Texas license plates display laws

Many specialty license plates are available as souvenir plates. Souvenir plates are not street legal and are not insignias of vehicle registration. Organizations may buy them in bulk minimum of 25 plates per order for resale as a fundraiser, or use them as promotional items, prizes or trophies.

Home Motorists. License Plates. General-Issue License Plates As part of your vehicle registration you are issued a set of general-issue license plates. Previous General-Issue Plate Designs Lone Star Texas This was the first digital, general-issue license plate, and also the first to use full color and full-plate graphics. Panoramic Texas This license plate was introduced in , and About Specialty License Plates. Order Specialty License Plates Personalization You may check the availability of a personalized phrase, letter or number combination through myplates.

ISA orders cannot be processed online. The original Form VTR or acceptable documentation must be submitted when the new plates are picked up at the county tax office. Replacement License Plates. License Plate Transfers. You may transfer your plates: Between vehicles you own. To a vehicle purchased from a dealer. Remove the plates and request that the dealer transfer the plates to the new vehicle. To a vehicle purchased from a private party. Register the plates with your local county tax assessor-collector office when you title the vehicle in your name.

To a leased vehicle. The department shall issue specialty license plates for persons who serve or have served in the United States armed services and have earned Special Forces qualifications. The department shall issue, without charge, not more than three sets of specialty license plates under this subchapter.

Without reference to the amendment of this subsection, this section was repealed by Acts , 82nd Leg. The license plates must include the words "State Judge" or "U. Judge," as appropriate. Without reference to the amendment of this subdivision, this section was repealed by Acts , 82nd Leg. E a presiding judge of an administrative judicial district; or. Without reference to the amendment of this section, this section was repealed by Acts , 82nd Leg.

The department shall issue specialty license plates for Texas constables that bear the words "Texas Constable. The license plates must include the words "Foreign Organization" and shall remain valid for seven years. The sponsor of the plate may nominate a state agency for receipt of funds under Section Added by Acts , 81st Leg.

The department shall issue specialty license plates for a person who holds an amateur radio station license issued by the Federal Communications Commission and who operates receiving and transmitting mobile amateur radio equipment. The license plates shall include the person's amateur call letters as assigned by the Federal Communications Commission.

A person may register more than one vehicle equipped with mobile amateur radio equipment under this section, and the department shall issue license plates that include the same amateur call letters for each vehicle. Transferred and redesignated from Transportation Code, Section The department shall issue specialty license plates for persons who are recipients of a Star of Texas Award under Chapter , Government Code.

The license plates must include the word or words "Classic," "Custom Vehicle," or "Street Rod," or a similar designation, as appropriate. The department shall create a safety inspection process for inspecting custom vehicles and street rods.

The department may approve an alternative registration insignia that is compatible with the vehicle's original markings. The department shall issue without charge specialty license plates for municipal buses, motor buses, and private buses. The license plates may be renewed without payment of a fee. License plates issued under this section must include the words "Forestry Vehicle.

The department shall:. The license plates must include the words "Tow Truck. A person may not be issued more than one set of the license plates at a time. Reenacted, transferred, redesignated and amended from Transportation Code, Section License plates issued under this section must include the words "Honorary Consul. The comptroller shall administer the trust fund and accounts and may allocate the corpus and earnings on each account only in accordance with the dedications of the revenue deposited to the trust fund accounts.

The department may design the license plates in consultation with the State Preservation Board. The department shall design the license plates in consultation with the Parks and Wildlife Department and any organization designated by it. Money in the account may be used only by the Parks and Wildlife Department to support the activities of a designated nonprofit organization whose primary purpose is the improvement or preservation of Big Bend National Park.

Money in the account may be used only to provide educational materials for public school libraries. The account is composed of:. The department shall issue specialty license plates including the words "United States Olympic Committee. The department shall design the license plates in consultation with the Texas Aerospace Commission. The department shall design the license plates in consultation with the Health and Human Services Commission. Money deposited to the credit of the volunteer advocate program account may be used only by the Health and Human Services Commission to fund a contract entered into by the commission under Section The department shall design the license plates in consultation with the professional sports team and may enter a trademark license with the professional sports team or its league to implement this section.

A license plate may be issued under this section only for a professional sports team that:. The funds shall be deposited to the credit of the venue project fund, if the public entity has created a venue project fund under Section If the public entity has not created a venue project fund, funds distributed to a public entity under this section must first be used to retire any public debt incurred by the public entity in the construction or acquisition of the facility in which the professional sports team plays its home games.

After that debt is retired, funds distributed to the public entity may be spent only for maintenance or improvement of the facility. The department shall design the license plates in consultation with the applicable college.

The department may issue a license plate under this section only for a college that certifies to the department that the requirements of Section The money may be used only for:. The money:. Money from the account may be used only to make grants under Section The department shall design the license plates in consultation with the Parks and Wildlife Department.

Money deposited in the Texas parks and wildlife conservation and capital account under this section is supplementary and is not income for the purposes of reducing general revenue appropriations to the Parks and Wildlife Department. The department shall design the license plates in consultation with the Texas Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

November 6, Money in the account may be used by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in making grants to benefit educational projects sponsored by the Girl Scout Councils of Texas.

The department shall design the license plates. The department shall design the license plates in consultation with the commissioner of agriculture. Money in the account may be used only by the Parks and Wildlife Department to support the activities of a designated nonprofit organization whose primary purpose is the conservation of waterfowl and wetland.

Money in the account may be used by the Texas Veterans Commission in making grants to benefit projects sponsored by the Air Force Association of Texas. The department shall design the license plates in consultation with an organization described in Subsection b.

Money in the account may be used by the Texas Forest Service in making grants to support the activities of a nonprofit organization located in Texas whose primary purpose is to sponsor projects involving urban and community:. The department shall design the plates in consultation with the Texas Bicycle Coalition Education Fund.

The department shall design the license plates in consultation with the Socorro Mission Restoration Effort. Money in the account may be used only by the Texas Historical Commission in making grants to be used for the purpose of the preservation and rehabilitation of the Socorro, San Elizario, and Ysleta Missions.

The department shall design the license plates in consultation with Texas Cotton Producers, Inc. Money in the account may be used only by the Texas Department of Economic Development or its successor agency in making grants to the Daughters of the Republic of Texas to be used only for the purpose of:. The department shall design the license plates in consultation with the Knights of Columbus. Money in the account may be used only by the Texas Education Agency to make grants to State Council Charities to carry out the purposes of that organization.

The department shall design the license plates in consultation with the Aviation and Space Foundation of Texas. Money in the account may be used only by the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services to fund programs and services supporting abused and neglected children under Section Money in the account may be used only by the Parks and Wildlife Department to support the activities of the Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network in the recovery, rehabilitation, and release of stranded marine mammals.

The Parks and Wildlife Department shall establish reporting and other mechanisms necessary to ensure that the money is spent for purposes for which it is dedicated. The department shall design the license plates in consultation with the Texas 4-H and Youth Development Program. May 27, The department shall design the license plates in consultation with Unity Unlimited Inc.

If Unity Unlimited Inc. Money in the account may be used only by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in making grants to support projects sponsored by Boy Scout councils in this state. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall distribute grants under this section geographically as nearly as possible in proportion to the number of license plates issued under this section in each region of the state.

Money in the account may be used only by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in making grants to benefit educational projects sponsored by Boy Scout councils in this state. Added by Acts , 79th Leg. The department shall design the license plates in consultation with an organization that seeks to raise awareness of childhood cancer in this state. Money deposited to that account may be used by the General Land Office only to provide grants to benefit organizations operating in this state that raise awareness of, conduct research on, or provide services for persons diagnosed with childhood cancer.

Money deposited to that account may be used only to fund pediatric cancer research. The department shall design the license plates in consultation with the Texas Lions League for Crippled Children. Money in the account may be used only by the Parks and Wildlife Department to support the activities of a designated nonprofit organization that is accredited by the American Camping Association and is licensed by the Texas Department of Health and whose primary purpose is to provide, without charge, a camp for physically disabled, hearing or vision impaired, and diabetic children who reside in this state, regardless of race, religion, or national origin.

The Parks and Wildlife Department shall establish reporting and other mechanisms necessary to ensure that the money is spent only for the purposes for which it is dedicated.

The department shall design the license plates in consultation with the coordinating board. The license plates shall include the words "Still Serving America" and the emblem of the American Legion.

The department shall design the license plates in consultation with the American Legion. Money in the account may be used only by the Texas Veterans Commission in making grants to the American Legion Endowment Fund for scholarships and youth programs sponsored by the American Legion, Department of Texas. The department shall design the license plates in consultation with a representative from a Big Brothers Big Sisters of America organization operating in this state and the attorney general.

Money deposited to the credit of the Specialty License Plates General Account under this section may be used only by the attorney general to provide grants to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of America organizations operating in this state.

The department shall design the license plates in consultation with the Texas Education Agency. Money deposited to that account may be used only by the General Land Office as follows:. TTI found that front license plates were 1 easier to read in the daylight; 2 helpful in toll billing; 3 aided law enforcement in tracking down violators of the transportation code by way of automatic plate readers; and 4 allowed Homeland Security and U.

Customs and Border Protection to process and screen vehicles more effectively and quickly. Thus, the front license plate requirement in Texas. Aware of the inadvertent loophole created by omission of the penalty provision, lawmakers amended the transportation code in September of to mandate punishment for Texas motorists who do not display both the front and the rear license plates.

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