License plates for honorary consuls

(a) Honorary consuls, upon application and compliance with the state motor vehicle laws relative to the registration and licensing of motor vehicles, payment of the regular license fees for license plates as provided by law, payment of a manufacturing fee of $25.00, and payment of 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 in duplicate for use on their official or private passenger automobiles. Such license plates shall be fastened to both the front and the rear of the vehicle. No more than two sets of honorary consular corps license plates shall be issued to any country. Such plates shall not be used by any person after his or her appointment has ended. (b) License plates issued under this Code section shall not be transferred so as to be used by any person other than the person to whom such plate was originally issued but shall be transferred to another vehicle as provided in Code Section 40-2-80. (c) The commissioner is authorized to establish procedures and promulgate rules and regulations for carrying out this Code section. History. Ga. L. 1976, p. 215, §§ 2-4; Code 1981, § 40-2-63; Ga. L. 1985, p. 261, § 3; Code 1981, § 40-2-64, as redesignated by Ga. L. 1990, p. 2048, § 2; Ga. L. 1998, p. 1179, § 13. 240 40-2-64.1 REGISTRATION/LICENSING OF MOTOR VEH. 40-2-65 40-2-64.1. License plates for official representatives of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representatives Office. (a) In accordance with the Taiwan Relations Act as provided for in Code Section 50-1-2, the commissioner shall design a distinctive Foreign Organization license plate. (b) Upon application and compliance with the state motor vehicle laws relating to the registration and licensing of motor vehicles and the payment of any registration fees, including the $25.00 manufacturing fee and the $35.00 special license plate fee or the $35.00 special license plate renewal fee, as applicable, official representatives of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representatives Office in the United States who maintain a presence in Georgia shall be issued Foreign Organization license plates as prescribed in Code Section 40-2-31 in duplicate. Such license plates shall be fastened to both the front and the rear of the vehicle. (c) Official representatives of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representatives Office in Atlanta accredited by the Georgia Department of Economic Development shall be entitled to Foreign Organization license plates for the representative’s privately owned motor vehicle. Such license plates shall not be used by any representative after his or her presence in Georgia has terminated. (d) License plates issued under this Code section shall not be transferred so as to be used by any person other than the person to whom such plates were originally issued but shall be transferred to another vehicle as provided in Code Section 40-2-80. (e) The commissioner is authorized to establish procedures and promulgate rules and regulations for implementing this Code section. History. Code 1981, § 40-2-64.1, enacted by Ga. L. 2005, p. 334, § 14-4/HB 501; Ga. L. 2010, p. 9, § 1-73/HB 1055. 40-2-65. License plates for active and retired reservists and certain members of the National Guard. (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 241 40-2-65 MOTOR VEHICLES & TRAFFIC 40-2-65 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 40-2-151 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, Space 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 40-2-151 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 242 40-2-65 REGISTRATION/LICENSING OF MOTOR VEH. 40-2-65 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 to the tax commissioner of the county in which the retired reserve member applies for the special license plate under this Code section. (3) The license plates issued pursuant to paragraph (2) of this subsection shall contain the word “RETIRED” in the location of and in lieu of the name of the county of issuance. (b)(1) Upon transfer of the ownership of a private passenger vehicle upon which there is a license plate distinctively identifying the owner thereof as a member of one of the components of the United States military reserve, whether the owner is an active or retired reservist, and acquisition by the reservist of another motor vehicle, the license plate issued pursuant to this Code section shall be placed on such newly acquired motor vehicle, and such reservist shall notify the commissioner of such transfer of the license plate to such newly acquired motor vehicle in such manner as the commissioner may prescribe by regulation. No transfer or cancellation fee shall be charged for the transfer of free reservist license plates. There shall be a transfer and cancellation fee of $5.00 for the transfer of any other reservist license plate. (2) Should an active reservist who has been issued a license plate or license plates be discharged or otherwise separated, except by retirement, from his or her reserve unit, the immediate commanding officer of such active reservist shall obtain the discharged member’s license plate or license plates at the time of the discharge and shall forward same to the commissioner along with a certificate to the effect that such person has been discharged, and thereupon the commissioner shall issue a regular license plate, at no additional charge, to such former reservist to replace the reservist plate or plates. Should an active reservist enlist or be commissioned after purchasing a regular license plate for his or her current registration period, the commanding officer of the unit in which such person enlists or is commissioned shall likewise secure the regular license plate of such person and return same to the commissioner, along with a certificate to the effect that such person has been enlisted or commissioned in a troop program unit of the reserve components, and the effective date thereof, whereupon the commissioner shall issue a 243 40-2-65 MOTOR VEHICLES & TRAFFIC 40-2-65 reservist license plate, at no extra charge, to such new member to replace the returned regular plate. Upon such request for a change in plate for a discharged reservist or a newly enlisted reservist, the commanding officer shall furnish such member with a copy of the commanding officer’s letter to the commissioner requesting the appropriate change in plate, which copy of such letter may be used by such member pending the issuance of the new plate. (c) The commissioner shall promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary to enforce compliance with all state license laws relating to the use and operation of private passenger cars, motorcycles and trucks before issuing these plates in lieu of the regular Georgia license plates, and all applications for such plates shall be made to the commissioner. The commissioner is specifically authorized to promulgate all rules and regulations necessary to ensure compliance in instances where such vehicles have been transferred or sold. Except as provided in subsection (b) of this Code section, such plates shall be nontransferable. (d) The spouse of a member of the active reserve of the United States military who is killed while serving in a combat arena shall continue to be eligible to be issued a distinctive license plate as provided in this Code section so long as such spouse does not remarry. History. Ga. L. 1978, p. 2205, §§ 1-3; Code 1981, § 40-2-64; Ga. L. 1989, p. 14, § 40; Code 1981, § 40-2-65, as redesignated by Ga. L. 1990, p. 2048, § 2; Ga. L. 1992, p. 779, § 6; Ga. L. 1992, p. 2785, § 1; Ga. L. 1992, p. 3311, § 1; Ga. L. 1995, p. 809, § 9; Ga. L. 1996, p. 1118, § 6; Ga. L. 1997, p. 419, § 16; Ga. L. 2000, p. 830, § 1; Ga. L. 2002, p. 838, § 2; Ga. L. 2002, p. 1074, § 5; Ga. L. 2006, p. 803, § 2/SB 538; Ga. L. 2023, p. 61, § 2/HB 175, effective January 1, 2024; Ga. L. 2024, p. 81, § 12/HB 299, effective July 1, 2024. Amendments. The 2023 amendment, effective January 1, 2024, added paragraph (a)(3). The 2024 amendment, effective July 1, 2024, inserted “Space Force,” near the end of the sixth sentence in paragraph (a)(1).