Title 31, Title 31 and Other Vehicles

The administrator of the division of motor vehicles, department of revenue is authorized to adopt and enforce those rules and regulations that may be necessary to carry out the provisions of chapters 1 — 27 of this title, and any other laws the enforcement and administration of w…

The administrator may adopt an official seal for the use of the division of motor vehicles.

The administrator shall maintain offices in those places in the state that he or she may deem necessary to properly carry out the powers and duties vested in the division of motor vehicles. The administrator shall provide direct, in-person services in the towns of Warren and West…

The administrator shall prescribe and provide suitable forms of applications, registration cards, operators’ and chauffeurs’ licenses, and all other forms requisite or deemed necessary to carry out the provisions of chapters 1 — 50 of this title and any other laws, the enforcemen…

Officers and employees of the division of motor vehicles designated by the administrator are, for the purpose of administering the motor vehicle laws, authorized to administer oaths and acknowledge signatures, and shall do so without fee.

The administrator and any officers of the division of motor vehicles that he or she may designate are authorized to prepare under the seal of the division of motor vehicles and deliver upon request a certified copy of the application for operator’s license or registration, or ope…

It is a civil violation for any person to operate, or for an owner knowingly to permit to be operated, upon any highway any vehicle of a type required to be registered under this chapter which is not registered and for which the appropriate fee has not been paid or not registered…

The division of motor vehicles, upon registering a vehicle, shall issue to the owner one fully reflective registration plate for each motorcycle, trailer, semi-trailer, in-transit vehicle, transporter, bailee vehicle, or a dealer vehicle and two (2) fully reflective registration …

The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is authorized and directed to issue a special registration plate for the private passenger motor vehicle of General Magistrate John J. O’Brien. This plate is to bear the identification “General Magistrate Emeritus” with an appro…

The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is hereby authorized to promulgate such rules and regulations as are necessary to provide and issue a registration plate for motor vehicles powered in whole or in part by a storage battery. These plates may be made available to …

(a) The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is empowered to make available special motor vehicle registration plates for the Boston Bruins Foundation. The plates shall be designed to reference The Boston Bruins Foundation. (b) The special plate shall be displayed upon…

The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is authorized and directed to issue a special registration plate for the motor vehicles of all present and former Olympic medal winners. This plate is to bear the identification “Olympic Medal Winner” along with an appropriate d…

(a) The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is empowered to make available special motor vehicle registration plates in honor of César E. Chávez. The plate shall be designed to reference the “César E. Chávez Committee of Rhode Island” and shall bear the seal of the st…

(a) The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is empowered to make available special motor vehicle registration plates for passenger vehicles based upon the various independent, nonprofit institutions of higher education (Brown University, Bryant University, Johnson & W…

(a) The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is empowered to make available special motor vehicle registration plates for the Dorian J. Murray Foundation. The plates shall be designed to reference the Dorian J. Murray Foundation. (b) The special plate shall be displaye…

The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is authorized and directed to issue a special registration plate for the private passenger motor vehicle of the former police chief of the town of North Providence, Ernest Spaziano. This plate is to bear the identification of “P…

(a) The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is empowered to make available special motor vehicle registration plates for The Rocky Point Foundation, Inc. (hereafter referred to as “Rocky Point Foundation”). The plates shall be designed to reference Rocky Point Foundat…

(a) The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is empowered to make available special motor vehicle registration plates for passenger vehicles based upon the various public, nonprofit institutions of higher education (Community College of Rhode Island, Rhode Island Colle…

(a) Every registration plate shall have displayed upon it the registration number assigned to the vehicle for which it is issued, the name of the state of Rhode Island along the top, which may be abbreviated “R.I.”, and the year number for which it is issued or the date of its ex…

(a) Every vehicle owned by the state of Rhode Island and any fire apparatus for which no fee is assessed shall be issued permanent registration and registration plates. The permanent registration and plates shall remain on the vehicles to which they are assigned without expiratio…

(a) The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is empowered to make available special motor vehicle registration plates for the Lupus Foundation New England. The plates shall be designed to reference the Lupus Foundation New England. (b) The special plate shall be displa…

(a) The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is authorized and directed to issue a special registration plate for the motor vehicles of all eligible members of a Gold Star Family. (b) For the purpose of this section, “Gold Star Family” means a person eligible to receiv…

(a) The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is empowered to make available special motor vehicle registration plates for the Gaspee Days Committee (hereafter referred to as “the Gaspee Days committee”). The plates shall be designed to reference the Gaspee Days committ…

(a) The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is empowered to make available special motor vehicle registration plates for passenger vehicles based upon the not-for-profit entity Operation Stand Down RI. (b) The special plate shall be displayed upon the same registratio…

(a) The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is empowered to make available special motor vehicle registration plates for the Rhode Island Agricultural Council. The plates shall be designed to reference Rhode Island agriculture and shall feature a barn and silo. (b) Th…

(a) The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is empowered to make available special motor vehicle registration plates for the Rhode Island Salt Water Anglers Foundation. The plates shall be designed to reference the Rhode Island Salt Water Anglers Foundation and shall …

(a) The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is empowered to make available a special motor vehicle registration plate for the Ocean State Animal Coalition. (b) The special plate shall be displayed upon the same registration number assigned to the vehicle for which it …

(a) As to any special motor vehicle registration plates that have been authorized pursuant to this chapter but that have not been issued or printed as of July 2, 2018, because the minimum number of prepaid orders for the plates has not been reached, the minimum number of plates t…

(a) The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is empowered to make available special motor vehicle registration plates for the not-for-profit Day of Portugal and Portuguese Heritage in RI, Inc. The plates shall be designed to reference Day of Portugal and Portuguese Her…

(a) The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is empowered to make available special motor vehicle registration plates for the not-for-profit corporation Narragansett Council, Boy Scouts of America. The plates shall be designed to reference Narragansett Council, Boy Sco…

Each registration plate and the required letters and numerals on it, except the year number for which issued, shall be of sufficient size to be plainly readable from a distance of one hundred feet (100′) during daylight. Violations of this section are subject to fines enumerated …

The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is authorized and directed to issue a special registration plate for the motor vehicle of the former police chief of the town of West Greenwich, Gary Malikowski. This plate is to bear the identification “Police Chief Emeritus,” …

The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is authorized and directed to issue a special registration plate for the motor vehicle of the former judge of the Rhode Island family court, Stephen J. Capineri. This plate is to bear the identification “Judge Emeritus,” along w…

(a) The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is empowered to make available special motor vehicle registration plates for the not-for-profit Friends of Pomham Rocks Lighthouse. The plates shall be designed to reference Friends of Pomham Rocks Lighthouse. (b) The specia…

(a) The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is empowered to make available special motor vehicle registration plates for the not-for-profit corporation Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (“RISPCA”). The plates shall be designed to reference …

(a) The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is empowered to make available special motor vehicle registration plates for the not-for-profit The Rose Island Lighthouse Foundation, Inc. The plates shall be designed to reference The Rose Island Lighthouse Foundation, Inc…

(a) The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is empowered to make available special motor vehicle registration plates for the Beavertail Lighthouse Museum Association. The plates shall be designed to reference the Beavertail Lighthouse Museum Association. (b) The speci…

(a) The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is empowered to make available special motor vehicle registration plates for the nonprofit Atlantic Shark Institute. The plates shall be designed to reference Atlantic Shark Institute. (b) The special plate shall be displaye…

(a) The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is empowered to make available special motor vehicle registration plates for the not-for-profit entity Dyslexia Advocacy Rhode Island. The plates shall be designed to reference the not-for-profit entity Dyslexia Advocacy Rho…

(a) The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is empowered to make available special motor vehicle registration plates for the not-for-profit entity, Newport Festivals Foundation, Inc. The plates shall be designed to reference the not-for-profit entity, Newport Festival…

(a) The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is empowered to make available special motor vehicle registration plates for the not-for-profit entity Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation. The plates shall be designed to reference the not-for-profit entity Commercial …

The division of motor vehicles shall issue for every passenger motor vehicle rented or leased without a driver, the same type of registration plates as the type of plates issued for private passenger vehicles. However, if the renter or lessee uses his or her own registration plat…

(a) The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is empowered to make available special motor vehicle registration plates for the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association. The plates shall be designed to reference the American Hellenic Educational Progressive …

(a) The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is empowered to make available special motor vehicle registration plates for the not-for-profit entity Blackstone Valley Tourism Council, Inc. The plates shall be designed to reference the not-for-profit entity Blackstone Va…

(a) Bailee plates. The division of motor vehicles shall issue plates designated as “bailee plates” to garages, automobile repairers, or any person in the business requiring repossession of motor vehicles, trailers, or semitrailers. (b) In transit plates. The division of motor veh…

(a) The administrator of the division of motor vehicles has the right to issue a special registration plate for the use of the governor, the lieutenant governor, the secretary of state, the attorney general, the state treasurer, the president pro tem of the senate, the speaker of…