1. The owner of each vessel requiring numbering by this state shall file an application for number with the department of revenue on forms provided by it. The application shall contain a full description of the vessel, factory number or serial number, together with a statement of the applicant’s source of title and of any liens or encumbrances on the vessel. For good cause shown the director of revenue may extend the period of time for making such application. The director of revenue shall use reasonable diligence in ascertaining whether the facts stated in such application are true, and, if satisfied that the applicant is the lawful owner of such vessel, or otherwise entitled to have the same registered in his or her name, shall thereupon issue an appropriate certificate of title over the director’s signature and sealed with the seal of the director’s office, procured and used for such purpose, and a certificate of number stating the number awarded to the vessel. The application shall include a provision stating that the applicant will consent to any inspection necessary to determine compliance with the provisions of this chapter and shall be signed by the owner of the vessel and shall be accompanied by the fee specified in subsection 10 of this section. The owner shall paint on or attach to each side of the bow of the vessel the identification number in a manner as may be prescribed by rules and regulations of the division of water safety in order that it may be clearly visible. The number shall be maintained in legible condition. The certificate of number shall be pocket size and shall be available at all times for inspection on the vessel for which issued, whenever the vessel is in operation. The operator of a vessel in which such certificate of number is not available for inspection by the water patrol division or, if the operator cannot be determined, the person who is the registered owner of the vessel shall be subject to the penalties provided in section 306.210. Vessels owned by the state or a political subdivision shall be registered but no fee shall be assessed for such registration.

2. Each new vessel sold in this state after January 1, 1970, shall have die stamped on or within three feet of the transom or stern a factory number or serial number.

3. The owner of any vessel already covered by a number in full force and effect which has been awarded to it pursuant to then operative federal law or a federally approved numbering system of another state shall record the number prior to operating the vessel on the waters of this state in excess of the sixty-day reciprocity period provided for in section 306.080. The recordation and payment of registration fee shall be in the manner and pursuant to the procedure required for the award of a number under subsection 1 of this section. No additional or substitute number shall be issued unless the number is a duplicate of an existing Missouri number.

4. In the event that an agency of the United States government shall have in force an overall system of identification numbering for vessels within the United States, the numbering system employed pursuant to this chapter by the department of revenue shall be in conformity therewith.

5. All records of the department of revenue made and kept pursuant to this section shall be public records.

6. A permanent certificate of number may be issued upon application and payment of three times the fee specified for the vessel under this section and three times any processing fee applicable to a three-year certificate of number for the vessel. Permanent certificates of number shall not be transferred to any other person or vessel, or displayed on any vessel other than the vessel for which it was issued, and shall continue in force and effect until terminated or discontinued in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. Every other certificate of number awarded pursuant to this chapter shall continue in force and effect for a period of three years unless sooner terminated or discontinued in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. Certificates of number may be renewed by the owner in the same manner provided for in the initial securing of the same or in accordance with the provisions of sections 306.010 to 306.030.

7. The department of revenue shall fix the days and months of the year on which certificates of number due to expire during the calendar year shall lapse and no longer be of any force and effect unless renewed pursuant to this chapter and may stagger such dates in order to distribute the workload.

8. When applying for or renewing a vessel’s certificate of number, the owner shall submit a paid personal property tax receipt for the tax year which immediately precedes the year in which the application is made or the year in which the renewal is due and which reflects that the vessel being renewed is listed as personal property and that all personal property taxes, including delinquent taxes from prior years, have been paid, or a statement certified by the county or township in which the owner’s property was assessed showing that the state and county tangible personal property taxes for such previous tax year and all delinquent taxes due have been paid by the applicant or that no such taxes were due.

9. When applying for or renewing a certificate of registration for a vessel documented with the United States Coast Guard under section 306.016, owners of vessels shall submit a paid personal property tax receipt for the tax year which immediately precedes the year in which the application is made or the renewal is due and which reflects that the vessel is listed as personal property and that all personal property taxes, including delinquent taxes from prior years, have been paid, or a statement certified by the county or township in which the owner’s property was assessed showing that the state and county tangible personal property taxes for such previous tax year and all delinquent taxes due have been paid by the applicant or that no such taxes were due.

10. The fee to accompany each application for a certificate of number is:

11. The certificate of title and certificate of number issued by the director of revenue shall be manufactured in a manner to prohibit as nearly as possible the ability to alter, counterfeit, duplicate, or forge such certificate without ready detection.

12. For fiscal years ending before July 1, 2019, the first two million dollars collected annually under the provisions of this section shall be deposited into the state general revenue fund. All fees collected under the provisions of this section in excess of two million dollars annually shall be deposited in the water patrol division fund and shall be used exclusively for the water patrol division.

13. Beginning July 1, 2019, the first one million dollars collected annually under the provisions of this section shall be deposited into the state general revenue fund. All fees collected under the provisions of this section in excess of one million dollars annually shall be deposited in the water patrol division fund and shall be used exclusively for the water patrol division.

14. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection 10 of this section, vessels at least sixteen feet in length but less than twenty-eight feet in length, that are homemade, constructed out of wood, and have a beam of five feet or less, shall pay a fee of fifty-five dollars which shall accompany each application for a certification number.