ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE
MOTOR VEHICLE DIVISION
810-5-1-.228. The Issuance of Temporary License Tags/Registration
Certificates by the Judge of Probate or Other County Official Authorized to
Issue Motor Vehicle License Tags.
(1) For the purposes of this regulation "Judge of Probate" shall
be deemed to include any county official authorized and required by law to issue
motor vehicle license tags.
(2) Each Judge of Probate, upon request to the Department of Revenue,
Motor Vehicle Division, shall be shipped a supply of temporary tags and registration
certificates for issuance in accordance with the provisions of Act 79-817.
(3) Judges of Probate are not required to pay for temporary tags
in advance, but are to remit the sum of $1.50 for each temporary tag issued
to the Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Division. The balance of the $2.25
fee collected for each temporary tag is to be distributed in accordance with
the provisions of Section 32-6-215.
(4) Under the provisions of Section 32-6-213, Code of Alabama
1975, Judges of Probate are authorized "to issue a temporary license tag
and a temporary registration certificate to the owner of a motor vehicle to
be licensed in this state when, due to circumstances, a permanent license tag
cannot immediately be issued or when, in the judgement of the Probate Judge
... just cause exists for the issuance of such temporary license tag and registration
certificate." With regard to this section, "just cause" has been determined
by the Commissioner of Revenue to exist in -- but not limited to -- the following
instances:
- (a) when the purchaser of a motor vehicle does not receive from
the selling individual, dealer, or firm the certificate of title or other
documents necessary for application for title or for proof of ownership;
- (b) when the seller of a motor vehicle delays in furnishing the
buyer with an application for title.
(5) "Just cause" according to Section 32-6-213 does not exist when,
in the judgement of the Judge of Probate, the applicant for temporary registration
is resorting to that measure in an effort to avoid remission of regular registration
fees, casual sales tax, or ad valorem tax in full.
(6) On temporary registration receipts issued for trucks or truck
tractors weighing twelve thousand and one (12,001) pounds or more, Judges of
Probate shall affix the notation "UNLADEN WEIGHT ONLY." Law enforcement agencies
shall consider the operation of a truck or truck tractor with a temporary Alabama
license plate/registration at a weight exceeding the unladen (empty) weight
of that truck or truck tractor plus the weight of the passengers and their personal
luggage as operation without a valid license plate/registration; anyone convicted
of such a violation shall be subject to sanctions under Section 32-6-219, Code
of Alabama 1975.
(7) Each Judge of Probate, upon issuance of a temporary tag, shall
forward the original copy of the registration certificate to the Department
of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Division, "by the close of business the next business
day" in accordance with Section 40-12-258, Code of Alabama 1975.
(8) Probate Judges will be held accountable for temporary tags
and registration receipts assigned to and received by them. If any temporary
tags assigned to and acknowledged as received by a Probate Judge are determined
to be missing, the required registration fees for said tags must be remitted
as required by Section 32-6-215.
(9) Probate Judges, in issuing temporary tags, shall print, in
ink, complete information as to vehicle ownership, make, model, vehicle identification
numbers and date of issuance. Any erasures or other alterations of the information
required on a temporary tag or registration receipt will render it void, and
of no value to the person or vehicle described thereon.
(10) Each temporary tag is to be displayed by its purchaser in
the rear window of the vehicle for which it was purchased. If secured for a
commercial vehicle, the temporary tag is to be posted in a location conspicuous
to law enforcement officers, for example, in the normal tag frame for a mobile
home.
(11) A Judge of Probate, in his/her discretion, may, at one time,
issue up to three (3) temporary license plates to one vehicle owner/lessee for
one motor vehicle. In so doing, the Probate Judge shall indicate the beginning
and ending effective dates on each of the temporary license plates issued. (Adopted
September 7, 1983, amended December 20, 1988, December 28, 1994) (Authority:
§§32-6-56, 40-12-263, and 32-6-218, Code of Alabama 1975)
Motor Vehicle Rules Numeric Index