Complaints Increasing Over Non-Registered Mexican License Plates In El Paso

El Paso County officials said there’s been a dramatic increase in complaints about non-registered Mexican license plates.

The problem is trying to catch the drivers of those vehicles.

If you’ve been living in Texas for more than 30 days, you must register your car.

“We take $10 from every registration for our roads and bridges here locally, the rest goes to the state to maintain the highways,” said Victor Flores, County Tax Assesor.

But with a rise in complaints throughout the county, “We have to take care of the county from Tornillo to Canutillo,” explained Flores.

There’s now an overwhelming caseload for the county tax assessor’s enforcement division, which is made up of three investigators who focus on much more than unregistered cars.

“We have 14 vacancies in our office alone, that we have not been able to fill, So we’ve had to take a little bit from everybody to do everybody else’s work,” said Flores.

Flores said he understands the frustrations of people who’ve reported an unregistered car.

“Its a lengthy process because we have to find out who lives in the house,” Flores said.

Once investigators track down the owner, a letter is sent out.

“We have to keep going back to find out who owns the car, so we can address a letter like this to the individual,” explained Flores.

The letter lets that person know they’ve been reported and gives them 30 days to comply.

If not, the owner will be summoned to appear before a justice of the peace.

Investigators even take pictures as evidence, but sometimes fall short presenting their case if witnesses who report a car don’t want to get involved.

While county officials encourage people reporting out state and out of the country license plates, they warn about reporting vehicles in public places such as the mall. County officials said its much easier to track the owners down in front of where they live, like in front of their home.

“The only people that know how long that car has been there, whether the car has been there or not, or they’re just visiting are the people living around them,” said Flores.

College students and anyone serving in the military are exempt.