Operation without registration

Iowa Code

321.98 Operation without registration.
A person shall not operate, and an owner shall not knowingly permit to be operated upon any highway any vehicle required to be registered and titled hereunder unless there shall be attached thereto and displayed thereon when and as required by this chapter a valid registration card and registration plate or plates issued therefor for the current registration year and unless a certificate of title has been issued for such vehicle except as otherwise expressly permitted in this chapter. Any violation of this section is a simple misdemeanor punishable as a scheduled violation under section 805.8A, subsection 2, paragraph "b".


Obviously, the prosecution has to be able to prove that you are guilty of the citation. The prosecution shall have to prove that your vehicle was required to be registered AND titled. The prosecution shall also have to show that the accusing officer was acting in accordance with the provisions promulgated by the department; was the accusing officer acting in compliance with the rules?

Whether or not your vehicle was registered is NOT the issue when deciding guilt for this piece of code. The issues are:

1. Can the prosecution prove that the vehicle required to be registered AND titled?
2. Was the accusing officer acting within the provisions of his official capacity at the time of the stop?

Remember, the burden of proof is on the prosecution.