Section 257.224 - Registration plate generally.
MICHIGAN VEHICLE CODE (EXCERPT)
Act 300 of 1949
257.224 Registration plate generally.
Sec. 224.
(1) Except as otherwise provided in this act regarding tabs or stickers, upon registering a vehicle, the secretary of state shall issue to the owner 1 registration plate.
(2) A registration plate shall display the registration number assigned to the vehicle for which the registration plate is issued; the name of this state, which may be abbreviated; and when the registration plate expires, which may be shown by a tab or sticker furnished by the secretary of state.
(3) A registration plate issued for motor vehicles owned and operated by this state; a state institution; a municipality; a privately incorporated, nonprofit volunteer fire department; or a nonpublic, nonprofit college or university of this state shall not expire at any particular time but shall be renewed when the registration plate is worn out or is illegible. This registration plate shall be assigned upon proper application and payment of the applicable fee and may be used on any eligible vehicle titled to the applicant if a written record is kept of the vehicles upon which the registration plate is used. The written record shall state the time the registration plate is used on a particular vehicle. The record shall be open to inspection by a law enforcement officer or a representative of the secretary of state.
(4) A registration plate issued for a vehicle owned by the civil air patrol as organized under 36 USC 201 to 208; a vehicle owned by a nonprofit organization and used to transport equipment for providing dialysis treatment to children at camp; an emergency support vehicle used exclusively for emergencies and owned and operated by a federally recognized nonprofit charitable organization; a vehicle owned and operated by a nonprofit veterans center; a motor vehicle having a truck chassis and a locomotive or ship's body which is owned by a nonprofit veterans organization and used exclusively in parades and civic events; a vehicle owned and operated by a nonprofit recycling center or a federally recognized nonprofit conservation organization until December 31, 2000; a motor vehicle owned and operated by a senior citizen center; and a registration plate issued for buses including station wagons, carryalls, or similarly constructed vehicles owned and operated by a nonprofit parents' transportation corporation used for school purposes, parochial school, society, church Sunday school, or other grammar school, or by a nonprofit youth organization or nonprofit rehabilitation facility shall be issued upon proper application and payment of the applicable tax provided in section 801(1)(g) or (h) to the applicant for the vehicle identified in the application. The vehicle shall be used exclusively for activities of the school or organization and shall be designated by proper signs showing the school or organization operating the vehicle. The registration plate shall expire on December 31 in the fifth year following the date of issuance. The registration plate may be transferred to another vehicle upon proper application and payment of a $10.00 transfer fee.
(5) Beginning January 1, 2007, the department shall not issue or transfer a standard design beads on paint registration plate or issue a registration tab or sticker for that plate, but shall offer a new standard design registration plate that complies with the requirements of this act. The new standard design registration plate shall be of a common color scheme and design that is made of fully reflectorized material and shall be clearly visible at night. The implementation of this subsection is contingent upon appropriations sufficient to cover the costs to the department of designing, manufacturing, distributing, and issuing the new standard design registration plate. The secretary of state shall file a written report with the secretary of the senate and the clerk of the house of representatives of the costs incurred and revenue expended to meet the requirements of this subsection within 30 days after all of the standard design beads on paint registration plates to be replaced under this subsection have been replaced.
(6) The registration plate and the required letters and numerals on the registration plate shall be of sufficient size to be plainly readable from a distance of 100 feet during daylight. The secretary of state may issue a tab or tabs designating the month and year of expiration.
(7) The secretary of state shall issue for every passenger motor vehicle rented without a driver the same type of registration plate as the type of registration plate issued for private passenger vehicles.
(8) A person shall not operate a vehicle on the public highways or streets of this state displaying a registration plate other than the registration plate issued for the vehicle by the secretary of state, except as provided in this chapter for nonresidents, and by assignment provided in subsection (3).
(9) The registration plate displayed on a vehicle registered on the basis of elected gross weight shall indicate the elected gross weight for which the vehicle is registered.
History: 1949, Act 300, Eff. Sept. 23, 1949 ;-- Am. 1959, Act 247, Eff. Mar. 19, 1960 ;-- Am. 1961, Act 25, Imd. Eff. May 11, 1961 ;-- Am. 1965, Act 184, Imd. Eff. July 15, 1965 ;-- Am. 1967, Ex. Sess., Act 3, Imd. Eff. Nov. 15, 1967 ;-- Am. 1970, Act 106, Imd. Eff. July 23, 1970 ;-- Am. 1976, Act 114, Imd. Eff. May 14, 1976 ;-- Am. 1976, Act 439, Imd. Eff. Jan. 13, 1977 ;-- Am. 1980, Act 46, Imd. Eff. Mar. 19, 1980 ;-- Am. 1980, Act 153, Imd. Eff. June 11, 1980 ;-- Am. 1980, Act 270, Imd. Eff. Oct. 1, 1980 ;-- Am. 1980, Act 476, Eff. Mar. 31, 1981 ;-- Am. 1982, Act 350, Imd. Eff. Dec. 21, 1982 ;-- Am. 1984, Act 173, Imd. Eff. June 29, 1984 ;-- Am. 1987, Act 238, Imd. Eff. Dec. 28, 1987 ;-- Am. 1990, Act 181, Imd. Eff. July 18, 1990 ;-- Am. 1994, Act 395, Eff. Mar. 30, 1995 ;-- Am. 1995, Act 129, Imd. Eff. June 30, 1995 ;-- Am. 2006, Act 177, Imd. Eff. June 6, 2006
Compiler's Notes: For effective date of increases in certain fees, charges or taxes provided by this section, see MCL 257.817(1).