Rhode Island General Laws 31-48-2. Definitions
For the purposes of this chapter the following terms mean:
(1) “Chop shop” means any building, lot, or other premise where one or more persons are or have been knowingly engaged in altering, destroying, disassembling, dismantling, reassembling, or knowingly storing any motor vehicle, or motor vehicle part known to be illegally obtained by theft, fraud, or conspiracy to defraud, in order to either:
(i) Alter, counterfeit, deface, destroy, disguise, falsify, forge, obliterate, or remove the identity, including the vehicle identification number of the motor vehicle or motor vehicle part, in order to misrepresent the identity of the motor vehicle or motor vehicle part, or to prevent the identification of the motor vehicle or motor vehicle part; or
(ii) Sell or dispose of the motor vehicle or motor vehicle part.
(2) “Motor vehicle” includes every device in, upon, or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, which is self propelled or which may be connected to and towed by a self propelled device, and also includes any and all other land based devices which are self propelled but which are not designed for use upon a highway, including, but not limited to, farm machinery and construction equipment.
(3) “Person” includes a natural person, company, corporation, unincorporated association, partnership, professional corporation, and any other legal entity.
History of Section.
P.L. 1991, ch. 288, § 1.
Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 31-48-2
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
- Motor vehicle: means any vehicle driven or drawn by mechanical power for use on the public streets, roads, and highways;
(2) "Odometer" means an instrument for measuring and recording the actual distance a motor vehicle travels while in operation;
(3) "Person" means any individual, sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, or business trust including, but not limited to, private individuals and motor vehicle dealers, both wholesale and retail, whether the private individual or dealer is a dealer in the ordinary course of business or not;
(4) "Repair and replacement" means to restore to a sound working condition by replacing the instrument or any part thereof or by correcting what is inoperative;
(5) "Transfer" means to acquire ownership by purchase, gift, bequest, or any other means. See Rhode Island General Laws 31-23.2-2
- Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
- person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6