HELENA – The Montana Department of Justice Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) is changing the process behind temporary registration permits for newly purchased vehicles. A temporary registration permit, or TRP, allows a vehicle to be driven on Montana roads before the vehicle has its regular license plates. The changes are designed to make acquiring a permit easier and more convenient for Montana citizens.

The new TRPs will start appearing on the streets in mid-March through a special pilot project involving vehicle dealerships located in Helena, Great Falls and Billings. Here’s what you’ll see:

Useful new features. The first thing people will notice is the large number. It is unique, eight characters long and contains both letters and numbers. This new number is the key to the TRP system. It will give law enforcement officers (even those outside of Montana) and county treasurer MVD offices the ability to check vehicle information – such as make, model and purchaser – as if the TRP were a regular license plate. The expiration date will still be clearly visible on the TRP, as will other information. The outline of Montana contains the name of the process sponsor – “Montana MVD,” which stands for Motor Vehicle Division. Unlike the previous TRP, there is no confusion about the sponsor!

Vehicle description. For the first time, a vehicle description will also be clearly visible on the new TRP, specifically the vehicle’s year and make. The vehicle’s VIN and the name of the seller also are printed directly on the TRP. While these are not as large as the rest of the information, they are still clearly visible to anyone inspecting the permit.

The new process. At the time of sale, the dealership will produce the TRP electronically on a computer with an Internet connection. After entering minimal vehicle and purchaser information, the dealer will print the TRP on a regular 8½ x 11 sheet of paper and give it to the customer. The process will take just a few minutes.

The TRP will no longer be placed in the back window. Instead, it will be placed inside a plastic pouch provided. The back of the pouch has adhesive to stick to the rear of the vehicle where the license plate normally goes. For extra security, the pouch is also attached using license plate screws.

The bottom segment of the permit is the temporary registration, which contains some of the same information as the regular registration. This includes the purchaser’s name (or names—up to two will be collected), more detailed vehicle data, and some information about the dealership that sold the vehicle. The issuer separates the two sections, puts the TRP in the pouch and gives the temporary registration to the purchaser to place inside the vehicle until he or she receives the regular registration.

In March, the dealerships that will test the new process are Grimes Buick GMC, Inc., Placer Motors, Inc., and Kev’s Auto Sales in Helena, Taylor’s Automax and Automotive Credit Resources in Great Falls, Jim Taylor Motors in Fort Benton, and Archie Cochrane Motors, Inc., in Billings. The Motor Vehicle Division expects the new TRP process to be used by dealers statewide by early 2006.

TEAM 261 is developing the project under the direction of the Montana Department of Justice. TEAM 261 is an ambitious information technology project changing the business processes and systems behind driver licensing, vehicle titling and vehicle registration. For the TRP project, TEAM 261 is working in cooperation with Montana Interactive, LLC, a division of NIC (NASDAQ: EGOV). NIC manages more e-Government services than any provider in the world. The company helps government communicate more effectively with citizens and businesses by putting essential services online. NIC provides e-Government solutions for 1,500 state and local agencies that serve more than 51 million people in the United States. Additional information is available at www.nicusa.com.

For more information about the new permit format, visit the Montana Department of Justice website at License Plates - MT Dept of Justice.