CHP revamps registration violators program

SACRAMENTO – The California Highway Patrol announced a new CHP Registration Enforcement and Guidance program to reduce out-of-state registration violators. The CHP Registration Enforcement and Guidance program replaces the Californians Help Eliminate All The Evasive Registration Scofflaws program.

Since the program’s inception in 2004, the CHP has recovered approximately $26 million in registration fees. In 2018, the CHP surpassed $3.2 million in recovered fees from residents avoiding California registration.

“California loses millions of dollars in revenue every year from vehicles being unlawfully registered in other states or countries,” CHP Commissioner Warren Stanley said. “This program relies on the public’s input to support our investigators in returning funding to the state. Recovered registration fees are important to the California economy and are invested back into local communities.”

The CHP program focuses on residents who register their vehicles out-of-state while living or working in California and operate those vehicles on California’s roadways. The primary goal of the program is to obtain voluntary registration compliance through education, but, when necessary, enforcement action is taken.

California vehicle registration through the Department of Motor Vehicles is required within 20 days of establishing residency and for all vehicles primarily operated in the state.

The CHP encouraged members of the public to report vehicles driven on a regular basis on California roadways with out-of-state registration to the CHP program website at http://www.chp.ca.gov/Notify-CHP/CHP-REG-(Out-of-State-Registration-Violators). When reporting a suspected violator, it is important to include: state of the plate, license plate number, date and time observed, where observed, make, model, vehicle color and any additional identifying comments. In 2018, more than 24,000 tips were reported to the website, leading directly to cases investigated by CHP personnel and dedicated senior volunteers.

The mission of the CHP is to provide the highest level of safety, service and security.

Submitted by California Highway Patrol.