EMS chief license plates

(625 ILCS 5/3-699.26)     Sec. 3-699.26. EMS chief license plates.     (a) Beginning with the 2027 registration year, the Secretary, upon receipt of a request from a municipality that operates a fire department or a fire protection district, accompanied by an application and the appropriate fee, may issue, to an emergency medical services (EMS) chief of the municipality or fire protection district, special registration plates designated as EMS chief license plates. The special plates issued under this Section shall be affixed only to passenger vehicles of the first division or motor vehicles of the second division weighing not more than 8,000 pounds that are owned by an EMS chief, a municipality, or a fire protection district. Plates issued under this Section shall expire according to the multiyear procedure established by Section 3-414.1.     (b) The design and color of the special plates shall be wholly within the discretion of the Secretary. The plates are not required to designate "Land of Lincoln" as prescribed in subsection (b) of Section 3-412. The Secretary may prescribe rules governing the requirements and approval of the special plates. The fee for this plate for a vehicle owned by an EMS chief shall be the same as the fee prescribed for first division vehicles under Section 3-806. Permanent license plates for EMS vehicles owned by a municipality or fire protection district shall be issued at the fee prescribed in subsection (b) of Section 3-808.1.     (c) With the exception of permanently issued plates, upon the resignation, termination, or reassignment to a rank or position other than EMS chief, a person issued plates under this Section shall immediately surrender the license plate to the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State shall have the ability to recover license plates issued under this Section.     (d) Plates issued to a vehicle owned by an EMS chief under this Section shall be exempt from the requirements of subsection (a) of Section 3-600. (Source: P.A. 104-213, eff. 1-1-26; 104-852, eff. 8-21-26.)