Hm I know in California they’ve taken my word for it, as long as I provided insurance papers (those usually have everyones (on the insurance) name on it)

@pleiades I do not understand your response. Taken your word for what?

Yay, you got the car back! Stop getting pulled over and it won’t be an issue, right?

When they run the tags they see the history of the registration on the car and the person that registers it. They would see if it had been reported stolen or if there are outstanding tickets (non-moving violations, like parking tickets). It does not show that it was involved in a drug bust.

When they run your driver’s license they see moving violations, misdemeanors, felonies (outstanding charges as well as priors). If you were the owner of the vehicle they would also see the non-moving violations attached. They also see outstanding warrants.

They pretty much have your whole file if they choose to look. However, the initial report is just confirming your name, DL#, and if you are currently driving on a “clean” license or a suspended, etc. Very basic. This is because each incident is supposed to be non-biased.

Because you have a distribution charge I would assume a higher probability of having the car searched again, legality of it non-withstanding. They will find probable cause.

When a tag is run, it is associated with the road tax payer and owner of the vehicle. Further investigation may reveal if that vehicle was involved with any crime, but in and of itself, registration is merely verification that the owner has paid for the right to use the vehicle on the road.
It is in the drivers license record that all the violations and crimes are recorded.

It’s kind of a tool and user separation so Dad doesn’t get unwittingly busted for murder when he was on vacation and his kids friend was in the car and drive-by whacked someone.

They’ve taken my word that it’s my mothers (we have extremely different last names) vehicle but it’s “mine”

Like you my name isn’t registered on the vehicle, only on the insurance forms does my name show up.

They show all outstanding warrants and arrests.

When they run your license, it will tell them who you are. From that, they can run your arrest record which will have reports of any crimes you committed and what car you were driving when you committed whatever the crimes were (if you were in a car).

The registration of the car just says what kind of car is registered, the VIN, the information about the registration and who it’s registered to.