Did you know that Kansas Department of Revenue Division of Vehicles requires pursuant to Kansas statute (K.S.A.-8-1, 138) that if a person owns, rents or leases a residence and remains in the county for 90 days, that person is required to register their car in the county?

This statute includes people who move into a county temporarily and stay for 90 days or more. This interpretation of law has nothing to do with the vast majority of residents in Wyandotte County.

However, it is cause for heated debate among those few who attempt to skirt the law and for those of us who legally register our vehicles in Wyandotte County.

In December of 1998, after many citizen complaints, Edwardsville Police Chief John Ellison and Wyandotte County Sheriff Leroy Green Jr. took action on the problem.

The chief and the sheriff agreed to commission two police officers as sheriff's deputies, thus giving local law enforcement the authority to deal with illegal vehicle registration.

This idea was nothing new in the area since the sheriff and the Kansas City, Kan., Police had a long-established Tag Enforcement Unit which dealt with this issue on a countywide basis. The problem was they had more than enough violators to deal with in the eastern part of the county.

So, Officer Matt McBratney and I were welcomed by the sheriff and the rest of the unit to provide help in our jurisdiction.

In just less than two years, Officer McBratney and I have had over 125 vehicles towed for violations including switched, altered and expired registration, as well as residents who register their vehicles in another county or state.

Our sheriff's commissions give us the authority to tow parked vehicles other officers would have to observe in operation.

This authority sometimes causes citizens a great deal of anxiety and frustration when they see their cars and trucks on being loaded on the back of a tow truck.

It would make me angry, too. However, they should bear the burden of that anger and realize it is not fair to those law-abiding citizens who faithfully register their vehicles in the county the live in.

Sound confusing? Put simply, if you live, stay, sleep, crash, or kick back here and have done so for 90 days or more, you need to get Wyandotte county tags for your car. I've heard every excuse in the book ranging from, "I'm just borrowing this car" to "I just work here, but I live in Iowa and go back there sometimes." None of these are legitimate reasons.

If the car that you drive is stored here, where you live, it must be registered here. There are exceptions, such as for full-time students or military personnel, but the law is clear for the rest of us.

We will continue to tow illegally tagged vehicles in Edwardsville and in Bonner Springs when we are asked to assist a Bonner Springs officer.

In cases of out-of-county or out-of-state tags, we will determine the vehicle has been in our city for 90 days or more and attempt to contact the owner. If this is not successful, we will tow the vehicle and hold it until the owner registers it in Wyandotte County. We will also impound vehicles which have tags that are switched, altered, expired or have no registration.

Please, save yourself some grief and legally register your vehicles in the state and the county where you reside. If you have any questions about this issue, feel free to contact myself or Officer McBratney at 441-6983 or you may contact Corporal Rick Whitby or Deputy Bob Morris at 573-2861.