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D.C. Municipal Regulations (Last Updated: September 13, 2017) |
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Title 18. VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC |
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Chapter 18-4. MOTOR VEHICLE TITLE AND REGISTRATION |
Section 18-423. PERSONALIZED IDENTIFICATION TAGS
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423.1The Director is authorized to issue a special series of vehicle identification tags to be lettered or numbered, or both, as desired by the applicant; except that numbers 1 through 1,250 and such other combinations of letters and numbers as the Director shall determine shall not be available for purposes of this section.
423.2Registration of vehicles bearing personalized identification tags shall comply with all laws and rules in effect for the registration of motor vehicles generally.
423.3Personalized tags shall only be issued for use on registered private passenger vehicles.
423.3aMembers of the Council may choose to be issued a standard motor vehicle identification tag or a tag designating the member’s ward of representation or at-large status. If the member opts for a standard tag, the member shall also be issued a placard to be placed on the dashboard of a vehicle indicating that the vehicle is being used by the member for official business.
423.4Application for personalized tags may be made informally by letter, accompanied by a reservation fee check for twenty-five dollars ($ 25.00) made payable to the order of the D. C. Treasurer.
423.5Payment of the fee entitles the person in whose name the tags are to be registered to reservation of the numbered or lettered tags of his or her choice, if available at the time of application. If available, the combination applied for shall be reserved for one (1) year from the date of approval of the reservation. The applicant shall be notified promptly that the reservation has been approved.
423.6The reservation fee of twenty-five dollars ($ 25.00) shall be deposited with the D.C. Treasurer after the applicant’s reservation has been confirmed. If the combination requested is not available, the reservation fee shall be returned to the applicant immediately.
423.7If the reservation fee has been deposited, no refund shall be made unless there has been an erroneous collection of the fee by the Director.
423.8Applicants may make any number of reservations desired, and may request reservations for any combination of letters or numbers or both, as desired, not to exceed seven (7) positions on a tag, including spaces between the letters or numbers.
423.9The reservation may be made, and invalidated sets of tags may be issued, without reference to any specified vehicle; Provided, that the invalidated tags may not be used as owner’s identification tags, displayed on any motor vehicle, or otherwise presented as evidence of the registration of any motor vehicle.
423.10The reservation shall terminate at the end of the one (1) or two (2) year registration period for which a motor vehicle has not been registered under the reservation; Provided, that prior to the expiration of the registration period, the person in whose name the reservation was made may renew the reservation for another registration period by payment of a new twenty-five dollars ($ 25) reservation fee.
423.11If a motor vehicle has been registered in connection with a reservation, the Director may issue validated personalized identification tags for that vehicle, and the reservation shall be maintained by the Director so long as the vehicle, or a substitute vehicle, is registered.
423.12The applicant may, prior to the time the personalized tags are validated, amend the application with respect to the name of the person or organization in whose name the tags have been reserved.
423.13The Director shall reject any proposed tag content or rescind the issuance of any tag that conveys a message, or displays an image, that is confusing or offensive to the general public.
423.14For the purposes of § 423.13, the Director shall reject any combination of letters or numbers that:
(a)Is vulgar, derogatory, profane, scatological or obscene, with any connotation, in any language;
(b)Connote, in any language, breast, genitalia, pubic area, or buttocks or relate to sexual or eliminatory functions.
(c)Connote, in any language (i) any illicit drug, narcotic, intoxicant, or related paraphernalia; (ii) the sale, user, or purveyor of such a substance; or (iii) the physiological state produced by such a substance;
(d)Refer, in any language, to a race, religion, color, deity, ethnic heritage, gender, sexual orientation, disability status, or political affiliation;
(e)Suggest, in any language, a government or governmental agency;
(f)Suggest, in any language, a privilege not given by law in this state; or
(g)Form, in any language, a slang term, abbreviation, phonetic spelling or mirror image of a word described in this subsection.
423.15When personalized tags have been surrendered pursuant to § 415, or they are no longer authorized for use by the person to whom they were issued, except as provided in §§ 424 and 425, the tag content shall not be available to anyone other than the prior holder for a two (2) year period.