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On the issue of multiyear registration stickers, I just received this note from the Smith County vehicle registration office in reply to the question if they are still available.

The state is going to one sticker starting next year therefore we have quit selling multiyear stickers.

 

 

Regards,

 

 

 

Cathy Black

Supervisor Smith

County Motor. Vehicle Dept.

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

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I understand everyone concerns. DPS knows there are issues related to full-time RVers. They have time to solve the issue prior to implementation of the law on March 1, 2015. If there are outstanding issues the state lawmaker will address the law.

 

In the meantime on your next "visit somewhere down in Texas," look at how many vehicles on the road without current inspections or tags!

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While that is true, my co-worker drove around for 13 months with an expired sticker and no one ever stopped him. I would worry about a DPS officer, state trooper, stopping me for something else, like speeding, and because he was nice and gave me a break but did give me a ticket for the expired inspection sticker. Speeding is a moving violation and is reflected on your driving record, while the expired inspection sticker does not go on your driving record.

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Danielle got stopped yesterday for no inspection sticker. We came into TX Sunday, the 2nd. So we "lasted" a week without getting stopped. It was a State Trooper. We have NO inspection sticker, since the car has never "visited" TX before (although it is TX plated). She got a warning, and then got it inspected. Cost $34.

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Jack, the state inspection was $34.? I thought it was like $15.00......sure has gone up. When I was doing state inspections as a young man in TX it was $5.00. :D

 

Of course.....you useta buy hamburgers for a quarter too? :lol: rockin'

Edited by Rockintom

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The regular, non-emission inspection is still $14.50. But Danielle got stopped in a county with emissions inspection. Even though they're registered in a non-emissions county, the only inspection available where they were was an emissions inspection, so that's what they had to get.

 

I gave up several months of valid inspection on two of my vehicles and had them re-inspected before I came to this current work assignment, because I didn't want them coming due for inspection while we are in Harris County, an emissions inspection county. I just hope to get them back home sometime before they're due again.

Phil

 

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The state legislature once accidentally honored the Boston Strangler because they weren't paying attention to the bills they were passing.

r-134265585-large570.jpg

On April 1, 1971, Texas state Rep. Tom Moore proposed a bill to honor Albert DeSalvo, the Boston Strangler who allegedly murdered 13 women. Moore's point was to show that his colleagues didn't read the bills they were voting on, a point that was proven correct when the state House approved the bill. Moore ended up retracting the bill after its passage.

 

I ran across this and had to share.

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I gave up several months of valid inspection on two of my vehicles and had them re-inspected before I came to this current work assignment, because I didn't want them coming due for inspection while we are in Harris County, an emissions inspection county. I just hope to get them back home sometime before they're due again.

Phil, are you in my neighborhood? :)

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Several months ago, I contacted Senator Nichols’ office about the new registration law that takes effect in March 1, 2015. Tuesday, I received a call from the Senate Committee on Transportation who is working on the new law. Senator Nichols is the chairman of the Committee. The Committee is aware of the problem and is working on solutions to address this issue. Not only does this issue affect us, but also the trucking industry, contractors and the military personnel who keep Texas as their residence while deployed to another state. The Committee has asked me for suggestions for what would work for RVer’s.



This is a chance for us, as a group, to have input into the procedures for implementation of this new law that will affect us. I suggested to the Committee that a waiver request form be developed that can be sent in with the registration renewal form.



What I would like from you, are suggestions on what you think would work for us that will address this issue. I will then send them on to the Committee. There is no guarantee that any of our suggestions will be adopted, but I feel that it is a great step that they have reached out and asked.



Please send your suggestions directly to me at jimkoca@escapees.com


If I have questions or need follow up information, I will contact you directly through email.



Sorry, there will not be a prize for the best suggestion.



Jim Koca


Escapees RV Advocacy Director


jimkoca@escapees.com


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JIm/Travis - Thanks for this followup. I'll leave it to others more experienced than me to email you with suggestions, but I'm relieved to hear Escapees has been directly asked for input by the chairman of the committee rewriting the law. That gives me hope. :)

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Is anyone able to confirm for me please - is the date of registration renewal your birthday (like in Florida) or some other date, a year from the date you first registered the vehicle? (Am from the UK so the US way of doing things is completely different to the UK!) Thank you.

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In Texas the initial registration period is for a full year, less the elapsed portion of the current month. For example, a vehicle registered in Texas today, March 21st, will be issued registration good through February 28, 2015. Except for a few specialized types of registrations, there are no partial year registrations issued here.

Phil

 

2002 Teton Royal Aspen

2003 Kenworth T2000 - Cat C12 380/430 1450/1650, FreedomLine, 3.36 - TOTO . . . he's not in Kansas anymore.

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I didn't have time to read through the entire thread, but there is one option that might work for some people depending on your opinion of the relationship between vehicle registration and domicile.

 

One could stay a resident of TX and register your vehicles in SD. SD openly allows non-resident vehicle registration (see here: http://dor.sd.gov/Motor_Vehicles/Non_Resident_Information/), and TX should not have jurisdiction over vehicles which are not within TX borders for the majority of the year. This is a common scenario for people with 2 homes in different states. If you are resident of State #1, but have a 2nd home in State #2 along with a vehicle that stays in State #2, then state #1 has no authority to impose registration requirements over the vehicle.

 

If you are within TX borders for the majority of the year, this strategy would probably not be a good idea because TX could demand registration. More research into TX registration requirements would be needed.

 

I'm sure those who like everything handled in the same state as your domicile would not consider this but I think it is a worthy option that should be further researched for those willing to think outside the "1-state box."

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This is the best suggestion I have seen so far. These only remaining questions are relevant rules about Texas allowing me to return the state periodically with a South Dakota plate and a Texas mailing address. Also, I wonder how insurance would work. I plan to study this approach as a 'Plan B'.

 

In addition, there are NO inspection (emissions or safety) and it appears that registration fees are less expensive. I plan to contact my insurance company to see how a SD registration would work with a principally garaged address in Texas.

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While the idea of having things devided between states sounds good, the more Homeland Security gets involved the more headaches you will have! Before I made those decisions, I would talk to a good attorney who understands our lifestyle. We have used both states and I will say Texas seems more responsive to our situations.

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I didn't have time to read through the entire thread, but there is one option that might work for some people depending on your opinion of the relationship between vehicle registration and domicile.

 

One could stay a resident of TX and register your vehicles in SD. SD openly allows non-resident vehicle registration (see here: http://dor.sd.gov/Motor_Vehicles/Non_Resident_Information/), and TX should not have jurisdiction over vehicles which are not within TX borders for the majority of the year. This is a common scenario for people with 2 homes in different states. If you are resident of State #1, but have a 2nd home in State #2 along with a vehicle that stays in State #2, then state #1 has no authority to impose registration requirements over the vehicle.

 

Great information, thanks for sharing. Did not realize this was possible and it may end up being the right option for me. :)

Lodestar Knife & Tool

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As usual when you go to a governmental agency at different times and speak to different people you will get different answers. Such was the case as I tried to find some possible solutions to the upcoming inspection/registration law change, which will begin March 2015. It cracks me up when this happens and you need to have a good attitude when you go in because you can easily get folks who don't really care and will lie to you just to get you away from their window. But the next time you go you may get someone who really cares and wants to help. Your attitude can make a big difference so prepare yourself for either outcome and be prepared to go to another office or come at a different time to get another clerk.



I know that Escapees has a lawyer working on this and that is wonderful but I wanted to be a little proactive with a solution that could be helpful for some and is helpful for me. This will not help everyone but for those who annually return to the state around the same time, it is possible to change your registration expiration month. It can be tricky and you do need to talk to the right person but it can be done.


My hope was to get all our vehicles registration changed to the winter (Dec or Jan) when we would almost surely be returning on a yearly basis for the foreseeable future. Our three vehicles had registrations of May, December, and October.


So, I only needed to change 2 of them.



Changes to the expiration month can only be done 90 days prior to a vehicles expiration. For example, I was able to change my upcoming May registration date to December but I could not yet change the vehicle with the October Registration expiration. I will have to wait until late summer or early fall to change that registration to December.


You will also have to pay a prorated charge for the months from the current month to the desired month.


I did this in person but the most helpful clerk said that it could also be done by phone by calling your Texas counties Registration office. (Travis County: 512-854-9473)



This means that I can return for Christmas with the family get inspected and renew my registration on all vehicles before leaving for the Spring. Obviously there are some downsides - the cost will be a hit all at once and it doesn't solve the problem of being gone for more than a year but it could be helpful for some.


Looking forward to seeing how the policy makers provide better solutions.


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I didn't have time to read through the entire thread, but there is one option that might work for some people depending on your opinion of the relationship between vehicle registration and domicile.

 

One could stay a resident of TX and register your vehicles in SD. SD openly allows non-resident vehicle registration (see here: http://dor.sd.gov/Motor_Vehicles/Non_Resident_Information/), and TX should not have jurisdiction over vehicles which are not within TX borders for the majority of the year. This is a common scenario for people with 2 homes in different states. If you are resident of State #1, but have a 2nd home in State #2 along with a vehicle that stays in State #2, then state #1 has no authority to impose registration requirements over the vehicle.

 

If you are within TX borders for the majority of the year, this strategy would probably not be a good idea because TX could demand registration. More research into TX registration requirements would be needed.

 

I'm sure those who like everything handled in the same state as your domicile would not consider this but I think it is a worthy option that should be further researched for those willing to think outside the "1-state box."

just curious on which state you would use for your drivers license because the questions I was asked when applying for my Texas DL was: Do you have any vehicles? and Are they all registered in Texas?

I know that the pdf file "Becoming a Texan" put out by Escapees says to get your license plates/registrations prior to your DL because Texas wants all of your vehicles registered here. I'm also not sure how SD would feel if you had SD license plates but a Texas DL should you ever be stopped or in an accident there.

 

Just food for thought,

 

Phil

http://workinrvers.blogspot.com

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just curious on which state you would use for your drivers license because the questions I was asked when applying for my Texas DL was: Do you have any vehicles? and Are they all registered in Texas?

Which office were you renewing in when asked those questions? It must be something quite new as neither Pam nor I remember any such questions when we renewed our licenses a couple of years ago. Were those questions on some form, or just asked by the employee who was doing the paperwork?

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

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Not renewing licenses, but when you get your new license (i.e. move into the state) the order that works the best is (1) inspection, (2) vehicle registration and then (3) driver's licenses. This was in Smith county.

 

Barb

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When first getting our TX licenses we were asked the same questions - do we have vehicles that are NOT registered in TX. Did not get that question when renewing.

Jack & Danielle Mayer #60376 Lifetime Member
Living on the road since 2000

PLEASE no PM's. Email me. jackdanmayer AT gmail
2016 DRV Houston 44' 5er (we still have it)
2022 New Horizons 43' 5er
2016 Itasca 27N 28' motorhome 
2019 Volvo 860, D13 455/1850, 236" wb, I-Shift, battery-based APU
No truck at the moment - we use one of our demo units
2016 smart Passion, piggyback on the truck
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
See our website for info on New Horizons 5th wheels, HDTs as tow vehicles, communications on the road, and use of solar power
www.jackdanmayer.com
Principal in RVH Lifestyles. RVH-Lifestyles.com

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