LAW
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Ohio Laws and Rules
(A) Upon the filing of an application for registration and the payment of the tax for registration, the registrar of motor vehicles or a deputy registrar shall determine whether the owner previously has been issued license plates for the motor vehicle described in the application. If no license plates previously have been issued to the owner for that motor vehicle, the registrar or deputy registrar shall assign to the motor vehicle a distinctive number and issue and deliver to the owner in the manner that the registrar may select a certificate of registration, in the form that the registrar shall prescribe, and, except as otherwise provided in this section, two license plates, duplicates of each other, and a validation sticker, or a validation sticker alone, to be attached to the number plates as provided in section 4503.191 of the Revised Code. The registrar or deputy registrar also shall charge the owner any fees required under division (C) of section 4503.10 of the Revised Code. Trailers, manufactured homes, mobile homes, semitrailers, the manufacturer thereof, the dealer, or in transit companies therein, shall be issued one license plate only and one validation sticker, or a validation sticker alone, and the license plate and validation sticker shall be displayed only on the rear of such vehicles. A commercial tractor that does not receive an apportioned license plate under the international registration plan shall be issued two license plates and one validation sticker, and the validation sticker shall be displayed on the front of the commercial tractor. An apportioned vehicle receiving an apportioned license plate under the international registration plan shall be issued one license plate only and one validation sticker, or a validation sticker alone; the license plate shall be displayed only on the front of a semitractor and on the rear of all other vehicles. School buses shall not be issued license plates but shall bear identifying numbers in the manner prescribed by section 4511.764 of the Revised Code. The certificate of registration and license plates and validation stickers, or validation stickers alone, shall be issued and delivered to the owner in person or by mail. Chauffeured limousines shall be issued license plates, a validation sticker, and a livery sticker as provided in section 4503.24 of the Revised Code. In the event of the loss, mutilation, or destruction of any certificate of registration, or of any license plates or validation stickers, or if the owner chooses to replace license plates previously issued for a motor vehicle, or if the registration certificate and license plates have been impounded as provided by division (B)(1) of section 4507.02 and section 4507.16 of the Revised Code, the owner of a motor vehicle, or manufacturer or dealer, may obtain from the registrar, or from a deputy registrar if authorized by the registrar, a duplicate thereof or new license plates bearing a different number, if the registrar considers it advisable, upon filing an application prescribed by the registrar, and upon paying a fee of one dollar for such certificate of registration, a fee of seven dollars and fifty cents for each set of two license plates, or six dollars and fifty cents for each single license plate or validation sticker. In addition, each applicant for a replacement certificate of registration, license plate, or validation sticker shall pay the fees provided in divisions (C) and (D) of section 4503.10 of the Revised Code.
The registrar shall pay five dollars and fifty cents of the fee collected for each license plate or set of license plates issued into the state highway safety fund created in section 4501.06 of the Revised Code.
Additionally, the registrar and each deputy registrar who either issues license plates and a validation sticker for use on any vehicle other than a commercial tractor, semitrailer, or apportioned vehicle, or who issues a validation sticker alone for use on such a vehicle and the owner has changed the owner’s county of residence since the owner last was issued county identification stickers, also shall issue and deliver to the owner either one or two county identification stickers, as appropriate, which shall be attached to the license plates in a manner prescribed by the director of public safety. The county identification stickers shall identify prominently by name or number the county in which the owner of the vehicle resides at the time of registration.
(B) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.
Effective Date: 01-01-2004; 2009 HB2 07-01-2009