06 LC 34
0633S/AP
House
Bill 363 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE)
By:
Representatives Murphy of the
23rd,
Rice of the
51st,
and Powell of the
29th
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Article 2 of Chapter 2 of Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, relating to registration and licensing of motor vehicles generally,
so as to change the requirements regarding replating of private and governmental
motor vehicles; to increase the license fee on governmental vehicles; to provide
for disposition of the license fee on governmental vehicles; to remove the
provisions regarding five-year license plates on governmental vehicles; to
change the requirements as to destruction of tags from governmental vehicles; to
provide for related matters; to provide an effective date; to repeal conflicting
laws; and for other purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Article
2 of Chapter 2 of Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to registration and licensing of motor vehicles generally, is amended by
striking subsections (b), (b.1), and (c) of Code Section 40-2-31, relating to
design and replacement of license plates on private vehicles, and inserting in
their place the following:
"(b)
Such license plates shall be of metal at least six inches wide and not less than
12 inches in
length, except
motorcycle license plates which shall be at least four inches wide and not less
than seven inches in length, and shall
show in bold characters the
month and
year of
registration
expiration,
the serial number, and either the full name or the abbreviation of the name of
the state, shall designate the county from which the license plate was issued,
and shall show such other distinctive markings as in the judgment of the
commissioner may be deemed advisable, so as to indicate the class of weight of
the vehicle for which the license plate was issued; and any license plate for a
low-speed vehicle shall designate the vehicle as such. Such plates may also
bear such figures, characters, letters, or combinations thereof as in the
judgment of the commissioner will to the best advantage advertise, popularize,
and otherwise promote Georgia as the 'Peach State.' The metal shall be of such
strength and quality that the plate shall provide a minimum service period of
at
least five years.
Every five
years a new metal license plate shall be provided by the commissioner for
issuance. Metal license plates issued on or after January 1, 1997, shall be
used for a period of five years
The
commissioner shall adopt rules and regulations, pursuant to the provisions of
Chapter 13 of Title 50, the 'Georgia Administrative Procedure Act,' for the
design and issuance of new metal license plates and to implement the other
provisions of this Code section.
(b.1)
Any valid license plate or revalidation decal assigned to a vehicle under former
provisions of this Code section prior to May 1, 1997, shall be deemed issued to
the current registrant of such vehicle on May 1, 1997.
(c)
The face of the license plate to be displayed shall be treated completely with a
retroreflective material which will increase the nighttime visibility and
legibility of the plate. The
Office of
Highway Safety
department
shall prepare the specifications which such retroreflective material shall
meet."
SECTION
2.
Said
article is further amended by striking Code Section 40-2-37, relating to
registration and licensing of governmental motor vehicles, and inserting in its
place the following:
"40-2-37.
(a)
All vehicles of the type required to be registered by Code Section 40-2-20 owned
by the State of Georgia or any municipality or other political subdivision of
this state and used exclusively for governmental functions, except those
employed in secret investigatory police functions to which regular Georgia
license plates are issued, shall be registered with the commissioner by the
fiscal officers or other proper officials of the respective departments and
agencies of the state, municipality, or political subdivision to which such
vehicles belong prior to operation and use thereof. Such registration shall be
made upon forms prescribed and prepared by the commissioner for such purpose and
shall contain a brief description of the vehicle to be registered; its name and
model; the name of the manufacturer; the
manufactureŕs
vehicle identification number; the department, agency, political subdivision, or
branch thereof to which such vehicle is to be registered; and such other
information as to use and identity as the commissioner may require. Upon the
filing of the properly executed application for registration, the commissioner,
upon being satisfied that such vehicle is bona fide owned by the state or a
municipality or political subdivision thereof and is to be used exclusively for
governmental functions, shall issue, upon payment by such applicant of a license
fee of
$1.00
$3.00,
a license plate which shall be displayed upon such vehicle in the same manner as
provided for private vehicles.
The license
fee, less the actual manufacturing cost of the plates which will be retained by
the department, shall be deposited in the general fund of the state
treasury. Such license plates shall be
replaced at such time as other license plates issued for private vehicles are
required to be replaced.
(b)
For all vehicles owned by the State of Georgia or any municipality or other
political subdivision of this state, except those vehicles employed in covert or
secret investigatory police functions to which regular Georgia license plates
are issued and those vehicles owned by the Department of Public Safety, the
commissioner shall provide for
five-year
registration and issuance of regular license plates for such vehicles. The
five-year
license plates issued pursuant to this subsection shall be identical in
appearance to regular license plates issued for private vehicles, except that
such
five-year
license plates shall not display any
year of
registration or registration expiration.
Such license plates may be transferred as provided for in subsection (d) of this
Code section. Such
five-year
license plates shall be issued at the
beginning
of a five-year license period as for private vehicles or shall be issued at
the time the vehicle is purchased by the
state, and
all such license plates shall expire at the same time as regular license
plates.
(c)
All license plates issued to government vehicles pursuant to this Code section
shall be marked in such a manner as to indicate the specific type of
governmental unit operating the vehicle. These markings shall be prominently
displayed and shall consist of one of the following appropriate legends:
'STATE,' 'CITY,' 'COUNTY,' 'AUTHORITY,' or 'BOARD.' In addition, each such
license plate shall bear a county identification strip indicating the county in
which the vehicle is based except that vehicles owned by the state shall not be
required to bear such county identification strip.
(d)
Any such license plates shall remain displayed and affixed upon such vehicle so
long as such vehicle continues to be owned by the state or such municipality or
political subdivision and used exclusively for governmental functions. Upon
cessation of either such ownership or use, the license plate shall be removed
from such vehicle and
either
destroyed by such agency or returned to
the commissioner
or the county
tag agent for destruction.
If a
license plate has been destroyed by the agency, certification of such
destruction shall be provided by the agency to the commissioner upon a form
prepared and furnished for such purpose by the
commissioner. In the event of a transfer
of a vehicle to a department or agency, or branch thereof, other than the
specific one to which such vehicle is registered, the commissioner shall be
notified in writing by the department or agency from which the same is being
transferred upon a form prepared and furnished for such purpose by the
commissioner.
Such
transfer shall be recorded on the registration lists maintained by the
commissioner. On due proof of loss of any
such license plate, or of mutilation due to accidental or natural causes,
another license plate may be issued upon application of the fiscal officer or
other proper official of the department, agency, or political subdivision to
which any such lost plate is registered.
(e)
No person, firm, or corporation owning or operating any such vehicle shall
display upon the motor vehicle any license plate provided for in this Code
section unless at the time of such ownership or operation such vehicle is
properly registered under this Code section and is owned by the state or a
municipality or political subdivision of this state and is being used
exclusively for governmental purposes. Any person who violates this subsection
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
(f)
This Code section shall apply to all vehicle license plates issued for
governmental vehicles on and after January 1,
1996
2007."
SECTION
3.
This
Act shall become effective on July 1, 2006.
SECTION
4.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.