The Board of Directors of the International Registration Plan has ordered all member jurisdictions to “immediately suspend distribution of fees payable. . .to Oklahoma."

In a memo issued Monday, IRP Inc. Board Chairman Keith Kiser of North Dakota said the sanctions will remain in place until removed by further board action. He also stressed that only fees collected on or after April 1, 2002, would be withheld.
The board voted last November to impose sanctions unless Oklahoma came into compliance with the Plan’s established place of business requirements. The Oklahoma Tax Commission did come up with rules that prohibit motor carriers (but not owner-operators) from using third party agents to establish residency, but a state district court issued a temporary restraining order in response to a lawsuit brought by ProCert Inc. At that time, the IRP Board voted to extend the compliance deadline from Feb. 15 to April 1.
Pro-Cert’s attorney, H.N. Cunningham III, called the IRP action a “distant thunder,” noting that the court will decide sometime this month if it will issue a permanent restraining order. “I guess the IRP Inc., which is not the Plan but the administrator of the Plan, is trying to heat the thing up by imposing a deadline of its own,” he said. “But to me it’s an act of contempt of the court.”