The Florida Senate

320.06  Registration certificates, license plates, and validation stickers generally.--

(1)(a)  Upon the receipt of an initial application for registration and payment of the appropriate license tax and other fees required by law, the department shall assign to the motor vehicle a registration license number consisting of letters and numerals or numerals and issue to the owner or lessee a certificate of registration and one registration license plate, unless two plates are required for display by s. 320.0706, for each vehicle so registered.

(b)  Registration license plates bearing a graphic symbol and the alphanumeric system of identification shall be issued for a 5-year period. At the end of said 5-year period, upon renewal, the plate shall be replaced. The fee for such replacement shall be $10, $2 of which shall be paid each year before the plate is replaced, to be credited towards the next $10 replacement fee. The fees shall be deposited into the Highway Safety Operating Trust Fund. A credit or refund shall not be given for any prior years' payments of such prorated replacement fee when the plate is replaced or surrendered before the end of the 5-year period. With each license plate, there shall be issued a validation sticker showing the owner's birth month or the appropriate renewal period if the owner is not a natural person. This validation sticker shall be placed on the upper left corner of the license plate and shall be issued one time during the life of the license plate, or upon request when it has been damaged or destroyed. There shall also be issued with each license plate a serially numbered validation sticker showing the year of expiration, which sticker shall be placed on the upper right corner of the license plate. Such license plate and validation stickers shall be issued based on the applicant's appropriate renewal period. The registration period shall be a period of 12 months, and all expirations shall occur based on the applicant's appropriate registration period. A vehicle with an apportioned registration shall be issued an annual license plate and a cab card that denote the declared gross vehicle weight for each apportioned jurisdiction in which the vehicle is authorized to operate.

(c)  Registration license plates equipped with validation stickers shall be valid for not more than 12 months and shall expire at midnight on the last day of the registration period. For each registration period after the one in which the metal registration license plate is issued, and until the license plate is required to be replaced, a validation sticker showing the year of expiration shall be issued upon payment of the proper license tax amount and fees and shall be valid for not more than 12 months. When license plates equipped with validation stickers are issued in any month other than the owner's birth month or the designated registration period for any other motor vehicle, the effective date shall reflect the birth month or month and the year of renewal. However, when a license plate or validation sticker is issued for a period of less than 12 months, the applicant shall pay the appropriate amount of license tax and the applicable fee under the provisions of s. 320.14 in addition to all other fees. Validation stickers issued for vehicles taxed under the provisions of s. 320.08(6)(a), for any company which owns 250 vehicles or more, or for semitrailers taxed under the provisions of s. 320.08(5)(a), for any company which owns 50 vehicles or more, may be placed on any vehicle in the fleet so long as the vehicle receiving the validation sticker has the same owner's name and address as the vehicle to which the validation sticker was originally assigned.

(2)  The department shall provide the several tax collectors and license plate agents with the necessary number of validation stickers.

(3)(a)  Registration license plates shall be of metal specially treated with a retroreflective material, as specified by the department. The registration license plate is designed to increase nighttime visibility and legibility and shall be at least 6 inches wide and not less than 12 inches in length, unless a plate with reduced dimensions is deemed necessary by the department to accommodate motorcycles, mopeds, or similar smaller vehicles. Validation stickers shall be treated with a retroreflective material, shall be of such size as specified by the department, and shall adhere to the license plate. The registration license plate shall be imprinted with a combination of bold letters and numerals or numerals, not to exceed seven digits, to identify the registration license plate number. The license plate shall also be imprinted with the word "Florida" at the top and the name of the county in which it is sold at the bottom, except that apportioned license plates shall have the word "Apportioned" at the bottom and license plates issued for vehicles taxed under s. 320.08(3)(d), (4)(m) or (n), (5)(b) or (c), or (14) shall have the word "Restricted" at the bottom. License plates issued for vehicles taxed under s. 320.08(12) must be imprinted with the word "Florida" at the top and the word "Dealer" at the bottom. Manufacturer license plates issued for vehicles taxed under s. 320.08(12) must be imprinted with the word "Florida" at the top and the word "Manufacturer" at the bottom. License plates issued for vehicles taxed under s. 320.08(5)(d) or (e) must be imprinted with the word "Wrecker" at the bottom. Any county may, upon majority vote of the county commission, elect to have the county name removed from the license plates sold in that county. The words "Sunshine State" shall be printed in lieu thereof. In those counties where the county commission has not removed the county name from the license plate, the tax collector may, in addition to issuing license plates with the county name printed on the license plate, also issue license plates with the words "Sunshine State" printed on the license plate subject to the approval of the department and a legislative appropriation for the additional license plates. A license plate issued for a vehicle taxed under s. 320.08(6) may not be assigned a registration license number, or be issued with any other distinctive character or designation, that distinguishes the motor vehicle as a for-hire motor vehicle.

(b)  An additional fee of 50 cents shall be collected on each motor vehicle registration or motor vehicle renewal registration issued in this state in order that all license plates and validation stickers be fully treated with retroreflective material.

(4)  The corporation organized under chapter 946 may manufacture license plates, validation stickers, and decals, as well as temporary tags, disabled hang tags, vessel decals, and fuel use decals, for the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles as provided in this chapter and chapter 327. The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles is not required to obtain competitive bids in order to contract with the corporation.

History.--ss. 4, 13, ch. 7275, 1917; RGS 1009, 1018; ss. 4, 10, ch. 8410, 1921; s. 5, ch. 10182, 1925; CGL 1283, 1292; s. 1, ch. 13701, 1929; s. 1, ch. 20408, 1941; s. 1, ch. 26481, 1951; ss. 1, 2, ch. 63-490; s. 6, ch. 65-190; ss. 24, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 2, ch. 69-178; ss. 2, 9, ch. 72-79; s. 92, ch. 73-333; s. 2, ch. 74-338; s. 7, ch. 75-66; s. 4, ch. 77-120; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 6, ch. 77-357; s. 1, ch. 77-395; s. 1, ch. 77-415; s. 1, ch. 78-48; s. 2, ch. 78-186; s. 4, ch. 78-207; s. 2, ch. 78-225; s. 9, ch. 79-3; s. 65, ch. 79-164; s. 13, ch. 81-151; s. 4, ch. 81-212; s. 25, ch. 83-216; s. 11, ch. 83-318; s. 10, ch. 84-260; s. 7, ch. 84-280; s. 1, ch. 85-176; s. 47, ch. 85-180; s. 23, ch. 87-198; s. 22, ch. 88-557; s. 2, ch. 89-364; s. 50, ch. 90-132; s. 1, ch. 90-194; s. 1, ch. 91-82; s. 63, ch. 93-120; s. 1, ch. 93-398; s. 1, ch. 94-163; s. 47, ch. 94-306; s. 32, ch. 96-413; s. 4, ch. 97-58; s. 20, ch. 97-300; ss. 21, 263, ch. 99-248; s. 11, ch. 99-260.