Wisconsin Statutes & Annotations
Chapter 345 - Vehicles — civil and criminal liability.
345.285 - Alternative traffic violation and registration pilot program.

345.285 Alternative traffic violation and registration pilot program.
(1) The department may administer an alternative traffic violation and registration pilot program. Any pilot program under this section shall provide alternative methods of suspending and refusing vehicle registrations for unpaid citations for nonmoving traffic violations in lieu of applicable requirements of s. 345.28.
(2) The department may contract with a city of the 1st class to permit the city to suspend vehicle registrations for unpaid citations for nonmoving traffic violations. The department may not enter into a contract under this subsection after June 30, 2001. A contract under this subsection shall include all of the following provisions:
(a) The city may suspend the registration of a vehicle if all of the following apply:
1. The city has cited the owner of the vehicle for one or more nonmoving traffic violations for which the owner has neither paid the forfeitures nor appeared in court in response to the violations.
2. The city has mailed to the last-known address of the owner at least 2 notices that meet the requirements of s. 345.28 (4) (c) with respect to each citation counted under subd. 1.
3. The owner has not, by the date specified in the last issued citation that is counted under subd. 1. or, if no date is specified in that citation, within 28 days after the citation is issued, either paid all forfeitures or appeared in court in response to all citations counted under subd. 1. for which the forfeitures have not been paid.
(b) If the city suspends the registration of a vehicle under par. (a), all of the following apply:
1. The city may notify the department to refuse the registration of any vehicle owned by the person under s. 341.10 (7r).
2. The city shall remove the suspension of the vehicle's registration under par. (a) if the owner of the vehicle either pays all forfeitures or appears in court in response to all citations counted under par. (a) 1. for which the forfeitures have not been paid. If a suspension is removed under this subdivision, the department shall be immediately notified in the form and manner prescribed by the department.
(c) Provisions that specify the responsibilities of the department and of the city with respect to the pilot program, the procedures for record and transaction security, and any fee that the city may assess the owner of a vehicle whose registration is suspended under par. (a).
(d) Notwithstanding s. 85.13, the department shall charge the city a fee for the cost of the development and operation of the pilot program under this section. The fee shall ensure that payments by the city to the department under this paragraph and s. 85.13 are not less than payments made by the city to the department under s. 85.13 before June 17, 1998, for comparable periods of time. The department may periodically adjust this fee accordingly or, in lieu of adjusting the fee, may terminate the contract.
(e) The city may enact and enforce an ordinance that strictly conforms to s. 341.03, except that the ordinance shall apply to motor vehicles whose registration is suspended under par. (a).
(f) The city may not suspend vehicle registrations under this section after June 30, 2001.
History: 1997 a. 237.

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