Expands provisions relating to confidentiality of motor vehicle or driver registration records for certain persons
Summary
HB 138 revises Missouri law governing motor vehicle registration records and specialty license plates. First, it expands the confidentiality protections in section 32.056 so the Department of Revenue may not release home addresses or other identifying vehicle-registration information for a broader set of protected individuals, including active or retired county, state, or federal parole officers, federal pretrial officers, peace officers, certain judges, members of the federal judiciary, and their immediate family members. Covered persons may notify the department of their status, and the department must protect their home address and vehicle records from disclosure, subject to existing federal law exceptions.
The bill also reenacts and updates two specialty plate programs. One continues the Missouri Conservation Heritage Foundation emblem plate program, allowing vehicle owners to obtain plates after paying an annual authorization fee to the foundation and a separate registration fee to the state. The other continues the professional sports team plate program, allowing plates bearing team emblems for qualifying Missouri professional sports franchises after payment of an annual contribution and registration fee. The bill preserves the existing structure for how those contributions are distributed to sports authorities, convention and visitors commissions, or, in the case of the Kansas City Chiefs, the Chiefs' Children’s Fund.
Impact
HB 138 would amend Missouri’s motor vehicle registration statutes by replacing and expanding sections 32.056, 301.469, and 301.472. Its main legal effect is to broaden confidentiality protections for certain public safety and judicial personnel and their immediate family members in Department of Revenue records, limiting public access to home addresses and related vehicle-registration information. It also maintains the statutory authority for two existing specialty license plate programs, including the fee collection, authorization, and revenue distribution mechanisms tied to conservation and professional sports emblems.
Sentiment
The available voting history suggests the bill was broadly supported and noncontroversial in the House, passing third reading 151-1. No committee transcript is available, but the overwhelming vote indicates general agreement with both the privacy protections and the continuation of the specialty plate programs. The bill’s caption also frames it as an expansion of confidentiality protections, which likely contributed to its favorable reception.
Contention
The most notable policy issue is the scope of the confidentiality protections, particularly which categories of officers and judges should receive address and vehicle-record privacy and whether immediate family members should be included. A secondary, less contentious issue is the continued use of specialty license plate programs tied to private or quasi-public entities, including the Missouri Conservation Heritage Foundation and professional sports teams, along with the allocation of the associated fees. The near-unanimous vote suggests little recorded opposition, with only one dissenting vote in the House.