Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes

30 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5301 (2026)

Registration of motorboats required.

✓ current as of May 2026

Coverage note: this corpus holds the consolidated Pa.C.S. titles only. Unconsolidated P.S. statutes (UTPCPL 73 P.S. § 201-1, Liquor Code, wage payment laws) are not included; a miss here does not mean the statute does not exist. Check palegis.us.

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section PA-LEGpalegis.us JustiaTitle on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

CHAPTER 53

REGISTRATION AND TITLING OF BOATS

Subchapter

A. Registration

B. Certificate of Title

C. Boat and Marine Forfeiture

Enactment. Unless otherwise noted, Chapter 53 was added October 16, 1980, P.L.996, No.175, effective in 90 days.

Chapter Heading. The heading of Chapter 53 was amended July 2, 1996, P.L.467, No.73, effective six months after the effective date of regulations promulgated under the authority of section 5325.

SUBCHAPTER A

REGISTRATION

Sec.

5301. Registration of motorboats required.

5302. Exemptions.

5303. Voluntary and special registrations.

5304. Issuing agents.

5305. Application for registration.

5306. Certificate of registration.

5307. Dealer registration.

5308. Period of registration.

5309. Change of address of registrant.

5310. Display of registration number.

5311. Tampering with identification numbers or capacity plates.

5312. Transfer, destruction or abandonment of boat.

5313. Records open to public.

Subchapter Heading. The heading of Subchapter A was added July 2, 1996, P.L.467, No.73, effective six months after the effective date of regulations promulgated under the authority of section 5325.

Cross References. Subchapter A is referred to in section 5322 of this title.

§ 5301. Registration of motorboats required.

(a) General rule.--Except as provided in section 5302 (relating to exemptions), it is unlawful for any person to operate or navigate, or cause to be operated or navigated, any motorboat upon, over or through the waters of this Commonwealth unless the motorboat is registered in accordance with this subchapter.

(b) Out-of-State registration.--When another state is the state of principal operation of a boat and the boat is numbered and validly registered in that state under a numbering system approved by the Secretary of the Federal Department of Transportation, the boat is deemed in compliance with this chapter while temporarily operating on waters of this Commonwealth.

(c) Moving boat into this Commonwealth.--When Pennsylvania becomes the place of principal operation of a boat, numbered and validly registered in another state, the number issued by the other state shall be recognized for a period of 60 days from the date the boat is moved to Pennsylvania during which time the owner of the boat shall apply for and obtain a Pennsylvania registration and number.

(d) Penalty.--Any person who violates this section commits a summary offense of the third degree.

(Dec. 22, 1989, P.L.735, No.102, eff. Jan. 1, 1990; Dec. 12, 1991, P.L.368, No.39, eff. imd.; July 2, 1996, P.L.467, No.73)

1996 Amendment. Section 4(3) of Act 73 provided that the amendment of section 5301 shall take effect six months after the effective date of regulations promulgated under the authority of section 5325.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 1 case, 1996–1996 · leading case: Commonwealth v. Rachau, 670 A.2d 731 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 1996).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Commonwealth v. Rachau, 670 A.2d 731 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 1996). “) Specifically, the Commonwealth asserted that the officers could not see the green sticker because it was placed upon a green portion of the boat and that, 11 therefore, they had reasonable and articulable suspicion to stop Defendant for violation of section 5301 of the Fish…”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.