HB432.html

Article 3 of Chapter 2 of Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to prestige license plates and special license plates for certain persons and vehicles, is amended by striking in its entirety subsection (a) of Code Section 40_2_60, relating to prestige license plates in general, and inserting in lieu thereof a new subsection (a) to read as follows:
"(a) Motor vehicle owners who are residents of Georgia, upon complying with the motor vehicle laws relating to registration and licensing of motor vehicles and, except as provided in subsection (c) of this Code section, upon the payment of a fee of $25.00 in addition to the regular motor vehicle registration fee, shall be issued special personalized prestige license plates by the commissioner. Special personalized license plates issued pursuant to this Code section shall be subject to an additional annual registration fee of $25.00 as a condition of obtaining an annual revalidation decal for such license plate which fee shall be collected by the county tag agent at the time of collection of other registration fees and shall be remitted to the state as provided in Code Section 40_2_34; provided, however, that the additional annual registration fee shall not apply to special license plates issued pursuant to Code Section 40_2_67, 40_2_85, 40_2_85.1, or 40_2_85.2 or to special license plates issued to persons in addition to free special license plates issued to such persons pursuant to Code Section 40_2_65, 40_2_66, 40_2_73, or 40_2_84."

Said article is further amended by striking in its entirety subsection (a) of Code Section 40_2_65, relating to special license plates for members of active reserve components of the United States, and inserting in lieu thereof a new subsection (a) to read as follows:
"(a)(1) Motor vehicle owners who are assigned or attached members of troop program units of any branch of the active reserve components of the United States inside or outside the State of Georgia shall be eligible to receive free motor vehicle license plates for private passenger cars, motorcycles, or trucks used for personal transportation. Motor vehicle owners who are members of any National Guard unit in a state adjoining the State of Georgia and for whom there is no National Guard unit in the county of their residence shall be eligible to receive free motor vehicle plates for private passenger cars, motorcycles, or trucks used for personal transportation to identify such vehicle owner as a reservist. Such license plates shall be issued in compliance with the state motor vehicle laws relating to registration and licensing of motor vehicles as prescribed in Article 2 of this chapter. No person shall be entitled to more than one free motor vehicle license plate for any calendar year; provided, however, that, upon payment of the regular license fee provided for in Code Section 48_10_2 and a manufacturing fee of $25.00, a reservist shall be entitled to receive one additional such license plate. For each additional license plate for which an initial $25.00 fee was required, there shall be an additional annual registration fee of $25.00, which fee shall be collected by the county tag agent at the time of collection of other registration fees and shall be remitted to the state as provided in Code Section 40_2_34. Additional words or symbols in addition to numbers and letters prescribed by law shall be inscribed upon such license plates so as to identify distinctively the owner as a member of one of the following branches of the United States military reserve: Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, or Coast Guard. The commanding officer of each active reserve component program unit or the adjutant general of the National Guard unit of each neighboring state shall, upon request of any reserve member or National Guard member of that unit, respectively, furnish to that member approved documentation supporting the member´s current membership in the respective reserve or National Guard unit. This documentation shall be presented annually to the tax commissioner of the county in which the reserve member or National Guard member applies for the special license plate under this Code section and upon subsequent reregistration for each succeeding year.

(2) Motor vehicle owners who are retired from any branch of the active reserve components whose active reservists are eligible to obtain free motor vehicle license plates under paragraph (1) of this subsection, upon application for license plates and upon compliance with the state motor vehicle laws relating to registration and licensing of motor vehicles as prescribed under Article 2 of this chapter, shall be issued, free of charge, a license plate as prescribed in that article for private passenger cars, motorcycles, or trucks used for personal transportation. Each such retired member shall be entitled to no more than one such free plate for any calendar year; provided, however, that, upon payment of the regular license fee provided for in Code Section 48_10_2 and a manufacturing fee of $25.00, a retired member shall be entitled to receive one additional such license plate. For each additional license plate for which an initial $25.00 fee was required, there shall be an additional annual registration fee of $25.00, which fee shall be collected by the county tag agent at the time of collection of other registration fees and shall be remitted to the state as provided in Code Section 40_2_34. The license plates issued pursuant to this paragraph shall, in addition to the numbers and letters prescribed by law, be identical to those issued pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection to members of the branch of the active reserve component from which that person retired. The commanding officer of each active reserve component program unit shall, upon request of any retired reserve member from that unit, furnish to that retired member approved documentation supporting the retired member´s current retired membership status from that reserve unit. This documentation shall be presented annually to the tax commissioner of the county in which the retired reserve member applies for the special license plate under this Code section and upon subsequent reregistration for each succeeding year."

Said article is further amended by striking in its entirety subsection (a) of Code Section 40_2_66, relating to special license plates for members of Georgia National Guard, and inserting in lieu thereof a new subsection (a) to read as follows:
"(a)(1) Motor vehicle owners who are members of the Georgia National Guard, upon application for license plates and upon compliance with the state motor vehicle laws relating to registration and licensing of motor vehicles as prescribed under Article 2 of this chapter, shall be issued, free of charge, a license plate, as prescribed in that article for private passenger cars, motorcycles or trucks used for personal transportation. Each member of the Georgia National Guard shall be entitled to no more than one such free plate at a time; provided, however, that, upon payment of the regular license fee provided for in Code Section 48_10_2 and a manufacturing fee of $25.00, a member shall be entitled to one additional such license plate. For each additional license plate for which an initial $25.00 fee was required, there shall be an additional annual registration fee of $25.00 which fee shall be collected by the county tag agent at the time of collection of other registration fees and shall be remitted to the state as provided in Code Section 40_2_34. Additional words or symbols, in addition to the numbers and letters prescribed by law, shall be inscribed upon such license plates so as to identify distinctively the owner as a member of the Georgia National Guard. The adjutant general of Georgia shall, upon request of any member of that National Guard unit, furnish to that member approved documentation supporting the member´s current membership in that National Guard unit. This documentation shall be presented annually to the tax commissioner of the county in which the National Guard member applies for the special license plate under this Code section and upon subsequent reregistration for each succeeding year.
(2) Motor vehicle owners who are retired members of the Georgia National Guard, upon application for license plates and upon compliance with the state motor vehicle laws relating to registration and licensing of motor vehicles as prescribed under Article 2 of this chapter, shall be issued, free of charge, a license plate as prescribed in that article for private passenger cars, motorcycle or trucks used for personal transportation. Each retired member of the Georgia National Guard shall be entitled to no more than one such free plate at a time; provided, however, that, upon payment of the regular license fee provided for in Code Section 48_10_2 and a manufacturing fee of $25.00, a member shall be entitled to one additional such license plate. For each additional license plate for which an initial $25.00 fee was required, there shall be an additional annual registration fee of $25.00 which fee shall be collected by the county tag agent at the time of collection of other registration fees and shall be remitted to the state as provided in Code Section 40_2_34. The license plates issued pursuant to this paragraph shall, in addition to the numbers and letters prescribed by law, be identical to those issued pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection. The adjutant general of Georgia shall, upon request of any member retired from that National Guard unit, furnish to that retired member approved documentation supporting the member´s retired membership status in that National Guard unit. This documentation shall be presented annually to the tax commissioner of the county in which the retired National Guard member applies for the special license plate under this Code section and upon subsequent reregistration for each succeeding year."

Said article is further amended by striking in its entirety subsection (a) of Code Section 40_2_67, relating to special license plates for state commanders of nationally chartered veterans´ organizations, and inserting in lieu thereof a new subsection (a) to read as follows:
"(a) The state commanders of nationally chartered veterans´ organizations, upon application and compliance with the state motor vehicle laws relative to the registration and licensing of motor vehicles, upon payment of the regular license fees for license plates as provided by law, and upon the payment of an additional initial fee of $25.00, and an additional annual registration fee of $25.00 which fee shall be collected by the county tag agent at the time of collection of other registration fees and shall be remitted as provided in Code Section 40_2_34, shall be issued license plates as prescribed in Code Section 40_2_31 for use on their official or private passenger automobiles, upon which, in lieu of the numbers prescribed by said Code section, shall be such figures or symbols indicative of the office held by such individuals as may be prescribed by the commissioner."