29-A M.R.S. § 401

This is the official text of 29-A M.R.S. § 401, part of Maine’s M.R.S — part of the compiled statutory law of Maine, published by the state as "M.R.S." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

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29-A §401. Application

Official statutory text

1. Filing of application. Application for vehicle registration may be made by mail or otherwise to the Secretary of State. [PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. A, §2 (NEW); PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. B, §5 (AFF).]

2. Content of application. An application must contain information requested by the Secretary of State, including legal name, residence and address of the registrant, current mileage of a motor vehicle, a brief description of the vehicle, the maker, the vehicle identification number, the year of manufacture, and the type of motor fuel or motive power and, for trucks, truck tractors and special mobile equipment, the gross weight. A registrant that is a corporation, trust, limited partnership or other similar entity must provide either a federal taxpayer identification number or an identification number issued by the department. An initial application for registration must be signed by the registrant or the registrant's legal representative. The Secretary of State shall keep initial applications on file until that registration is terminated. [PL 2015, c. 473, §4 (AMD).]

3. Issuance of registration. The Secretary of State, on approving the application, shall issue: A. A registration number or other distinguishing mark; and [PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. A, §2 (NEW); PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. B, §5 (AFF).] B. A certificate of registration that contains the name, place of residence and address of the registered owner. The reverse side of the certificate of registration must provide a blank space in which the registered owner may write the legal name and address of an emergency contact. [PL 2025, c. 134, §1 (AMD).] [PL 2025, c. 134, §1 (AMD).]

4. Refusal. The Secretary of State may refuse to register the vehicle or to issue a certificate if the applicant has not provided satisfactory information or if the Secretary of State determines that the type of vehicle should not be permitted to be on the highways of the State. [PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. A, §2 (NEW); PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. B, §5 (AFF).]

5. File. The Secretary of State shall maintain a file of applications and registrations arranged alphabetically according to the name of the applicant and numerically according to registration number. [PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. A, §2 (NEW); PL 1993, c. 683, Pt. B, §5 (AFF).]

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.