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2005 North Carolina Attorney General Reports and Opinions 1 (2005)

handle is hein.sag/sagnc0042 and id is 1 raw text is: REPLY TO: Grayson G. Kelley (919) 716-6400 FAX: (919)716-0135 February 9, 2005 Mr. George Tatum Commissioner North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles 3148 Mail Service Center Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-3148 Re: Advisory Opinion: Drivers Privacy Protection Act (18 U.S.C. § 2721, et seq.) Dear Commissioner Tatum: You have requested an opinion concerning the application of the federal Drivers Privacy Protection Act (DPPA), 18 U.S.C. § 2721, et seq., to certain motor vehicle records in view of North Carolina's Public Records Act, N.C. GEN. STAT. § 132-1, et seq. Specifically, you have inquired as to the legal obligations of the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and local law enforcement agencies upon receiving a request for a copy of a motor vehicle accident report. You have also asked whether vehicle registration information obtained from DMV by local taxing authorities is subject to disclosure under the Public Records Act. Prior to September 1997, all DMV records were subject to the Public Records Act and were publicly available upon request. The only information that could not be obtained by the public was confidential medical information, social security numbers, signatures, and photographs. See N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-9(g)(4)(h)(1995); § 20-7(bl)(1995); § 20- 43(a)(1997). In 1994, in direct response to the murder of actress Rebecca Shaeffer at the hands of a stalker who obtained her home address from the California DMV, Congress passed the DPPA as part of the 1994 Omnibus Crime Bill. The DPPA, effective 17 September 1997 (three years from the date it passed Congress), prohibits a state department of motor vehicles, or any officer, employee, or contractor thereof, from knowingly disclosing any personal identifying information contained in a state motor vehicle record. 18 U.S.C. § 2721(a). Failure to substantially comply with the DPPA may subject a state department of motor vehicles to a civil penalty of up to $5,000 per day. 18 U.S.C. § 2723(b). A motor vehicle record is defined as any record that pertains to a motor vehicle operator's permit, motorvehicle title, motor vehicle registration, or identification card issued by a department of motor vehicles. 18 U.S.C. § 2725(1). (The DPPA does, however, contain a number of exceptions to the non-disclosure requirement. See 18 U.S.C. § 2721 (b).) Because the DPPA conflicted, in some respects, with the North Carolina Public Records Act, the General Assembly in 1997 adopted N.C. GEN. STAT. § 20-43.1 to bring

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