HB 1465: Motor vehicles; repeal requirement to display a revalidation decal as evidence of annual motor vehicle registration renewal

Georgia currently requires vehicle owners to affix a revalidation decal to their license plate each year as visible proof that registration has been renewed. HB 1465 repeals that requirement. It amends more than two dozen sections of Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, striking references to revalidation decals from laws covering unregistered vehicles, mail-in renewals, license plate design, tag agent commissions, lost or stolen plates, fleet vehicles, digital license plates, prestige plates, and specialty plates for veterans, legislators, firefighters, and other groups. In place of the decal, most sections simply require that the vehicle's registration be renewed, without a physical sticker serving as evidence. A related change to the title ad valorem tax fee law (O.C.G.A. § 48-5C-1) also drops references to the decal. The bill also removes decal-related fines and fees tied to failing to display a valid decal. The changes would take effect January 1, 2027.

• Repeals the legal requirement that vehicle owners display a revalidation decal on their license plate as proof of annual registration renewal.
• Removes decal-related language from the criminal penalty for driving with an invalid or missing decal, since the decal requirement itself is eliminated.
• Strikes revalidation decal references from license plate manufacturing, mail purchase, transfer, and replacement procedures across dozens of Code sections.
• Updates specialty license plate laws (for veterans, legislators, judges, firefighters, and Gold Star family members) to remove decal issuance requirements while keeping annual renewal and fee obligations.
• Removes the decal-based compliance option for digital license plates and fleet vehicle plates, since decals will no longer exist.
• Sets the effective date for all these changes as January 1, 2027.

All Georgia vehicle owners who currently must apply revalidation decals to their license plates each year, county tag agents who issue plates and decals, the Department of Revenue, and holders of specialty plates such as veterans, legislators, judges, firefighters, and Gold Star family members whose renewal procedures reference decals.

Drivers would no longer need to peel and affix a small sticker to their plate each year to show current registration; renewal would rely on other means of verification. This changes how law enforcement and drivers demonstrate valid registration, and removes fines tied specifically to missing or invalid decals.

• Section 1 removes the ban on making, selling, or issuing a revalidation decal, since decals will no longer exist.
• Section 2 rewrites the misdemeanor offense for operating a vehicle without a valid license plate, dropping the decal validation requirement and removing a $25 fine exception tied to having obtained a decal.
• Section 5 strikes multiple subsections of O.C.G.A. § 40-2-31 describing how revalidation decals are manufactured, issued, and affixed to plates.
• Sections 14 through 25 update specialty and prestige license plate laws to replace 'obtaining a revalidation decal' with plain renewal language for groups like legislators, veterans, and firefighters.
• Section 27 removes 'revalidation decal' from the title ad valorem tax fee law (O.C.G.A. § 48-5C-1) so vehicles under that system are no longer described as needing one.
• Section 28 sets the effective date as January 1, 2027.
• Section 29 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2026-03-09Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2026-03-06House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House)
3. 2026-03-06House Third Readers (House)
4. 2026-03-03House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
5. 2026-02-26House Second Readers (House)
6. 2026-02-25House First Readers (House)
7. 2026-02-25House Hopper (House)

• Derrick McCollum (R, HD-030)Primary sponsor
• Chuck Efstration (R, HD-104)
• John Corbett (R, HD-174)
• Alan Powell (R, HD-033)
• Bill Hitchens (R, HD-161)
• James Hatchett (R, HD-155)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 6, 2026

   158 yea, 8 nay (1 not voting, 10 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #684

• motor vehicle registration
• license plates
• DMV rules
• vehicle decals
• transportation law