National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS)

The Edward Byrne Memorial Discretionary Grants Program, administered by the Office of Justice Programs' (OJP's) Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), furthers the Department's mission by assisting state and local jurisdictions in improving the criminal justice system and assisting communities in preventing drug abuse and crime. In fiscal year 2007, the Edward Byrne Memorial Discretionary Grants Program will focus on funding local, regional, and national efforts within six major categories: 1) targeting violent crime; 2) preventing crime and drug abuse; 3) enhancing local law enforcement; 4) enhancing local courts; 5) enhancing local corrections and offender reentry; and 6) facilitating justice information sharing. All categories combat, address, or otherwise respond to precipitous or extraordinary increases in crime, or in a type or types of crime.

The Fiscal Year 2007 Byrne Discretionary Grant Program will provide additional funding to the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) in order to support an additional 11 states with the development and testing of their participation in the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS). The NMVTIS project is a nationwide system that was established to address the issues associated with auto theft and vehicle fraud. NMVTIS was created by the Anti Car Theft Act of 1992. The intent of the Anti Car Theft Act is that state motor vehicle agencies will be able to instantly and reliably verify information on a vehicle prior to issuing a new title.

There are currently 23 states that have implemented NMVTIS at some level. Nine states are fully online, five states are partially online, and another nine states are in the initial stages. Funding from this grant will allow AAMVA to provide the necessary staff resources to assist the States of Montana, Arkansas, New Mexico, New York, and West Virginia with system testing. Furthermore, AAMVA will also assist Louisiana, Michigan, South Dakota, Texas, Connecticut, and Vermont who are planning to design and develop an NMVTIS program. AAMVA staff are responsible for the maintenance of the Central Site specifications and work directly with the states to explain the specifications and procedural changes resulting from new requirements. AAMVA analysts also provide support during the states' design and development stages, including identification, coordination, and resolution of issues. The analysts work with the states during the execution of both the casual and state structured tests and provide any necessary support. Once the NMVTIS program is implemented, AAMVA staff also ensure that: all programs and supporting routines are migrated to production; the transaction processor and database definitions are in place; and, that all support files and utilities are available and operational in production. After successful testing, the state is provided with a certification letter. Each jurisdiction pays a NMVTIS annual fee that is based on a tiered pricing arrangement.

CA/NCF