Missouri judge tosses out cap for vehicle records fee

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A trial judge has tossed out a Missouri law that capped how much the Department of Revenue can charge for driver's license and motor vehicle records.

Lawmakers added the price cap to property tax legislation earlier this year after the Department of Revenue began charging $7 per record in May -- up from a fraction of a cent for bulk purchases.

Some companies regularly buy the records to track vehicle histories and traffic violations and in turn sell that information to used car dealers, consumers, insurance companies and other entities.

Increasing the cost and eliminating the bulk record discount prompted two lawsuits.

In June, a Cole County judge ruled the $7 fee violated the state Sunshine Law that limits what state agencies can charge for public records.

On Monday, Cole County Judge Patricia Joyce ruled the fee limit was unconstitutional. Joyce ruled the addition of the records cap to the property tax legislation changed the bill's purpose, wasn't mentioned in the bill's title and wasn't connected with the other provisions.

McLean, Va.-based BearingPoint Inc. challenged the price limit because the firm has a state contract worth up to $50 million to overhaul Missouri's computer system for maintaining driver's license and motor vehicle records. It was to receive $1 from every record purchased to help pay for the project.

An attorney representing the Virginia company did not immediately return a call Tuesday seeking comment.

Joyce in her ruling stated that the Revenue Department is considering whether to cancel BearingPoint's contract because lawmakers' price cap wouldn't allow enough money to be generated from record sales to pay for the agreement.

In June, Judge Richard Callahan had issued an injunction against using the $7 per-record fee for bulk purchases. That ruling allowed the Revenue Department to decide whether to create a new price that complies with Missouri's Sunshine Law, revert to its old fee structure of fractions of a cent per record or follow the limits imposed by lawmakers, which were tossed out Monday.

Since Callahan's ruling, the Revenue Department has charged $7 for individual record purchases and used its old pricing system of fractions of a cent for bulk buys. But Revenue Department spokesman David Griffith said Tuesday that could change after Joyce's ruling.

Missouri Revenue Director Omar Davis has said the current computer system was created in the 1970s and is cumbersome. Davis also said the records were designed more for law enforcement and increasing the price would make them more secure by having fewer people and companies buy them.

The information that's available on driver's license records, for example, includes a motorist's name, address, height, license number and some details about offenses and point assessments for moving violations.

Joyce's ruling was limited to the records fee provision and does not affect the underlying property tax bill.

That law, which took affect Aug. 28, seeks to close what some lawmakers have described as a legal loophole in Missouri's tax system that lets local governments reap financial windfalls when property values rise. The law also gives quicker notice to property owners when their taxes are due to go up, and it expands an income tax break available to thousands of low-income elderly and disabled homeowners.