West Virginia § 17A-8-8 Altering or changing a manufacturer's serial number, motor or engine number or other distinguishing number or identification mark; offenses

West Virginia Statutes

§ 17A-8-8 — Altering or changing a manufacturer's serial number, motor or engine number or other distinguishing number or identification mark; offenses

West Virginia § 17A-8-8

Ch. 17AMOTOR VEHICLE ADMINISTRATION, REGISTRATION, CERTIFICATE OF TITLE, AND ANTITHEFT PROVISIONS

Art. 8SPECIAL ANTITHEFT LAWS

This text of West Virginia § 17A-8-8 (Altering or changing a manufacturer's serial number, motor or engine number or other distinguishing number or identification mark; offenses) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering West Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

W. Va. Code § 17A-8-8 (2026).

Text

(a)A person who, with fraudulent intent, removes, defaces, covers, alters or destroys the manufacturer's serial number, motor or engine number or other distinguishing number or identification mark of a motor vehicle or who places or stamps an actual or facsimile manufacturer's serial number, motor or engine number or other distinguishing number or identification mark upon a motor vehicle, except one assigned thereto by the department, is guilty of a felony. This section shall not prohibit the restoration by an owner of an original manufacturer's serial number, motor or engine number or other distinguishing number or identification mark when such restoration is made under permit issued by the department, nor prevent any manufacturer from placing numbers or marks upon motor vehicles or par

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(a) A person who, with fraudulent intent, removes, defaces, covers, alters or destroys the manufacturer's serial number, motor or engine number or other distinguishing number or identification mark of a motor vehicle or who places or stamps an actual or facsimile manufacturer's serial number, motor or engine number or other distinguishing number or identification mark upon a motor vehicle, except one assigned thereto by the department, is guilty of a felony.

This section shall not prohibit the restoration by an owner of an original manufacturer's serial number, motor or engine number or other distinguishing number or identification mark when such restoration is made under permit issued by the department, nor prevent any manufacturer from placing numbers or marks upon motor vehicles or parts thereof in the ordinary course of business.

(b) A person who removes, defaces, covers, alters or destroys, or causes to be removed, defaced, covered, altered or destroyed, the manufacturer's serial number, motor or engine number or other distinguishing number or identification mark on special mobile equipment or special mobile equipment tires, the property of another, for any reason, is guilty of a felony.

(c) The term "manufacturer's serial number, motor or engine number or other distinguishing number or identification mark", as used in this section and section seven of this article, means a unique number or mark placed on a vehicle or part thereof by the manufacturer so as to identify it particularly and distinguish the vehicle or part from all other such vehicles or parts.