2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 42 - VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC (§§ 42-1-101 — 42-21-106) › TAXATION (§§ 42-3-101 — 42-3-314) › Article 3 - REGISTRATION, TAXATION, AND LICENSE PLATES (§§ 42-3-101 — 42-3-314) › Part 2 - LICENSE PLATES (§§ 42-3-201 — 42-3-271) › Section 42-3-201 - Number plates furnished - style - periodic reissuance - tabs - rules - definition - repeal

(1)
(a)
(I)
The department shall issue to every owner whose vehicle is registered two number plates; except that the department shall issue one number plate for the following:
(A)
A motorcycle;
(B)
A street rod vehicle;
(C)
A trailer or semitrailer;
(D)
A vehicle drawn by a motor vehicle;
(E)
An item of special mobile machinery; or
(F)
Repealed.
(G)
An autocycle.
(II)
At the discretion of the executive director of the department, the department may issue one number plate for any vehicle not listed in subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (a).
(III)
The department may require the return to the department of all number plates upon termination of the lawful use of such plates by the owner.
(IV)
The department shall issue an autocycle a motorcycle license plate.
(b)
(I)
The department may issue the number plates required in this section for one or more registration periods. If the number plates are issued for multi-year use, the department may issue a validating tab or sticker to indicate the year of registration of the vehicle.
(II)
Any validating tab or sticker that evidences the receipt of taxes under this article may be obtained by the department through normal purchasing procedures and may be produced and issued by the department through its authorized agents. Such validation tab or sticker shall be produced in accordance with the minimum specifications of the department, and such specifications shall reflect, at a minimum, the same quality control standards employed by the department of corrections in the production of such validation tab or sticker as those standards existed on January 1, 1999.
(2)
Except as provided in subsection (7) of this section, the owner shall display on every number plate the registration number assigned to the vehicle and owner, the year number for which it is issued, the month in which it expires, and any other appropriate symbol, word, or words designated by the department. The department may adopt rules for the issuance of permanent number plates that do not display the year number for which it is issued or the month in which it expires. Such plate and the required letters and numerals, except the year number for which issued, must be of sufficient size to be plainly readable from a distance of one hundred feet during daylight.
(3)
The department shall issue for every passenger motor vehicle, rented without a driver, the same type of number plates as the type of plates issued for private passenger vehicles.
(4)
The department shall issue, for every noncommercial or recreational vehicle registered as such pursuant to this article, numbered plates or other insignia of a color or design different from any other Colorado plates, to be determined by the department, in order that such numbered plates or other insignia may be plainly recognized at a distance of at least one hundred feet during daylight.
(5)
(a)
A new or replacement license plate issued by the department shall, to the extent that it is practical, have standardized coloring and identifying characters limited to no more than a total of six numbers and letters; except that such character limitation does not apply to personalized license plates issued under section
42-3-211
.
(b)
The department of revenue may require the replacement of any license plate as necessary to ensure that license plates are legible as required by section
42-3-202 (2)
.
(6)
(a)
The department shall promulgate rules that require the destruction, recycling, or other permanent disposal of license plates that are no longer used to evidence registration of a motor vehicle and are voluntarily given to the department, an authorized agent, or a person who receives license plates in the ordinary course of business.
(b)
The department, an authorized agent, or a person who receives license plates in the ordinary course of business shall destroy, recycle, or dispose of a license plate in accordance with rules promulgated by the department under this subsection (6).
(7)
Notwithstanding subsections (1) and (2) of this section, the department shall issue license plates to a Class A commercial trailer or semitrailer registered in Colorado that do not contain the month and year the trailer expires, and a validating sticker or tab is not issued nor required for the license plates.
(8)
(a)
Subject to the rules promulgated under subsection (8)(c)(II) of this section, the owner of a registered vehicle may display a digital number plate in lieu of one or both of the plates issued under subsection (1)(a)(I) of this section if the registration number and expiration date are clearly visible at a distance of one hundred feet in normal sunlight.
(b)
Digital number plates need not display more than one color.
(c)
(I)
The department may permit, if not otherwise inconsistent with this article 3, the use on a digital number plate of:
(A)
Messages displayed on the plate; and
(B)
Other functionality made possible by the use of digital technology.
(II)
The department, in consultation with the Colorado state patrol, shall adopt rules for the use of digital number plates. The rules must:
(A)
Set standards necessary for the safe use of digital number plates;
(B)
Establish requirements for product oversight and consumer support;
(C)
Establish requirements for product size, design, display, and functionality;
(D)
Establish a process for approval of digital number plates products for statewide use;
(E)
Set protocols for data sharing, privacy, and security;
(F)
Establish a process for revoking the authority to use a digital number plate;
(G)
Set testing requirements to approved digital number plates;
(H)
Set a process to determine the types of number plates that are eligible to use as digital number plates; and
(I)
Set reporting requirements for companies that sell digital number plates to the public.
(III)
The department shall review the implementation of digital plates within one year after the effective date of the rules adopted in accordance with subsection (8)(c)(II) of this section. In performing the review, the department shall obtain comments and recommendations from the Colorado state patrol and persons who are interested in digital number plates. Within one year after performing the review, the department shall prepare a report based on the review and submit the report to the transportation legislation review committee, created in section
43-2-145
.
(d)
As used in this subsection (8), "digital number plate" means an electronic display that is mounted on a vehicle in the place of and that serves the function of a number plate issued by the department.
(e)
This subsection (8) is repealed, effective September 1, 2027. Before the repeal, the use of digital number plates by the owner of a registered vehicle pursuant to this subsection (8) is scheduled for review in accordance with section
24-34-104
.
Amended by 2022 Ch. 361, § 8, eff. 1/1/2023.
Amended by 2022 Ch. 121, § 1, eff. 8/10/2022.
Amended by 2017 Ch. 72, § 3, eff. 3/23/2017.
Amended by 2014 Ch. 303, § 2, eff. 7/1/2014.
L. 2005: Entire article amended with relocations, p. 1106, § 2, effective August 8; (5)(b) amended, p. 253, § 1, effective August 8. L. 2008: (6) added, p. 321, § 1, effective July 1. L. 2010: (1)(a)(I)(E) amended, (HB 10 -1172), ch. 320, p. 1491, § 9, effective October 1. L. 2012: (2) amended and (7) added, (HB 12-1038), ch. 276, p. 1456, § 5, effective June 8. L. 2014: (1)(a)(I)(D) and (1)(a)(I)(E) amended and (1)(a)(I)(F) added, (HB 14-1367), ch. 303, p. 1286, § 2, effective July 1. L. 2017: (1)(a)(I)(D) and (1)(a)(I)(E) amended and (1)(a)(I)(F) repealed, (HB 17-1044), ch. 72, p. 229, § 3, effective March 23.
(1) This section is similar to former § 42-3-113 as it existed prior to 2005.
(2) Subsection (5)(b) was originally numbered as §
42-3-113(5)(b)
, and the amendments to it in Senate Bill 05-153 were harmonized with § 42-3-201(5)(b) as it appears in House Bill 05-1107.
For the legislative declaration in the 2012 act amending subsection (2) and adding subsection (7), see section 1 of chapter 276, Session Laws of Colorado 2012.