AN ACT to amend the motor carrier safety statutes.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 20‑382.2(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b)	Payment. – When the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety finds that a for‑hire motor vehicle is operated in this State in violation of the registration and insurance verification requirements of this Part, the motor vehicle shall be placed out of service until the motor carrier is in compliance and the penalty imposed under this section is paid unless the officer that imposes the penalty determines that operation of the motor vehicle will not jeopardize collection of the penalty. A motor carrier that denies liability for a penalty imposed under this section may pay the penalty under protest and apply to the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety for a hearing."
SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 24th day of May, 2005.

	_____________________________________
		 Beverly E. Perdue
	 President of the Senate

	_____________________________________
		 James B. Black
	 Speaker of the House of Representatives

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		 Michael F. Easley
	 Governor

Approved __________.m. this ______________ day of ___________________, 2005