Georgia CommonsHB 1267: Motor vehicles; increase penalties for certain offenses; provisions
Last action March 4, 2026 · House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute
A Georgia House bill would raise fines and criminal penalties for license plate and odometer fraud, limit dealers' personal use of dealer plates, and shift licensing of used car dealers from a state board to the Department of Revenue.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Comm Sub version, the latest LegiScan holds.
In plain language
Georgia law already makes it illegal to fake license plates, alter odometers, or misuse dealer tags, but this bill raises the stakes. It turns the crime of making or selling fake license plates and knowingly tampering with an odometer into felonies instead of misdemeanors, and it sets new minimum fines (often $750) for offenses like covering a plate to dodge cameras or improperly transferring a plate between vehicles. The bill also tightens rules on dealer license plates: employees can only use a dealer plate for personal driving for up to six months per vehicle, and by 2027 those plates must be made of stamped metal. Separately, the bill abolishes the State Board of Registration of Used Motor Vehicle Dealers and Used Motor Vehicle Parts Dealers and moves its licensing and enforcement duties to the Department of Revenue, using a temporary advisory council to manage the handoff. Most changes take effect July 1, 2026, but the licensing transfer only happens in 2028 and only if the legislature specifically funds it.
What the bill does
- Raises the crime of illegally manufacturing, selling, or issuing license plates from a misdemeanor to a felony.
- Sets new minimum fines of $750 (up from lower or no set minimums) for offenses like transferring plates between vehicles, obscuring a plate from cameras, and willfully removing or altering a plate.
- Turns knowingly tampering with a vehicle's odometer into a felony and raises the minimum civil damages for odometer fraud from $1,500 to $10,000.
- Limits dealership employees to six months of personal use per vehicle on a dealer's license plate and requires dealer plates be made of stamped metal starting January 1, 2027.
- Abolishes the State Board of Registration of Used Motor Vehicle Dealers and Used Motor Vehicle Parts Dealers and transfers its licensing and enforcement powers to the Department of Revenue.
- Creates a five-member advisory council to help the Department of Revenue take over used car dealer licensing and report recommendations to the Governor and legislature.
Who it affects
Georgia drivers who could face stiffer penalties for license plate crimes, people convicted of odometer fraud, new and used car dealers and their employees who use dealer plates, the State Board of Registration of Used Motor Vehicle Dealers, and the Department of Revenue, which would gain new licensing duties.
Why it matters
Georgians caught tampering with plates or odometers would face felony records and larger fines instead of misdemeanor penalties. Car dealership employees would lose the ability to use dealer plates for personal driving indefinitely, and used car dealers would eventually answer to the Department of Revenue instead of a dedicated licensing board.
Key provisions
- Section 1-1 raises the penalty for making, selling, or issuing fake license plates from a misdemeanor to a felony (O.C.G.A. 40-2-4).
- Section 1-2 raises the minimum fine for improperly transferring or using another vehicle's plate from $500 to $750 (O.C.G.A. 40-2-5).
- Section 1-6 requires temporary operating permits to include the vehicle's identification number and requires the Department of Revenue to report annually on dealer fraud (O.C.G.A. 40-2-8.1).
- Section 1-8 caps personal use of a dealer's license plate by employees at six months per vehicle and requires stamped metal dealer plates starting January 1, 2027 (O.C.G.A. 40-2-38).
- Section 1-10 makes odometer-related title fraud, including falsifying odometer readings, a felony offense (O.C.G.A. 40-3-90).
- Section 1-12 raises minimum civil damages for intentional odometer tampering from $1,500 to $10,000 and makes the underlying offense a felony (O.C.G.A. 40-8-5).
- Part II creates a Used Motor Vehicle Dealers and Used Motor Vehicle Parts Dealers Licensing Authority Transfer Advisory Council to help move licensing duties to the Department of Revenue.
- Part V sets most provisions effective July 1, 2026, but delays the licensing transfer to July 1, 2028, contingent on the General Assembly specifically appropriating funds for it.
From the bill
“Any person who violates any provision of this Code section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and when he or she is found to have violated this Code section for the purposes of willfully concealing or obscuring the information on a license plate, he or she shall be punished by a fine of not less than $750.00 or by confinement of not more than 12 months, or both.”
“provided that such use shall be for no more than six months per vehicle”
Status timeline
- House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- John Corbett (R, HD-174)
- Jason Ridley (R, HD-006)
- Alan Powell (R, HD-033)
- Danny Mathis (R, HD-133)
Topics
- license plate laws
- odometer fraud
- car dealer regulation
- motor vehicle penalties
- used car dealer licensing