By Lyndsie Kiebert
Reader Staff
Recreational vehicle registrations will temporarily halt in April as the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation works to move registrations and invasive species sticker purchases to an online format.
Until Monday, April 20, registration and sticker purchases will be very limited. Vendors stopped sales in March as part of the transition, and many county motor vehicle offices closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. From Tuesday, April 21 to Tuesday, April 28, IDPR said no registrations through any channel will be available. The new online system is slated to open Wednesday, April 29. A new call system through which purchases can be made should also be available by that date.
Local law enforcement is working with IDPR to be sure boaters and others who have yet to register their vehicles are not ticketed during the system’s downtime, extending that grace period through the end of May.
“The Bonner County Sheriff’s Office recognizes the challenges faced by our community regarding the registration of their boats this season,” the sheriff’s office stated in a media release, adding that people are encouraged to obtain their registration as soon as possible once those services are up and running again.
BCSO said that while vehicles lacking registration and invasive species stickers will not be ticketed, “suspension of enforcement does not apply to other aspects of the Safe Boating Act or the Bonner County Revised Code that apply to required safety equipment, speed limits, wake zone violations, boating under the influence or other safety issues that serve to protect public safety.”
The Lakes Commission reports that watercraft inspection stations are set to open as planned this year, with the Clark Fork location opening Friday, April 17 and the Samuels and Albeni Falls locations opening on Friday, May 1. All watercraft are required to stop and inspection personnel will be closely following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations related to COVID-19.
