2020 Georgia Code
Title 40 - Motor Vehicles and Traffic
Chapter 2 - Registration and Licensing of Motor Vehicles
Article 3 - Prestige License Plates and Special Plates for Certain Persons and Vehicles
§ 40-2-73. Special License Plates for Former Prisoners of War

1. As used in this Code section, the term "prisoners of war" means those veterans of the armed forces of the United States who were discharged under honorable conditions and who were captured and held prisoner by forces hostile to the United States while serving in the armed forces of the United States in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, or the Vietnam War.
2. Owners of motor vehicles who are veterans of the armed forces of the United States, who have been prisoners of war, who were discharged under honorable conditions, and who are residents of this state, upon complying with the motor vehicle laws relating to registration and licensing of motor vehicles, shall be issued one distinctive personalized license plate free of charge and, upon the payment of the appropriate taxes and registration fees, shall be issued additional distinctive personalized license plates. Such license plates shall be transferred to another vehicle acquired by such person individually or jointly with his or her spouse as provided in Code Section 40-2-80. Such license plates shall be fastened to the rear of the vehicles.
3. The spouse of a deceased former prisoner of war shall continue to be eligible to be issued a distinctive personalized license plate as provided in this Code section so long as such person does not remarry.
4. The commissioner is authorized and directed to design the license plate, establish procedures, and promulgate rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of this Code section.
5. The commissioner may begin issuing distinctive personalized license plates to such prisoners of war for the year 1982 and thereafter.

(Ga. L. 1981, p. 516, §§ 1-5; Code 1981, §40-2-71.1; Ga. L. 1984, p. 423, § 1; Ga. L. 1985, p. 1278, § 2; Ga. L. 1986, p. 626, § 1; Code 1981, §40-2-73, as redesignated by Ga. L. 1990, p. 2048, § 2; Ga. L. 1996, p. 1118, § 12; Ga. L. 1997, p. 419, § 22; Ga. L. 1998, p. 1179, § 17.)

- Veterans', honorary, and distinctive drivers' licenses, § 40-5-36.

- Ga. L. 1996, p. 1118, § 17, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "Any local Act enacted pursuant to Code Section 40-2-21 which is in conflict with the provisions of this Act shall stand repealed on the effective date of this Act; provided, however, that any local Act enacted in 1996 pursuant to the provisions of Code Section 40-2-21 as enacted by Act. No. 385, Ga. L. 1995, which local Act provides for a four-month staggered registration period for a county, shall not be repealed by the provisions of this Act, but the registration period for such county shall be as provided by subparagraph (a)(1)(B) of Code Section 40-2-21 as enacted by this Act and not as provided in such local Act."

Ga. L. 1996, p. 1118, § 18, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "Those parts of Act No. 385, Ga. L. 1995, an Act amending Chapter 2 of Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to registration and licensing of motor vehicles, and amending Article 10 of Chapter 5 of Title 48 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to ad valorem taxation of motor vehicles and mobile homes, approved April 19, 1995, in conflict with this Act are repealed."

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

RESEARCH REFERENCES

C.J.S.

- 60 C.J.S., Motor Vehicles, §§ 188, 284, 285.