S.B. 161

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MOTOR VEHICLE COMPLIANCE WITH INSURANCE,
2 REGISTRATION, AND SALES TAX REQUIREMENTS
3 1997 GENERAL SESSION
4 STATE OF UTAH
5 Sponsor: Craig A. Peterson
6 AN ACT RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLES; AMENDING CERTAIN USES OF THE
7 INFORMATION IN THE UNINSURED MOTORIST IDENTIFICATION DATABASE
8 PROGRAM; PROVIDING FOR AUDITING OF THE PROGRAM; AND PROVIDING AN
9 EFFECTIVE DATE.
10 This act affects sections of Utah Code Annotated 1953 as follows:
11 AMENDS:
12 41-12a-805, as enacted by Chapter 59, Laws of Utah 1994
13 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
14 Section 1. Section 41-12a-805 is amended to read:
15 41-12a-805. Disclosure of insurance information -- Penalty.
16 (1) Information in the database established under Section 41-12a-803 provided by a person
17 to the designated agent is considered to be the property of the person providing the information.
18 The information may not be disclosed from the database under Title 63, Chapter 2, Government
19 Records Access and Management Act, or otherwise, except as follows:
20 (a) for the purpose of investigating, litigating, or enforcing the owner's or operator's
21 security requirement under Section 41-12a-301, the designated agent shall verify insurance through
22 the state computer network for a state or local government agency;
23 (b) for the purpose of investigating, litigating, or enforcing the owner's or operator's
24 security requirement under Section 41-12a-301, the designated agent shall, upon request, issue to
25 any state or local government agency a certificate documenting the insurance status, according to
26 the database, of a specific individual or motor vehicle for the time period designated by the
27 government agency; [and]

1 (c) upon request, the department shall disclose whether or not a person is an insured
2 individual to:
3 (i) that individual;
4 (ii) the parent or legal guardian of that individual if the individual is an unemancipated
5 minor;
6 (iii) the legal guardian of that individual if the individual is legally incapacitated;
7 (iv) a person who has power of attorney from the insured individual;
8 (v) a person who submits a notarized release from the insured individual dated no more
9 than 90 days before the date the request is made; or
10 (vi) a person suffering loss or injury in a motor vehicle accident in which the insured
11 individual is involved, but only as part of an accident report as authorized in Section
12 41-12a-202[.];
13 (d) for the purpose of investigating, enforcing, or prosecuting laws by state or local law
14 enforcement agencies related to the:
15 (i) registration and renewal of registration of a motor vehicle under Title 41, Chapter 1a
16 Motor Vehicle Act; and
17 (ii) purchase of a motor vehicle under Title 59, Chapter 12, The Local Sales and Use Tax
18 Act;
19 (e) upon request of a peace officer acting in an official capacity under the provisions of
20 Subsection (1)(d), the department or the designated agent shall, upon request, disclose relevant
21 information for investigation, enforcement, or prosecution; and
22 (f) for the purpose of the state auditor or the legislative auditor general conducting audits
23 of the program.
24 (2) Any person who knowingly releases or discloses information from the database for a
25 purpose other than those authorized in this section or to a person who is not entitled to it is guilty
26 of a third degree felony.
27 (3) An insurer is not liable to any person for complying with Section 31A-22-314 by
28 providing information to the designated agent.
29 (4) Neither the state nor the department's designated agent are liable to any person for
30 gathering, managing, or using the information in the database as provided in Section 31A-22-314
31 and this part.

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1 Section 2. Effective date.
2 If approved by two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, this act takes effect
3 upon approval by the governor, or the day following the constitutional time limit of Utah
4 Constitution Article VII, Section 8, without the governor's signature, or in the case of a veto, the
5 date of veto override.




Legislative Review Note
as of 1-30-97 12:48 PM

A limited legal review of this bill raises no obvious constitutional or statutory concerns.

Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel

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