Section 16-8-82. Definitions

   As used in this article, the term:

   (1) "Chop shop" means any building, lot, or other premise where one or more persons knowingly engage in altering, destroying, disassembling, dismantling, reassembling, or storing any motor vehicle or motor vehicle part known to be illegally obtained by theft, fraud, or conspiracy to defraud in order to either:

      (A) Alter, counterfeit, deface, destroy, disguise, falsify, forge, obliterate, or remove the identification, including the vehicle identification number of such motor vehicle or motor vehicle part, in order to misrepresent the identity of such motor vehicle or motor vehicle part or to prevent the identification of such motor vehicle or motor vehicle part; or

      (B) Sell or dispose of such motor vehicle or motor vehicle part.

   (2) "Motor vehicle" includes every device in, upon, or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a highway which is self-propelled or which may be connected to and towed by a self-propelled device and also includes any and all other land based devices which are self-propelled but which are not designed for use upon a highway, including, but not limited to, farm machinery and construction equipment.

   (3) "Person" includes a natural person, company, corporation, unincorporated association, partnership, professional corporation, and any other legal entity.

   (4) "Unidentifiable" means that the uniqueness of a motor vehicle or motor vehicle part cannot be established by either expert law enforcement investigative personnel specially trained and experienced in motor vehicle theft investigative procedures and motor vehicle identification examination techniques or by expert employees of not for profit motor vehicle theft prevention agencies specially trained and experienced in motor vehicle theft investigation procedures and motor vehicle identification examination techniques.

   (5) "Vehicle identification number" includes, but is not limited to, a number or numbers, a letter or letters, a character or characters, a datum or data, a derivative or derivatives, or a combination or combinations thereof, used by the manufacturer or the Department of Revenue for the purpose of uniquely identifying a motor vehicle or motor vehicle part.

Code 1981, § 16-8-82, enacted by Ga. L. 1991, p. 1805, § 1; Ga. L. 2002, p. 415, § 16; Ga. L. 2003, p. 140, § 16; Ga. L. 2005, p. 334, § 6-1/HB 501.