(A) Every owner of a motor vehicle, trailer or other vehicle shall, within 30 days after taking up residence in the state, apply to the Department of Motor Vehicles and obtain registration and title for the vehicle.
(B) For the purposes of this section, there is a rebuttable presumption that a natural person is a resident of this state if any of the following elements exist, including, but not limited to:
(1) The person is registered to vote in this state.
(2) The person enrolls the person’s child to be educated in a public elementary or secondary school in this state.
(3) The person is receiving public assistance from this state.
(4) The person resides or has continuously remained in this state for a period exceeding 30 days except for infrequent or brief absences.
(5) The person has accepted employment or engages in any trade, profession, or occupation within this state, except that this does not include a person who is commuting from the person’s residence in another state or whose employment is seasonal or temporary, not exceeding 90 days.
(6) The person has filed for a homestead tax exemption on property in this state.
(7) The person has contracted to receive utility service at a residential location within the state.
(C) RESIDENT does not include a person who is attending a college, university or other educational institution in this state, if the person has a domicile in another state and has a valid operator’s license and vehicle registration issued by the state of domicile. RESIDENT also does not include members of the armed forces that are stationed in West Virginia, providing that their vehicles are properly registered in their state of residence or a member of the armed forces stationed in another state or country, providing their vehicles are properly registered in that state or country.
(D) A corporation, association, partnership, company, or firm whose principal place of business is located within this state is a resident of this state.
(E) The provisions of this section shall not apply to vehicles registered under proportional registration agreement.
(F) Penalty.
(1) It shall be a misdemeanor for any person to violate division (A) of this section, and said violation shall be punishable by a fine of not more than $500 or imprisonment for not more than 30 days, or both.
(2) Officers of the Weirton Police Department may issue a summons to compel the attendance to court of the persons alleged to have violated division (A) of this section and said summons shall have the same force and effect to compel attendance as a warrant. They may also, in accordance with past practice, issue warrants for the offense.
(3) In the event any part of this section shall be determined to be unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, the remainder shall be enforceable as written.
(Ord. 1450, passed 7-11-05)