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HB0153 • 2025

Permanent vehicle registration.

AN ACT relating to motor vehicles; providing for the permanent registration of specified vehicles; providing a fee exemption for permanently registered vehicles; specifying requirements upon transfer of ownership; making conforming amendments; requiring rulemaking; and providing for effective dates.

Agriculture Technology
Did Not Pass

The latest official action shows that this bill did not move forward in that session.

Sponsor
Representative Banks
Last action
2025-02-10
Official status
inactive
Effective date
3/1/2025

Plain English Breakdown

The bill was not passed and therefore its provisions are not currently enforceable.

Permanent Vehicle Registration

This act allows certain vehicles to be permanently registered after paying a one-time fee and exempts them from future registration fees, with specific rules for transferring ownership.

What This Bill Does

  • Allows owners of non-commercial vehicles that are at least fifteen years old to register their vehicle permanently by paying a one-time fee.
  • Exempts permanently registered vehicles from annual renewal fees after the initial payment.
  • Requires permanent license plates to be displayed only on the vehicle for which they were issued and not transferred to another vehicle upon ownership transfer.
  • Specifies that when a permanently registered vehicle is sold, the new owner must pay regular registration fees.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Owners of non-commercial vehicles at least fifteen years old who want permanent registration.
  • The Department of Transportation which will make rules for implementing this act.

Terms To Know

Permanent Registration
A one-time vehicle registration process that exempts the owner from future renewal fees.
Non-Commercial Vehicle
A vehicle not used for business or commercial purposes.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill did not pass and was not considered by the Committee of the Whole.
  • It is unclear how many owners will choose to permanently register their vehicles under this act.
  • Details about the specific rules for permanent registration are left to future Department of Transportation regulations.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

HB0153HS001

Standing Committee • House Agriculture, State and Public Lands & Water

Filed

Plain English: The amendment changes the number of years for a specific vehicle registration requirement from five to three.

  • Changes the duration of permanent vehicle registration requirements from five years to three years.
  • The amendment text does not provide details about which vehicles are affected or what the exact implications of reducing the period from five to three years might be.

Bill History

  1. 2025-02-10 House

    H COW:H Did not consider for COW

  2. 2025-01-30 House

    H Placed on General File

  3. 2025-01-30 House

    H05 - Agriculture:Recommend Amend and Do Pass 7-2-0-0-0

  4. 2025-01-21 House

    H Introduced and Referred to H05 - Agriculture

  5. 2025-01-14 House

    H Received for Introduction

  6. 2025-01-13 LSO

    Bill Number Assigned

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
25LSO-0459
2025
STATE OF WYOMING
25LSO-0459
Numbered
2.0

HOUSE BILL NO. HB0153

Permanent vehicle registration.

Sponsored by: Representative(s) Banks, Andrew, Byron, Haroldson, McCann, Styvar and Tarver and Senator(s) Biteman, Dockstader, Hutchings and Olsen

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating to motor vehicles; providing for the permanent registration of specified vehicles; providing a fee exemption for permanently registered vehicles; specifying requirements upon transfer of ownership; making conforming amendments; requiring rulemaking; and providing for effective dates.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1.

W.S. 31
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2
‑
201(a)(i), 31
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2
‑
204(b), 31
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2
‑
206(a) and by creating new subsections (r) through (u), 31
‑
2
‑
214(a)(intro) and by creating a new subsection (f) and 31
‑
3
‑
101(g) by creating a new paragraph (vi) are amended to read:

31
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2
‑
201.

Registration required; timelines.

(a)

Except as provided in W.S. 31
‑
2
‑
224 and subsection (q) of this section, every owner, or if applicable, operator or lessee, of a vehicle which will be operated or driven upon any highway in Wyoming, shall be required to obtain registration at the following times:

(i)

Annually not later than the last day of the annual registration month
unless the vehicle is permanently registered under W.S. 31
‑
2
‑
206(r) through (u)
.

Applications may be by mail;

31
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2
‑
204.

Issuance of certificates of registration and license plates by county; form.

(b)

Except as otherwise provided, license plates shall be of metal not less than twelve (12) inches long in the left
‑
hand end of which shall be arabic numerals for the county in which issued, followed by the bucking horse and rider emblem and a distinctive number assigned to the vehicle, set forth in numerals and letters as determined by the department and above or underneath such numerals shall be the word "Wyoming" and arabic numerals for the year of issue or validation. License plates issued to dealers and for state or federal official forestry vehicles, motorcycles, multipurpose vehicles
, permanently registered vehicles
and trailers shall contain appropriate identification which may be in lieu of the bucking horse and rider emblem. After the county number on the left
‑
hand end, the license plate may also contain a distinctive symbol or letters, as determined by the department, indicating vehicle type.

License plates shall be changed or validated annually. There shall be a marked contrast between the color of the plate and that of the numerals and letters and the background of all plates shall be fully reflectorized. Plates for light utility trailers under one thousand (1,000) pounds, motorcycles and multipurpose vehicles shall not be less than three (3) inches wide and six (6) inches long. Antique license plates shall bear no date and shall bear the inscription "Pioneer Wyo".
License plates for vehicles that are permanently registered shall bear no date, shall bear the inscription "Permanent" and the department shall prescribe the design of the permanent registration license plate.
Distinctive license farm stickers shall be issued by the county treasurer upon request for trucks and trailers used by any farmer or rancher for the transportation of livestock, feed or unprocessed agricultural products owned and produced by the farmer or rancher from the place of production to market and of ranch supplies intended solely for the use of the farmer or rancher, and not for sale, on the return trip, and not for the transportation of goods and persons for hire.

Farm stickers shall bear the inscription "Farm".

31
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2
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206.

Annual renewal; delivery of license plates and stickers; staggered registration; permanent vehicle registration.

(a)

Except as otherwise provided vehicle registrations expire on the last day of the annual registration month. Renewals are effective for one (1) year beginning the first day of the month following the annual registration month. The initial registration for a vehicle in this state expires on the last day of the annual registration month in the following year. Except as provided in subsection (h) and in subsections (n) through
(q)
(u)
of this section, nothing in this section prohibits an owner from registering a vehicle for more than twelve (12) but less than twenty
‑
four (24) months.

(r)

The owner of a vehicle required to be registered under W.S. 31
‑
2
‑
201(a) may permanently register the vehicle without further renewal upon payment of the fees required by subsection (s) of this section, provided the vehicle:

(i)

Is not a commercial vehicle; and

(ii)

Is in its fifteenth year of service or later.

(s)

Upon payment of the fees specified in this subsection, the department shall issue a distinctive license plate indicating the permanent registration of a vehicle qualifying for permanent registration under subsection (r) of this section. After payment of the fees under this subsection, the owner of a vehicle qualifying for permanent registration under subsection (r) of this section shall not be subject to renewal or the payment of additional registration fees for as long as the owner owns the vehicle. The fees for permanent registration shall be:

(i)

A permanent registration state administration fee in the amount of eighty
‑
seven dollars and fifty cents ($87.50); and

(ii)

An amount equal to three (3) times the applicable fee due under W.S. 31
‑
3
‑
101(a) plus any donation amounts under W.S. 31
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3
‑
101(h) or (j). Any donated amount shall not be subject to the requirement to pay five (5) times the applicable amount.

(t)

The owner of a vehicle that is permanently registered under subsection (r) of this section shall display the permanent registration license plates in accordance with W.S. 31
‑
2
‑
205 only on the permanently registered vehicle for which the plate was issued.

(u)

The permanent registration of a vehicle under subsection (r) of this section shall not be transferred to a new owner. Upon transfer of a vehicle that was permanently registered under subsection (r) of this section to a new owner, the new owner shall be subject to all applicable title, registration and license fees under title 31, chapter 2, articles 1 and 2 and chapter 3 of the Wyoming statutes.

31
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2
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214.

Transfer of ownership.

(a)

Except as provided by subsections (b) through
(e)
(f)
of this section, upon transfer of ownership of a vehicle the registration of the vehicle expires and the original owner shall immediately remove the license plates from the vehicle. Within sixty (60) days after acquiring another vehicle for which the license plates would be proper, the original owner may file an application for the transfer of the license registration number to a vehicle acquired by him accompanied by the fees based on the amount which would be due on a new registration as of the date of transfer less any credit for the unused portion of the original registration fees for the original vehicle for the assignment of the plates to the recently acquired vehicle subject to the following:

(f)

Upon transfer of ownership of a vehicle that was permanently registered under W.S. 31
‑
2
‑
206(r), the permanent registration of that vehicle expires and the original owner shall immediately remove the license plates from that vehicle and the permanent license plates shall not be transferred to another vehicle. If the original owner acquires another vehicle subject to registration fees under W.S. 31
‑
2
‑
201, the original owner shall not receive any credit for the previous registration under W.S. 31
‑
2
‑
206(r).

31
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3
‑
101.

Registration fees; exemptions.

(g)

Owners of the following vehicles are exempt from the payment of fees provided by subsections (a) and (b) of this section:

(vi)

Vehicles permanently registered pursuant to W.S. 31
‑
2
‑
206(r) through (u).

Section 2.

The department of transportation shall promulgate all rules necessary to implement this act.

Section 3.

(a)

Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this section, this act is effective July 1, 2025
;

(b)

Sections 2 and 3 of this act are effective immediately upon completion of all acts necessary for a bill to become law as provided by Article 4, Section 8 of the Wyoming Constitution.

(END)

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HB0153