2021 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 66 - Motor Vehicles
Article 3 - Registration Laws; Security Interests; Anti-Theft Provisions; Bicycles; Equipment; Unsafe Vehicles; Off-Highway Motor Vehicles; Other Vehicles
Part 5 - SPECIAL REGISTRATION PLATES
Section 66-3-424.5 - Special registration plates; New Mexico members of the fraternal order of police.

A. The department shall issue a standardized special registration plate with a logo specified in Section 66-3-424 NMSA 1978 indicating that the recipient is a New Mexico member of the fraternal order of police.

B. A person shall not falsely represent that the person is a New Mexico member of the fraternal order of police if the person is, in fact, not a New Mexico member of the fraternal order of police. The secretary shall determine what constitutes satisfactory proof.

C. A person who violates the provisions of Subsection B of this section is guilty of a penalty assessment misdemeanor.

D. A fee of twenty-five dollars ($25.00), which is in addition to the regular motor vehicle registration fee, shall be collected by the department for the original issuance of the special registration plate for a New Mexico member of the fraternal order of police.

E. Ten dollars ($10.00) of the fee collected pursuant to Subsection D of this section shall be retained by the department and is appropriated to the department to defray the cost of making and issuing a special registration plate for a New Mexico member of the fraternal order of police.

F. The amount of the fee collected pursuant to this section less any amount distributed pursuant to Subsection E of this section shall be deposited in the motor vehicle suspense fund for distribution in accordance with Section 66-6-23 NMSA 1978.

G. The secretary shall approve the final logo design for the special registration plates for New Mexico members of the fraternal order of police.

H. When a person holding a special plate ceases to be a New Mexico member of the fraternal order of police, the person shall immediately remove the plate from the vehicle and return it to the secretary, at which time it shall be exchanged for a regular registration plate. A person who fails to remove and return a special plate as required by the provisions of this subsection is guilty of a penalty assessment misdemeanor.

History: 1978 Comp., § 66-3-424.1, enacted by Laws 2003, ch. 177, § 2; 2018, ch. 74, § 20.

Compiler's notes. — This section was originally enacted as 66-3-424.1 NMSA 1978, but was renumbered as 66-3-424.5 NMSA 1978 by the compiler to accommodate a similarly numbered section enacted by an earlier 2003 act.

The 2018 amendment, effective July 1, 2018, reduced the penalty for falsely representing oneself as a New Mexico member of the fraternal order of police to a penalty assessment misdemeanor, made it unlawful to fail to remove and return a special registration plate as required in this section, provided a penalty, and made technical changes; in Subsection C, after "guilty of a", deleted "petty" and added "penalty assessment" and after "misdemeanor", deleted "and shall be sentenced pursuant to Section 31-19-1 NMSA 1978"; and in Subsection H, added "A person who fails to remove and return a special plate as required by the provisions of this subsection is guilty of a penalty assessment misdemeanor.".