Terms Used In Montana Code > Title 61 > Chapter 3 > Part 3 - Registration

• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Authorized agent: means a person who has executed a written agreement with the department and is specifically authorized by the department to electronically access and update the department's motor vehicle titling, registration, or driver records, using an approved automated interface, for specific functions or purposes on behalf of a third party. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Baseline: Projection of the receipts, outlays, and other budget amounts that would ensue in the future without any change in existing policy. Baseline projections are used to gauge the extent to which proposed legislation, if enacted into law, would alter current spending and revenue levels.
• Bus: means a motor vehicle designed for carrying more than 10 passengers and used for the transportation of persons and any other motor vehicle, other than a taxicab, designed and used for the transportation of persons for compensation. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Certificate of title: means the paper record issued by the department or by the appropriate agency of another jurisdiction that establishes a verifiable record of ownership between an identified person or persons and the motor vehicle specifically described in the record and that provides notice of a perfected security interest in the motor vehicle. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Custom vehicle: means a motor vehicle other than a motorcycle that:

  (a)(i) was manufactured with a model year after 1948 and that is at least 25 years old; or

  (ii)was built to resemble a vehicle manufactured after 1948 and at least 25 years before the current calendar year, including a kit vehicle intended to resemble a vehicle manufactured after 1948 and that is at least 25 years old; and

  (b)has been altered from the manufacturer's original design or has a body constructed from nonoriginal materials. See Montana Code 61-1-101

• Custom-built motorcycle: means a motorcycle that is equipped with:

  (a)an engine that was manufactured 20 years prior to the current calendar year and that has been altered from the manufacturer's original design; or

  (b)an engine that was manufactured to resemble an engine 20 or more years old and that has been constructed in whole or in part from nonoriginal materials. See Montana Code 61-1-101

• Dealer: means a person that, for commission or profit, engages in whole or in part in the business of buying, selling, exchanging, or accepting on consignment new or used motor vehicles, trailers, semitrailers, pole trailers, travel trailers, motorboats, sailboats, snowmobiles, off-highway vehicles, or special mobile equipment that is not registered in the name of the person. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Declared weight: means the total unladen weight of a vehicle plus the weight of the maximum load to be carried on the vehicle as stated by the registrant in the application for registration. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Department: means the department of justice acting directly or through its duly authorized officers or agents. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Domiciled: means a place where:

  (a)an individual establishes residence;

  (b)a business entity maintains its principal place of business;

  (c)the business entity's registered agent maintains an address; or

  (d)a business entity most frequently uses, dispatches, or controls a motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, or pole trailer that it owns or leases. See Montana Code 61-1-101

• Driver: means a person who drives or is in actual physical control of a vehicle. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• For hire: means an action performed for remuneration of any kind, whether paid or promised, either directly or indirectly, or received or obtained through leasing, brokering, or buy-and-sell arrangements from which a remuneration is obtained or derived for transportation service. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Golf cart: means a motor vehicle that is designed for use on a golf course to carry a person or persons and golf equipment and that has an average speed of less than 15 miles per hour. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Grace period: The number of days you'll have to pay your bill for purchases in full without triggering a finance charge. ^{Source: Federal Reserve}
• Highway patrol officer: means a state officer authorized to direct or regulate traffic or to make arrests for violations of traffic regulations. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Kit vehicle: is a motor vehicle assembled from a manufactured kit either as:

  (a)a complete kit, consisting of a prefabricated body and chassis, to construct a new motor vehicle; or

  (b)a kit with a prefabricated body to be mounted to an existing motor vehicle chassis and drivetrain, commonly referred to as a donor vehicle. See Montana Code 61-1-101

• Light vehicle: means a motor vehicle commonly referred to as an automobile, van, sport utility vehicle, or truck having a manufacturer's rated capacity of 1 ton or less. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Low-speed electric vehicle: means a motor vehicle, on or by which a person may be transported, that:

  (a)has four wheels;

  (b)has a maximum speed of at least 20 miles an hour and no greater than 40 miles an hour as certified by the manufacturer;

  (c)is propelled by its own power, using an electric motor or other device that transforms stored electrical energy into the motion of the vehicle;

  (d)stores electricity in batteries, ultracapacitors, or similar devices, which are charged from the power grid or from renewable electrical energy sources;

  (e)has a wheelbase of 40 inches or greater and a wheel diameter of 10 inches or greater;

  (f)exhibits a manufacturer's compliance with 49 CFR, part 565, or displays a 17-character vehicle identification number as provided in 49 CFR, part 565; and

  (g)is equipped as provided in 61-9-432. See Montana Code 61-1-101

• Manufacturer: includes any person engaged in the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers, semitrailers, pole trailers, travel trailers, motorboats, sailboats, snowmobiles, or off-highway vehicles as a regular business. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Montana resident: means :

  (a)an individual who resides in Montana as determined under 1-1-215; or

  (b)for the purposes of chapter 3, a business entity that maintains a principal place of business or a registered agent in this state. See Montana Code 61-1-101

• Motor home: means a motor vehicle:

  (a)designed to provide temporary living quarters, built as an integral part of or permanently attached to a self-propelled motor vehicle chassis or van;

  (b)containing permanently installed independent life support systems that meet the NFPA 1192 standard on recreational vehicles; and

  (c)providing at least four of the following types of facilities:

  (i)cooking, refrigeration, or icebox;

  (ii)self-contained toilet;

  (iii)heating or air conditioning, or both;

  (iv)potable water supply, including a faucet and sink; or

  (v)separate 110-volt or 125-volt electrical power supply or a liquefied petroleum gas supply, or both. See Montana Code 61-1-101

• Motor vehicle: means :

  (i)a vehicle propelled by its own power and designed or used to transport persons or property on the highways of the state;

  (ii)a quadricycle if it is equipped for use on the highways as prescribed in chapter 9; or

  (iii)a golf cart only if it is equipped for use on the highways as prescribed in chapter 9 and is operated pursuant to 61-8-391 or by a person with a low-speed restricted driver's license. See Montana Code 61-1-101

• Motorboat: means a vessel, including a personal watercraft or pontoon, propelled by any machinery, motor, or engine of any description, whether or not the machinery, motor, or engine is the principal source of propulsion. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Motorcycle: means a motor vehicle that has a seat or saddle for the use of the operator and that is designated to travel on not more than three wheels in contact with the ground. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Nonresident: means a person who is not a Montana resident. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Not used for general transportation purposes: means the operation of a motor vehicle registered as a collector's item, a custom vehicle, a street rod, or a custom-built motorcycle to or from a car or motorcycle club activity or event or an exhibit, show, cruise night, or parade, or for other occasional transportation activity. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Off-highway vehicle: means a self-propelled vehicle designed for recreation or cross-country travel on public lands, trails, easements, lakes, rivers, or streams. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Operator: means a person who is in actual physical control of a motor vehicle. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Owner: means each person who holds the legal title to a vehicle. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Peace officer: has the meaning as defined in 46-1-202. See Montana Code 1-1-207
• person: means an individual, corporation, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, state agency, local government unit, another state government, the United States, a political subdivision of this or another state, or any other legal or commercial entity. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Personal watercraft: means a vessel that uses an outboard motor or an inboard engine powering a water jet pump as its primary source of propulsion and that is designed to be operated by a person sitting, standing, or kneeling on the vessel rather than by the conventional method of sitting or standing in the vessel. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Pole trailer: means a vehicle without power designed to be drawn by another vehicle and attached to the towing vehicle by means of a reach or pole or by being boomed or otherwise secured to the towing vehicle and ordinarily used for transporting long or irregularly shaped loads such as poles, pipes, or structural members capable generally of sustaining themselves as beams between the supporting connections. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Process: means a writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Montana Code 1-1-202
• Property: means real and personal property. See Montana Code 1-1-205
• Quadricycle: means a four-wheeled motor vehicle, designed for on-road or off-road use, having a seat or saddle on which the operator sits. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• register: means the act or process of creating an electronic record, maintained by the department, of the assignment of a license plate or a set of license plates to and the issuance of a registration decal for a specific vehicle, the ownership of which has been established or is presumed in department records. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Registration decal: means an adhesive sticker produced by the department and issued by the department, its authorized agent, or a county treasurer to the owner of a motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, motorboat, sailboat, personal watercraft, or snowmobile as proof of payment of all fees imposed for the registration period indicated on the sticker as recorded by the department under 61-3-101. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Registration receipt: means a paper record that is produced and issued or, if authorized by the department, an electronic record that is transmitted by the department, its authorized agent, or a county treasurer to the owner of a vehicle that identifies a vehicle, based on information maintained in the electronic record of title for the vehicle, and that provides evidence of the payment of all fees required to be paid for the registration of the vehicle for the registration period indicated in the receipt. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Retail sale: means the sale of a motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, travel trailer, motorboat, snowmobile, off-highway vehicle, or special mobile equipment by a dealer to a person for purposes other than resale. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Sailboat: means a vessel that uses a sail and wind as its primary source of propulsion. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Semitrailer: means a vehicle, with or without motive power, other than a pole trailer, designed for carrying property and for being drawn by a motor vehicle and constructed so that some part of its weight and that of its load rests on or is carried by another vehicle. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Several: means two or more. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• Snowmobile: means a self-propelled vehicle of an overall width of 48 inches or less, excluding accessories, that is designed primarily for travel on snow or ice, that may be steered by skis or runners, and that is not otherwise registered or licensed under the laws of the state of Montana. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Specially constructed vehicle: means a motor vehicle, including a motorcycle, that:

  (i)was not originally constructed under a distinctive make, model, or type by a generally recognized manufacturer of motor vehicles;

  (ii)has been structurally modified so that it does not have the same appearance as similar vehicles from a generally recognized manufacturer of motor vehicles;

  (iii)has been constructed or assembled entirely from custom-built parts and materials not obtained from other vehicles;

  (iv)has been constructed or assembled by using major component parts from one or more manufactured vehicles and that cannot be identified as a specific make or model; or

  (v)has been constructed by the use of a kit that cannot be visually identified as a specific make or model. See Montana Code 61-1-101

• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Street: means the entire width between the boundary lines of every publicly maintained way when any part of the publicly maintained way is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Street rod: means a motor vehicle, other than a motorcycle, that:

  (a)was manufactured prior to 1949 or was built to resemble a vehicle manufactured before 1949, including a kit vehicle intended to resemble a vehicle manufactured before 1949; and

  (b)has been altered from the manufacturer's original design or has a body constructed from nonoriginal materials. See Montana Code 61-1-101

• Temporary registration permit: means a paper record:

  (a)issued by the department, an authorized agent, a county treasurer, or a person, using a department-approved electronic interface after an electronic record has been transmitted to the department, that contains:

  (i)required vehicle and owner information; and

  (ii)the purpose for which the record was generated; and

  (b)that, when placed in a durable license-plate style plastic pouch approved by the department and displayed as prescribed in 61-3-224, authorizes a person to operate the described motor vehicle, motorboat, sailboat that is 12 feet in length or longer, snowmobile, or off-highway vehicle for:

  (i)40 days from the date the record is issued or until the vehicle is registered under Title 23 or this title, whichever first occurs; or

  (ii)90 days from the date the record is issued for a permit issued pursuant to 61-3-303(4)(b). See Montana Code 61-1-101

• Trailer: means a vehicle, with or without motive power, other than a pole trailer, designed for carrying property and for being drawn by a motor vehicle and constructed so that no part of its weight rests on the towing vehicle. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Travel trailer: means a vehicle:

  (a)that is 46 feet or less in length;

  (b)that is of a size or weight that does not require special permits when towed by a motor vehicle; and

  (c)that is designed to provide temporary facilities for recreational, travel, or camping use and not used as a principal residence. See Montana Code 61-1-101

• Truck tractor: means a motor vehicle designed and used primarily for drawing other vehicles and not constructed to carry a load other than a part of the weight of the vehicle and load drawn. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• United States: includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
• Vehicle: means a device in, on, or by which any person or property may be transported or drawn on a public highway, except devices moved by animal power or used exclusively on stationary rails or tracks. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Vessel: means every description of watercraft, unless otherwise defined by the department, other than a seaplane on the water, used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Wholesaler: means a person that for a commission or with intent to make a profit or gain of money or other thing of value sells, exchanges, or attempts to negotiate a sale or exchange of an interest in a used motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, travel trailer, motorboat, snowmobile, off-highway vehicle, or special mobile equipment only to dealers and auto auctions licensed under chapter 4, part 1. See Montana Code 61-1-101
• Writing: includes printing. See Montana Code 1-1-203