2020 Georgia Code
Title 40 - Motor Vehicles and Traffic
Chapter 2 - Registration and Licensing of Motor Vehicles
Article 2 - Registration and Licensing Generally
§ 40-2-41. Display of License Plates

Unless otherwise permitted under this chapter, every vehicle required to be registered under this chapter, which is in use upon the highways, shall at all times display the license plate issued to the owner for such vehicle, and the plate shall be fastened to the rear of the vehicle in a position so as not to swing and shall be at all times plainly visible. No person shall display on the rear of a motor vehicle any temporary or permanent plate or tag not issued by the State of Georgia which is intended to resemble a license plate which is issued by the State of Georgia. The commissioner is authorized to adopt rules and regulations so as to permit the display of a license plate on the front of certain vehicles. It shall be the duty of the operator of any vehicle to keep the license plate legible at all times. No license plate shall be covered with any material unless the material is colorless and transparent. No apparatus that obstructs or hinders the clear display and legibility of a license plate shall be attached to the rear of any motor vehicle required to be registered in the state. Any person who violates any provision of this Code section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

(Ga. L. 1927, p. 226, § 8; Code 1933, § 68-215; Ga. L. 1977, p. 596, § 1; Code 1981, §40-2-38; Ga. L. 1982, p. 1584, §§ 3, 6; Code 1981, §40-2-41, as redesignated by Ga. L. 1990, p. 2048, § 2; Ga. L. 1991, p. 779, § 1; Ga. L. 1992, p. 6, § 40; Ga. L. 1997, p. 419, § 10; Ga. L. 2000, p. 523, § 3.)

- For article commenting on the 1997 amendment of this Code section, see 14 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 215 (1997).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Editor's notes.

- In light of the similarity of the statutory provisions, decisions under former Code 1910, § 1770(28) are included in the annotations for this Code section.

- Former Code 1910, § 1770 was not open to attack on the ground that the statute was not one of the subjects included in the Governor's proclamation convening the legislature in extraordinary session. Lee v. State, 163 Ga. 239, 135 S.E. 912 (1926) (decided under former Code 1910, § 1770 (28)).

- There was clear evidence of a violation of O.C.G.A. § 40-2-41 since the defendant's license plate was heavily obscured by a smoky covering. Knight v. State, 234 Ga. App. 359, 506 S.E.2d 245 (1998).

Trial court erred in granting the suppression motions filed by both the first and second defendant, who occupied the vehicle stopped, as a violation of O.C.G.A. § 40-2-41 provided a sufficient reason for the traffic stop; moreover, the trial court erred in ruling that some portions of O.C.G.A. § 40-2-41 did not apply to the out-of-state license plate on the subject vehicle and by ruling that even though the word "Carolina" on the license plate was not legible, and hence, there was no violation of the statute because the police officer testified about an inability to recognize the tag as a South Carolina license plate. State v. Davis, 283 Ga. App. 200, 641 S.E.2d 205 (2007).

- Although the defendant's car had license plates from South Carolina, a state trooper was still justified in making a stop of the defendant's car because the visibility and display portions of O.C.G.A. § 40-2-41 were applicable to all vehicles, and the defendant's license plate had a bracket around the plate that blocked the view of the registration expiration date. Wilson v. State, 306 Ga. App. 286, 702 S.E.2d 2 (2010).

Obstruction of one number on the defendant's license plate by the ball of a trailer hitch violated O.C.G.A. § 40-2-41 as the officer testified that the officer was unable to read the entire license plate and the video from the officer's car showed the hitch concealing at least one number. Worlds v. State, 328 Ga. App. 827, 762 S.E.2d 829 (2014).

Cited in Cumbie v. State, 38 Ga. App. 744, 145 S.E. 667 (1928); Undercofler v. White, 113 Ga. App. 853, 149 S.E.2d 845 (1966); State v. Tate, 208 Ga. App. 117, 430 S.E.2d 9 (1993); State v. Aguirre, 229 Ga. App. 736, 494 S.E.2d 576 (1997); Gonzales v. State, 255 Ga. App. 149, 564 S.E.2d 552 (2002); State v. Long, 301 Ga. App. 839, 689 S.E.2d 369 (2010); Hernandez-Lopez v. State, 319 Ga. App. 662, 738 S.E.2d 116 (2013).

For an update of crimes and offenses for which the Georgia Crime Information Center is authorized to collect and file identifying data, see 1991 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 91-35.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

C.J.S.

- 60 C.J.S., Motor Vehicles, §§ 283, 284, 285.

- Validity and construction of statute making it a criminal offense to "tamper" with motor vehicle or contents, or to obscure registration plates, 57 A.L.R.3d 606.