| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to motor vehicle license plates; amending |
| 3 | s. 320.06, F.S.; prohibiting text and symbols from being |
| 4 | added to the word "Florida" imprinted on license plates; |
| 5 | amending s. 320.0805, F.S.; conforming provisions; |
| 6 | directing the Department of Highway Safety and Motor |
| 7 | Vehicles to print the graphic symbol of a license plate to |
| 8 | the side of the imprinted letters or numerals on a |
| 9 | personalized plate upon request and payment of a specified |
| 10 | fee; providing an effective date. |
| 11 |
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| 12 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 13 |
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| 14 | Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of section |
| 15 | 320.06, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 16 | 320.06 Registration certificates, license plates, and |
| 17 | validation stickers generally.- |
| 18 | (3)(a) Registration license plates must be made of metal |
| 19 | specially treated with a retroreflection material, as specified |
| 20 | by the department. The registration license plate is designed to |
| 21 | increase nighttime visibility and legibility and must be at |
| 22 | least 6 inches wide and not less than 12 inches in length, |
| 23 | unless a plate with reduced dimensions is deemed necessary by |
| 24 | the department to accommodate motorcycles, mopeds, or similar |
| 25 | smaller vehicles. Validation stickers must also be treated with |
| 26 | a retroreflection material, must be of such size as specified by |
| 27 | the department, and must adhere to the license plate. The |
| 28 | registration license plate must be imprinted with a combination |
| 29 | of bold letters and numerals or numerals, not to exceed seven |
| 30 | digits, to identify the registration license plate number. The |
| 31 | license plate must be imprinted with the word "Florida" at the |
| 32 | top and the name of the county in which it is sold, the state |
| 33 | motto, or the words "Sunshine State" at the bottom. Apportioned |
| 34 | license plates must have the word "Apportioned" at the bottom |
| 35 | and license plates issued for vehicles taxed under s. |
| 36 | 320.08(3)(d), (4)(m) or (n), (5)(b) or (c), or (14) must have |
| 37 | the word "Restricted" at the bottom. License plates issued for |
| 38 | vehicles taxed under s. 320.08(12) must be imprinted with the |
| 39 | word "Florida" at the top and the word "Dealer" at the bottom. |
| 40 | Manufacturer license plates issued for vehicles taxed under s. |
| 41 | 320.08(12) must be imprinted with the word "Florida" at the top |
| 42 | and the word "Manufacturer" at the bottom. License plates issued |
| 43 | for vehicles taxed under s. 320.08(5)(d) or (e) must be |
| 44 | imprinted with the word "Wrecker" at the bottom. Any county may, |
| 45 | upon majority vote of the county commission, elect to have the |
| 46 | county name removed from the license plates sold in that county. |
| 47 | The state motto or the words "Sunshine State" shall be printed |
| 48 | in lieu thereof. A license plate issued for a vehicle taxed |
| 49 | under s. 320.08(6) may not be assigned a registration license |
| 50 | number, or be issued with any other distinctive character or |
| 51 | designation, that distinguishes the motor vehicle as a for-hire |
| 52 | motor vehicle. The word "Florida" must be imprinted alone, |
| 53 | without any text or symbol added thereto, at the top or bottom |
| 54 | of the license plate, as required by law. |
| 55 | Section 2. Subsection (8) of section 320.0805, Florida |
| 56 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 57 | 320.0805 Personalized prestige license plates.- |
| 58 | (8)(a) Personalized prestige license plates shall consist |
| 59 | of three types of plates as follows: |
| 60 | 1. A plate imprinted with numerals only. Such plates shall |
| 61 | consist of numerals from 1 to 999, inclusive. |
| 62 | 2. A plate imprinted with capital letters only. Such |
| 63 | plates shall consist of capital letters "A" through "Z" and |
| 64 | shall be limited to a total of seven of the same or different |
| 65 | capital letters. A hyphen may be added in addition to the seven |
| 66 | letters. |
| 67 | 3. A plate imprinted with both capital letters and |
| 68 | numerals. Such plates shall consist of no more than a total of |
| 69 | seven characters, including both numerals and capital letters, |
| 70 | in any combination, except that a hyphen may be added in |
| 71 | addition to the seven characters if desired or needed. However, |
| 72 | on those plates issued to, and bearing the names of, |
| 73 | organizations, the letters and numerals shall be of such size, |
| 74 | if necessary, as to accommodate a maximum of 18 digits for |
| 75 | automobiles, trucks, and recreational vehicles and 7 digits for |
| 76 | motorcycles. Plates consisting of the four capital letters |
| 77 | "PRES" preceded or followed by a hyphen and numerals of 1 to 999 |
| 78 | shall be reserved for issuance only to applicants who qualify as |
| 79 | members of the press and who are associated with, or are |
| 80 | employees of, the reporting media. |
| 81 | (b) Personalized prestige plates must be of the same |
| 82 | material, size, and distinctive color as any license plates |
| 83 | authorized by this chapter and issued by the state for any |
| 84 | registration period; however, the imprinting of personalized |
| 85 | prestige license plates shall be limited solely to the |
| 86 | following: |
| 87 | 1. The letters or numerals or combination of both |
| 88 | requested by the applicant must be imprinted stamped in large |
| 89 | bold letters and numerals, limited to the number of characters |
| 90 | based on the specific design of the plate requested by the |
| 91 | applicant. |
| 92 | 2. The word "Florida" must be imprinted stamped across the |
| 93 | bottom of the plate in small letters, unless the word "Florida" |
| 94 | is required to be imprinted stamped across the top of the plate |
| 95 | according to the specific design of the plate. The word |
| 96 | "Florida" must be imprinted alone, without any text or symbol |
| 97 | added thereto, at the top or bottom of the license plate, as |
| 98 | required by law. |
| 99 | (c) Upon request and receipt of an additional $5 from the |
| 100 | applicant for a personalized prestige plate, the graphic symbol |
| 101 | required under s. 320.06 shall be removed from the center of the |
| 102 | plate, reduced in size, and placed to the side of the imprinted |
| 103 | letters or numerals. |
| 104 | Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011. |