---
title: O.C.G.A. § 40-2-29. Registration and license plate required; timing; required documentation; issuance of temporary operating permit for vehicles failing emission inspection; extensions.
collection: code
id: 40-2-29
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 40-2-29 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/40-2-29
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/40-2-29.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/40-2-29/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t40-ch1-5-(v28a)-2024-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=636595ac_0#page=203
date: 2025
status: active
corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68
license: CC0-1.0
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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version: the only printed version
in_force: true
current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: MOTOR VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC / REGISTRATION AND LICENSING OF MOTOR VEHICLES / REGISTRATION AND LICENSING GENERALLY
---

# O.C.G.A. § 40-2-29. Registration and license plate required; timing; required documentation; issuance of temporary operating permit for vehicles failing emission inspection; extensions.

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, any person purchasing or acquiring a vehicle shall register and obtain, or transfer, a license plate to operate such vehicle from the county tag agent in their county of residence no later than seven business days after the date of purchase or acquisition of the vehicle by presenting to the county tag agent the following:

(1) If applicable, a motor vehicle certificate of title or an application therefor as provided in Chapter 3 of this title;

(2) Satisfactory proof of owner’s insurance coverage as provided for in subsection (d) of Code Section 40-2-26;

(3) If applicable, satisfactory proof of compliance with Article 2 of Chapter 9 of Title 12, the “Georgia Motor Vehicle Emission Inspection and Maintenance Act”; and

(4) Satisfactory proof that all fees, permits, and taxes have been paid.

(b) An application for registration shall be accompanied by check; cash; certified or cashier’s check; bank, postal, or express money order; or other similar bankable paper for the required fee or any taxes required by law.

(c) Upon application for renewal of a vehicle registration, a person unable to fully comply with the requirements of paragraph (3) of subsection (a) of this Code section shall receive a temporary operating permit that shall be valid for 30 days.

(d) The commissioner may provide by rule or regulation for one 30 day extension of the initial registration period which may be granted by the county tag agent if the transferor has not provided such purchaser or other transferee owner with a title to the motor vehicle more than five business days prior to the expiration of such initial registration period. The county tag agent shall grant an extension of the initial registration period when the transferor, purchaser, or transferee can demonstrate by affidavit in a form provided by the commissioner that title has not been provided to the purchaser or transferee due to the failure of a security interest holder or lienholder to timely release a security interest or lien in accordance with Code Section 40-3-56.

(e) A conviction for displaying a license plate or temporary operating permit not provided for in this chapter shall be punished as a misdemeanor.

## History

Ga. L. 1925, p. 315, § 1; Ga. L. 1927, p. 226, § 6; Ga. L. 1931, p. 7, § 84; Code 1933, §§ 68-208, 68-212; Ga. L. 1960, p. 943, § 1; Code 1981, § 40-2-27; Ga. L. 1985, p. 149, § 40; Ga. L. 1985, p. 537, § 2; Code 1981, § 40-2-29, as redesignated by Ga. L. 1990, p. 2048, § 2; Ga. L. 2010, p. 143, § 4/HB 1005; Ga. L. 2013, p. 141, § 40/HB 79; Ga. L. 2018, p. 287, § 3/HB 329; Ga. L. 2023, p. 554, § 4/HB 183, effective July 1, 2023.

## Cross References

Schedule of annual license fees, § 40-2-151.

## Amendments

The 2023 amendment, effective July 1, 2023, in subsection (a), substituted “If applicable, a motor” for “A motor” and inserted “or an application therefor” in paragraph (a)(1), and deleted “the” following “compliance with” in paragraph (a)(3); in subsection (b), substituted “the required fee” for “the amount of the license plate or temporary permit fee”; rewrote subsection (c) as present subsections (c) and (d); redesignated former subsection (d) as present subsection (e); and substituted “temporary operating permit” for “temporary license plate” in subsection (e).