By Flores H.C.R. No. 87
77R4256 RVH-D
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
1-1 WHEREAS, While the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)
1-2 is the state agency that is primarily responsible for titling and
1-3 registration of vehicles operated in this state, state law
1-4 designates county assessor-collectors as agents of the state to
1-5 transact a variety of vehicle titling and registration services; in
1-6 practice, however, some services either are not available through
1-7 the county assessor-collector or are duplicated by TxDOT staff at
1-8 the department's 17 regional Vehicle Titles and Registration
1-9 Offices; and
1-10 WHEREAS, Citizens, commercial truckers, vehicle dealers,
1-11 title service companies, law enforcement agencies, and the court
1-12 system would be better served by TxDOT through the creation of
1-13 "one-stop" shops at the offices of Texas' 254 county
1-14 assessor-collectors to provide all types of vehicle titling and
1-15 registration functions, including those now solely performed at
1-16 TxDOT's regional offices or at its headquarters in Austin; and
1-17 WHEREAS, Under current procedures, for example, a vehicle
1-18 owner who requests a registration refund must first drive to the
1-19 regional office to obtain a receipt and subsequently drive to the
1-20 office of the county assessor-collector, which may be more than 100
1-21 miles from the regional office, to collect the refund; a county
1-22 "one-stop" shop would improve service to the customer by
1-23 administering the entire refund process and make the trip to the
1-24 regional office unnecessary; and
2-1 WHEREAS, A county "one-stop" shop would also be authorized to
2-2 issue certified copies of original vehicle titles (CCOs) to replace
2-3 those lost by vehicle owners or those needed to complete the sale
2-4 of a vehicle; current TxDOT policy only allows the regional offices
2-5 and the headquarters in Austin to issue CCOs to walk-in customers
2-6 or to fulfill the requests by mail; and
2-7 WHEREAS, Trucks engaged in interstate commerce must be
2-8 registered at a regional office as apportioned vehicles under the
2-9 International Registration Plan; the procedures for renewing an
2-10 apportioned registration allow a commercial vehicle owner to mail
2-11 the fee to the regional office, but the owner must still travel to
2-12 the regional office to pick up the cab card that indicates the
2-13 states in which the vehicle has paid to operate; and
2-14 WHEREAS, With only 17 regional offices to process apportioned
2-15 registration, commercial vehicle owners in 237 counties must travel
2-16 to another county to renew their registration; in some cases, the
2-17 distance to a regional office may be significant; a vehicle owner
2-18 in Laredo, for example, must travel more than 145 miles to the
2-19 nearest regional office to process a renewal; and
2-20 WHEREAS, By granting the office of county assessor-collector
2-21 the authority to create "one-stop" shops for vehicle titling and
2-22 registration, TxDOT would improve customer service and eliminate
2-23 the need for its regional offices to use resources duplicating
2-24 routine services; regional offices' resources could then be
2-25 redirected to perform unique functions in support of the 254 agents
2-26 of the state that are our county assessor-collectors; now,
2-27 therefore, be it
3-1 RESOLVED, That the 77th Legislature of the State of Texas
3-2 hereby direct the Texas Department of Transportation to create
3-3 "one-stop" shops at each of the 254 county assessor-collectors'
3-4 offices for all vehicle titling and registration functions so as to
3-5 improve customer service and government efficiency; and, be it
3-6 further
3-7 RESOLVED, That the secretary of state forward an official
3-8 copy of this resolution to the executive director of the Texas
3-9 Department of Transportation and to the chair of the Texas
3-10 Transportation Commission.