Montana Attorney General Opinion 15-538

Opinion No. 538 ~Iotor Vehicles-Licenses-Application fOl' Registration-County Treasurer, HELD: No county treasurer may ac- cept application or receive license fee for any automobile from an owner, or from an automobile taxpayer, residing ill another county. May 29, 1934. You ha,'e submitted the following question: "Relating to laws enacted hy the F}xtraordinan· Session 1933-1934 ap- plying to county treasurers collecting motor vehicle licenses, will you please ad"ise if county treasurers are re- stricted to collect such license onll" from resident taxpayers of their r~­ spective counties. In other words, can a county treasurer accept a li- cense fee and issue a license to a )·esident taxpayer of another county within this state?" Section 1759 R. C. M. 1921 as amend- ed by Chapter 113, Laws of 1\)25, Chap- ter 181. Laws of U)2\), Chapter 158, Laws of 1931, Chapter 158, Section 1, La ws of 1933, provides: "Every owner of a motor vehicle operated or dd'·en upon the puillic highways of this state shall, for each motor vehicle owned, except as herein otherwise expressly provided. file, or cause to be filed. in the office of the county treasllI"er 'of the county where- in such moto)' vehicle is owned or tax- able, a verified application for regis- tration or re-registration, upon blank form to be prepared and furnished by the Hegistrnr of Motor Vehicles, e..-xe- cuted in duplicate. which application shall contain: * * *." It will be observed that the owner of the motor ,·ehicle shall file a veri- fied application for registration "in 374 OPINIONS OJ!' THE AT'J'ORl\EY GENERAL the office of the county treasurer wherein such motor vehicle is owned or tasable." I find no statutory pro- l"ision authorizing any owner of an automobile to file, or any county treas- urer to receive any application for registration, escept for automobile owned or taxable in the county. In the absence of such statute and in Yiew of the espress provision of Section 1, Chapter 158, Laws of 1933, I must conclude that county treasurers are restricted as above stated and that no county treasurer may accept application or receive the license fee for any automohile from an owner or from an automobile taxpayer residing in another county. Note: Dnder Sec. 1, Cha.p. 13, Laws of Extraordinary Session. 1()33-1934, the application need not be verified. (See opinion No. 433, this volume.)