) Members of the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol may at any time, upon reasonable cause to believe that a vehicle is unsafe or not equipped as required by law, or that its equipment is not in proper adjustment or repair, require the driver of such vehicle to stop and submit the vehicle to an inspection * * * as may be reasonably appropriate. No person driving a vehicle shall refuse to submit the vehicle to an inspection and test when required to do so by a member of the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol.
This authority * * * is limited to the inspection of the vehicle for mechanical defects and does not authorize the search of the vehicle or the occupants thereof for any other purpose without due process of law. Evidence of the commission of an unlawful act, procured by * * * inspection under this section is not admissible in any criminal prosecution except * * * as * * * provided * * * in this chapter.
(2) If a vehicle is found to be in unsafe condition, or any required part or equipment is not present or is not in proper repair and adjustment, the officer shall give a written notice to the driver and shall send a copy to the department. The notice shall require that the vehicle be placed in safe condition and its equipment in proper repair and adjustment, specifying the particulars with reference thereto * * *.
SECTION 8. Section 63-13-23, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
63-13-23. (1) Every owner or driver, upon receiving a notice as provided in Section 63-13-21, shall comply therewith and * * * the vehicle shall not be operated, except as provided in * * * subsection (2) of this section, until all necessary repairs have been made, and each day upon which the motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer or pole trailer, or any combination thereof is operated over any highway of this state after failure to comply with this subsection shall constitute a separate offense.
(2) No person shall operate any vehicle after receiving a notice with reference thereto as provided in Section 63-13-21, except as may be necessary to return the vehicle to the residence or place of business of the owner or driver, if within a distance of twenty (20) miles, or to take the vehicle to a garage or service station in the nearest town in which there is an open and operating inspection station, until the vehicle and its equipment has been placed in proper repair and adjustment and otherwise made to conform to the requirements of state law.
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(3) Any person who wishes to make his own repairs may do so. * * *
SECTION 9. Section 63-7-59, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
63-7-59. (1) No person shall drive any motor vehicle * * * upon the public roads, streets or highways in this state with any sign or poster, or with any glazing material which causes a mirrored effect, upon the front windshield, side wings or side or rear windows of such vehicle, other than a certificate or other paper required or authorized to be so displayed by law. No person shall drive any motor vehicle * * * upon the public roads, streets or highways in this state with any tinted film, glazing material or darkening material of any kind on the windshield of a motor vehicle except material designed to replace or provide a sun shield in the uppermost area as authorized to be installed by manufacturers of vehicles under federal law.
(2) From and after July 1, 2006, no person shall drive any motor vehicle * * * upon the public roads, streets or highways in this state with any window tinted or darkened, by tinted film or otherwise, unless:
(a) The windshield of the vehicle has affixed to it a label as provided under subsection (6) of this section certifying that all the windows of the vehicle have a light transmittance of twenty-eight percent (28%) or more; or
(b) The owner or operator of the vehicle has a certificate of medical exemption issued under subsection (4) of this section.
(3) The prohibitions of subsection (2) of this section shall not apply to (a) school buses, other buses used for public transportation, any bus or van owned or leased by a nonprofit organization duly incorporated under the laws of this state or any funeral home services vehicle, any limousine owned or leased by a private or public entity, or any law enforcement vehicle; (b) any window behind the front two (2) side windows, including the rear window, of any pickup truck, van, motor home, recreational vehicle, sport utility vehicle or multipurpose vehicle that has been tinted or darkened after factory delivery to the extent that the light transmittance of the window meets the minimum light transmittance requirements authorized to be installed for that window and for that vehicle under federal law or regulations before factory delivery; or (c) any other motor vehicle the windows of which have been tinted or darkened before factory delivery as permitted by federal law or federal regulations.
(4) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (2) of this section, it shall be lawful for any person who has been diagnosed by a licensed physician in this state as having a physical condition or disease which is seriously aggravated by minimum exposure to sunlight to place or have placed upon the windshield or windows of any motor vehicle which he owns or operates or within which he regularly travels as a passenger tinted film or other darkening material which would otherwise be in violation of this section. However, any such vehicle, in order to be exempt under this subsection, shall have prominently displayed on the vehicle dashboard a certificate of medical exemption on a form prepared by the Commissioner of Public Safety and signed by the person on whose behalf the certificate is issued. The special certificate authorized by this subsection (4) shall be issued free of charge to the applicant through a window tint inspection station designated by the commission. Each applicant shall present: * * * (a) an affidavit signed personally by the applicant and signed and attested by a physician which states the applicant's physical condition or disease which entitles him to an exemption under this subsection, and (b) proof of ownership of the motor vehicle by the applicant, or a signed affidavit by the owner of a motor vehicle operated for the use of the applicant, for which * * * the certificate is being obtained.
(5) The windshield on every motor vehicle shall be equipped with a device for cleaning rain, snow or other moisture from the windshield, which device shall be so constructed as to be controlled or operated by the driver of the vehicle.
(6) The Department of Public Safety shall issue labels * * * which shall be affixed to the lower left corner of the windshield * * *, shall be legible from outside the vehicle, and shall indicate the label registration number, a certification of compliance with Mississippi law, and such other information as the Commissioner of Public Safety deems appropriate. The labels shall be of a type which is pressure-sensitive, self-destructive upon removal, and no larger than one (1) inch square in size. Before affixing the label, the Department of Public Safety shall conduct a test to determine that the window complies with the light transmittance requirements prescribed under subsection (2) of this section. The test shall be conducted using such methods or devices as may be approved and certified not less often than annually by the Department of Public Safety. * * * For conducting such tests, the Department of Public Safety shall charge and collect a fee of Five Dollars ($5.00). * * * The fee * * * may be expended, upon legislative appropriation, for the operational expenses of the department. No fee shall be charged unless a test is actually performed under this subsection * * *. The presence of such label upon the windshield of a motor vehicle shall indicate that the person who affixed the label certifies that the windows of the vehicle meet the restrictions of subsection (2) of this section as to light transmittance.
(7) No person shall install any tinted film, darkening material, glazing material or any other material upon the windshield or any window of a motor vehicle which, after the installation thereof, would result in such vehicle being in violation of subsection (2) of this section.
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(8) It shall be unlawful for any person to alter or reproduce any label or certificate of medical exemption approved by the Commissioner of Public Safety under this section for the purpose of misleading law enforcement officers * * * or to knowingly use any approved label or certificate except as authorized by this section.
(9) Any person violating subsection (7) or (8) * * * of this section, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or imprisonment in the county jail for not more than three (3) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
(10) Any violation of this section other than a violation of subsection (7) or (8) * * * of this section shall be punishable upon conviction as provided in Section 63-7-7.
(11) Violations of this section shall be enforced only by law enforcement officers of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety and municipal law enforcement officers of municipalities having a population of two thousand (2,000) or more on the public roads, streets and highways under their jurisdiction.
(12) The Department of Public Safety shall initiate a public awareness program designed to inform and educate persons of the provisions of this section. Funds for such public awareness program shall be available through the office of the Governor's representative for highway safety programs.
SECTION 10. Section 27-19-43, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
27-19-43. (1) License tags, substitute tags and decals for individual fleets and for private carriers of passengers, school buses (excluding school buses owned by a school district in the state), church buses, taxicabs, ambulances, hearses, motorcycles and private carriers of property, and private commercial carriers of property of a gross weight of ten thousand (10,000) pounds and less, shall be sold and issued by the tax collectors of the several counties.
(2) Applications for license tags for motor vehicles in a corporate fleet registered under Section 27-19-66 and trailers in a fleet registered under Section 27-19-66.1, and applications for all other license tags, substitute tags and decals shall be filed with the department or the local tax collector of the respective counties and forwarded to the department for issuance to the applicant. All tags and decals for vehicles owned by the state or any agency or instrumentality thereof, and vehicles owned by a fire protection district, school district or a county or municipality, and all vehicles owned by a road, drainage or levee district shall be issued by the department.
(3) In addition to the privilege taxes levied herein, there shall be collected the following registration or tag fee:
(a) For the issuance of both a license tag and two (2) decals, a fee of Five Dollars ($5.00).
(b) For the issuance of up to two (2) decals only, a fee of Three Dollars and Seventy-five Cents ($3.75).
(c) Additionally, the tax collector or the department, as the case may be, shall assess and collect a fee of Four Dollars ($4.00) upon each set of license tags and two (2) decals issued, or upon each set of two (2) decals issued, and that sum shall be deposited in the Mississippi Trauma Care Systems Fund established in Section 41-59-75, to be used for the purposes set out in that section.
No tag or decal shall be issued either by a tax collector or by the department without the collection of such registration fee except substitute tags and decals and license tags for vehicles owned by the State of Mississippi.
Beginning July 1, 1987, and until the date specified in Section 65-39-35, there shall be levied a registration fee of Five Dollars ($5.00) in addition to the regular registration fee imposed in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection. Such additional registration fee shall be levied in the same manner as the regular registration fee.
In addition to the fees imposed under this subsection, there shall be levied an additional fee of Five Dollars ($5.00) which shall be remitted to the Department of Public Safety and deposited in the General Fund of the State Treasury in accordance with the provisions of Section 45-1-23(2).
SECTION 11. Section 37-41-53, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-41-53. (1) Each school board, person, firm or corporation transporting public school children on the public roads, streets and highways of the state with motor vehicles shall have the motor vehicles inspected according to regulations promulgated by the State Department of Education. Each motor vehicle shall be inspected by a competent mechanic to be safe for transporting pupils on the roads, streets and highways of the state before it is released for such purpose. If the motor vehicle is found to be unsafe for transporting pupils, then it shall be properly repaired or adjusted as necessary before being used to transport pupils. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to vehicles owned by individuals and under private contract to the school district and used exclusively for transporting members of their immediate families.
(2) The State Department of Education may inspect, at its discretion, any school bus used for transporting pupils to and from the public schools or for activity purposes to determine the safety of such motor vehicle for operation on the roads, streets and highways of this state. In the event a vehicle is inspected and is found to be unsafe for transporting pupils, a report shall be filed with the appropriate school official indicating its deficiencies with recommendations for correcting such deficiencies.
(3) If it is determined that any buses are in such defective condition as to constitute an emergency safety hazard, those buses may be condemned and removed from service and shall not be returned to service until adequate repairs are completed and the buses are reinspected by the State Department of Education. Any school official who approves the operation of any school bus that has been removed from service under the conditions listed above, before being reinspected by the State Department of Education, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for a period not to exceed sixty (60) days, or a fine of not less than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) nor more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or by both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court.
SECTION 12. Section 63-13-8, Mississippi Code of 1972, which provides a grace period for obtaining a valid inspection sticker; Section 63-13-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, which provides for inspection fees and dispositions of those funds; Section 63-13-15, Mississippi Code of 1972, which provides for licensing of official inspection stations; Section 63-13-17, Mississippi Code of 1972, which prohibits improper representation as an inspection station; and Section 63-13-19, Mississippi Code of 1972, which provides for inspections by dealers, are repealed.
SECTION 13. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2012.