HB 2215: Motor vehicles; removing provisions authorizing certain seizure of license plates; emergency. - Oklahoma

Floor (House) → Floor (Senate) · 5 edits

MODERATE

The Senate version of HB 2215 modifies how law enforcement handles uninsured vehicles by adding specific procedures for seizing license plates, establishing a database tracking system, and creating a new administrative fee structure. These changes clarify enforcement timelines and fund distribution among agencies.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded to include detailed procedures for license plate seizure, county sheriff involvement, and fund allocation that were not present in the House version.

ENFORCEMENT

Added requirement that law enforcement must deposit seized license plates with county sheriff's office within three days for district court cases, or may keep them for municipal court cases.

REQUIREMENT

Added requirement for law enforcement to enter seized license plate numbers into a statewide database maintained by the plan administrator.

FISCAL

Added a $125 administrative fee for retrieving seized license plates, with funds distributed to county/municipal agencies ($20), citing agency ($70), Temporary Insurance Premium Pool ($25), and plan administrator ($10).

TIMELINE

Added a new provision allowing vehicle owners to retrieve license plates after providing proof of insurance compliance and payment of fees and court citations.

DEFINITION

Added reference to 'Plan Administrator' and 'statewide database' as new entities involved in the enforcement process.

Enrolled (final version) → Floor (House) · 5 edits

MODERATE

The bill was reformatted from an enrolled version to a floor version for the House of Representatives, with some text corrections and formatting adjustments. The substantive policy content regarding insurance violations, license plate seizure procedures, and fee distributions remains unchanged.

TECHNICAL

Header formatting changed from 'ENROLLED HOUSE' to 'HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES - FLOOR VERSION' with updated session information

Minor text correction in the act description changing 'amending' to 'amending 47 O.S. 2021, Section 7-606, with relates to' (contains a grammatical error)

Page numbering and formatting reorganized to reflect floor version structure with committee amendment markers

Removed enrolled bill page headers and formatting that are no longer needed for floor consideration

Added 'BOLD FACE denotes Committee Amendments' notes to indicate where committee changes were made

Engrossed → Enrolled (final version) · 4 edits · May 5, 2025

MODERATE

This bill removes the authority for law enforcement to seize license plates from uninsured drivers and replaces it with a system that allows vehicle seizure and towing instead. The final version also adds a provision for disposing of unclaimed license plates after 90 days and clarifies when administrative fees must be paid based on proof of insurance.

Scope change

The bill's scope changed from allowing both vehicle seizure and license plate seizure to only allowing vehicle seizure and towing when an uninsured driver is cited.

ENFORCEMENT

Removed the provision allowing law enforcement to seize license plates from uninsured drivers, which previously allowed plates to be taken and held as temporary license plates for up to 10 days.

Added the option for law enforcement to seize and tow the vehicle itself if there is probable cause that the vehicle is not insured.

TIMELINE

Added a new provision requiring unclaimed license plates to be disposed of after 90 days, requiring the vehicle owner to obtain a new plate.

REQUIREMENT

Modified the administrative fee payment requirements to allow drivers to avoid paying the fee if they provide proof of insurance within two business days of citation.

Introduced → Engrossed · 4 edits · May 1, 2025

MODERATE

This bill amendment primarily adds a new subsection (e) to the administrative fee structure for license plate seizures, creating an exemption from the $125 fee if the vehicle owner can prove insurance coverage within two business days of citation. The change clarifies that proof of coverage issued by the Department of Public Safety will waive the administrative fee requirement, preventing charging fees when the driver was actually insured at the time of the alleged offense.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on motor vehicle insurance enforcement, but the fee exemption provision expands relief for drivers who can quickly demonstrate they had valid coverage at the time of the violation.

ENFORCEMENT

New subsection (e) exempts drivers from paying the $125 administrative fee if they provide proof of valid insurance coverage within two business days of citation.

REQUIREMENT

Clarified that proof must come from the Department of Public Safety in the form of a current security verification form or equivalent.

FISCAL

Added conditional language to the fee distribution structure to account for the new exemption scenario.

TECHNICAL

Minor formatting and line number adjustments throughout the document to reflect engrossed version changes.

Motor vehicles; removing provisions authorizing certain seizure of license plates; emergency.

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