§17A-3-1a. Registration of vehicles of new residents.

(a) Every owner of a motor vehicle, trailer or other vehicle, shall, within thirty days after taking up residence in the state, apply to the division and obtain registration and title for the vehicle.

(b) For the purposes of this chapter there is a rebuttable presumption that a natural person is a resident of this state if any of the following elements exist including, but not limited to:

(1) The person is registered to vote in this state.

(2) The person enrolls the person's child to be educated in a public elementary or secondary school in this state.

(3) The person is receiving public assistance from this state.

(4) The person resides or has continuously remained in this state for a period exceeding thirty days except for infrequent or brief absences.

(5) The person has accepted employment or engages in any trade, profession, or occupation within this state, except that this does not include a person who is commuting from the person's residence in another state or whose employment is seasonal or temporary, not exceeding ninety days.

(6) The person has filed for a homestead tax exemption on property in this state.

"Resident" does not include a person who is attending a college, university or other educational institution in this state, if the person has a domicile in another state and has a valid operator's license and vehicle registration issued by the state of domicile. "Resident" also does not include members of the Armed Forces that are stationed in West Virginia providing that their vehicles are properly registered in their state of residence or a member of the Armed Forces stationed in another state or country providing that their vehicles are properly registered in that state or country.

A corporation, association, partnership, company or firm whose principal place of business is located within this state is a resident of this state.

The provisions of this section shall not apply to vehicles registered under proportional registration agreement.