8-143a. Quarterly payment of annual registration fee by resident owner of truck or truck tractor; default fees and penalties; enforcement; tax warrants; collection; exchange of vehicle; application of lien; enforcement provisions. The provisions of this section shall not apply to vehicles registered on an apportioned basis as part of a fleet under the provisions of K.S.A. 8-1,101 to 8-1,123, inclusive, and amendments thereto, or any agreement made by the director of vehicles, and the payment of registration fees on a quarterly basis on such vehicles shall be in accordance with K.S.A. 8-1,115, and amendments thereto. A resident owner of any truck or truck tractor, holding a negotiable Kansas title, whether individual, partnership or Kansas corporation, may at such owner's election, made at the time the annual registration fee on such truck or truck tractor is payable, pay such annual registration fee if it exceeds $100, in equal quarterly installments, the first of which shall be payable at the time of such application but not later than the last day of February in each year, and for each ensuing quarter thereafter shall be payable respectively on the first day of April, July and October. The applicant shall, at the time of registration, present such applicant's negotiable Kansas title to the county treasurer, who shall send it, along with the application for registration, to the division of vehicles. The division of vehicles shall retain the title until all quarterly payments are paid in full, at which time the title shall be returned to the owner of the vehicle to which the title was issued.

The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall not in any manner be construed to affect or reduce the amount of annual registration fee due for any truck or truck tractor subject to registration on January 1, and for which the owner shall be liable, but relate only to an alternate method of payment of the amount of fees due and affixed as of January 1 of each year. If any owner shall default in the payment of any quarterly installment payment when the same is payable, the right to operate such vehicle on the highways of this state shall terminate and it shall be unlawful to operate such vehicle on the highways of this state until the delinquent quarterly installment payment plus any penalty, shall have been paid in full.

If any owner shall fail to pay any two quarterly payment installments during any one registration year on any truck or truck tractor registered hereunder, on or before the day the same are due and payable, such owner thereafter may be denied the privilege of the payment of annual registration fees on a quarterly basis on any vehicle. If a quarterly installment payment shall be delinquent more than 10 days beyond the due date of such quarterly installment except for any case where it is determined by the director of vehicles that such delinquency is not due to negligence or intentional disregard of the provisions of this section, then the entire balance of the annual registration fee, including the delinquent quarterly installment, plus a penalty in a sum equal to 10% of the annual registration fee, shall become due and payable; and any such owner so delinquent may thereafter be denied the privilege of the payment of annual registration fees on any vehicle on a quarterly basis. All such fees and penalties remaining unpaid shall constitute a debt due the state, which may be collected from the person owing the same by suit or otherwise. All such fees remaining unpaid after the same are due and payable and any penalties shall constitute a first and prior lien in favor of the state upon the truck or truck tractor registered hereunder and all other real and personal property of the owner located within the state in the amount such fees and penalties remain unpaid. Each lien shall attach at the time such unpaid fees and penalties accrue and shall be paramount to all prior liens or encumbrances of any character and to the rights of any holder of the legal title in or to any such truck or truck tractor. When a quarterly installment is delinquent more than 10 days beyond the due date, upon default of such installment payment, the county treasurer shall promptly file a notice of lien in the office of the register of deeds of the county where the registration fee is payable, and in any other county in which such owner has any property. A copy of such notice of lien shall be mailed to the division of vehicles, and the owner so delinquent, and the sheriff of any county in which such notice of lien is filed. Such notice of lien shall set forth the name and address of the owner, the amount of fees and penalties payable and unpaid, and the description of the vehicle or vehicles to which applicable. It shall be the duty of each register of deeds in this state to index and file immediately all such notices of lien in the manner provided in cases of financing statements and no fee shall be charged for filing and indexing. The county treasurer shall issue a release of lien upon payment of all fees and penalties payable by such owner and such person may file the same with the register of deeds of any county in which such notice of lien has been filed. The county treasurer shall mail a copy of the release of lien to the division, and to the sheriff of any county where said notice of lien has been filed. If a quarterly installment payment shall be delinquent more than 10 days beyond the due date of such quarterly installment, the division, shall promptly on such default and the filing of the notice of lien issue a tax warrant to the sheriff of any county in which such notice of lien has been filed and may thereafter issue further warrants as may be necessary, and such sheriff shall seize and hold all personal property subject thereto and proceed to advertise and sell the same or so much thereof as may be necessary, to satisfy the state's lien, together with all expense of selling at public sale for cash, upon such notice as is provided by law in the case of a security agreement sale.

Any surplus of the proceeds of such sale, after paying to the county treasurer, the amount of the state's lien, and the cost of the officer in giving notice of and executing said warrant computed to the same extent as in judicial sales on execution, and of securing and preserving the property pending such sale, shall be delivered to the person lawfully entitled thereto. In the event that any truck or truck tractor for which the annual registration fee is being paid quarterly shall be sold or otherwise disposed of, the entire balance remaining unpaid on such annual registration fee shall become immediately due and payable.

No certificate of title shall be assigned or transferred or new certificate of title be issued for such vehicle until all the registration fees and penalties are paid in full. In the event such vehicle shall be repossessed by the enforcement of a lien or security interest on the same, during any quarterly period for which the registration fees have not been paid, the person repossessing such vehicle or the person purchasing such vehicle at a repossession sale, may acquire a new certificate of title upon the payment of a fee equal to 1/4 of the annual registration fee of the vehicle registered hereunder, plus the regular fee prescribed by law for certificate of title. If any truck or truck tractor which is registered under the provisions of this subsection is exchanged or traded by the owner thereof for another truck or truck tractor, any registration fee and any quarterly installments which have been paid shall be applied to the registration fee due for the registration of the newly acquired vehicle. The application of any such registration fee or quarterly installment to the newly acquired vehicle shall not affect or reduce the original amount of the annual registration fee or any quarterly installment payment, for which such owner was originally liable.

The division of vehicles may call to its aid the state highway patrol or any peace officer or any duly appointed representative of the department to enforce the provisions of this section within their respective jurisdiction and it shall be the duty of such officers to do so. The remedies for enforcement and collection provided in this section are cumulative and the use of one shall not be deemed to be a waiver of the right to use any other.

History: L. 1955, ch. 294, § 4; L. 1957, ch. 57, § 5; L. 1959, ch. 48, § 1; L. 1965, ch. 62, § 1; L. 1976, ch. 44, § 1; L. 1978, ch. 30, § 3; L. 1982, ch. 37, § 1; L. 1994, ch. 76, § 2; L. 2003, ch. 34, § 3; July 1.