(1) The department shall issue special license plates for a passenger car or a truck that does not exceed sixteen thousand pounds empty weight owned by an active or retired member of the Colorado National Guard, as defined in section 28-3-101 (12), C.R.S.
(2) (a) The special license plates must have a white background with blue lettering and must be of a design determined by the executive director of the department. The plates indicate that the owner of the motor vehicle is a member of the Colorado National Guard.
(b) If an applicant for a Colorado National Guard license plate under this section demonstrates a physical impairment affecting mobility under the standards provided in section 42-3-204 (1), the department shall issue a Colorado National Guard license plate with an additional identifying figure, as defined in section 42-3-204 (1)(e), to indicate that the vehicle is authorized to transport a person who is eligible to use reserved parking under section 42-4-1208.
A natural person who is an active or retired member of the Colorado National Guardmay use the special license plates provided for by this section.
The amount of taxes and fees for such special license plates shall be the same as theamount of taxes and fees specified for regular motor vehicle registration plus an additional onetime fee of twenty-five dollars. The additional fee shall be transmitted to the state treasurer, who shall credit the fee to the highway users tax fund for allocation and expenditure as specified in section 43-4-205 (5.5)(b), C.R.S.
Applications for special license plates provided for in this section shall include suchinformation as the department may require. At the time of application, the applicant shall submit a proof of eligibility form prepared by the department of military and veterans affairs verifying active or retired status. If the owner of a vehicle registered pursuant to this section ceases to be an active member of the Colorado National Guard and has not qualified for retirement from the Colorado National Guard, such person shall return the special license plates to the department upon expiration of the registration. Upon retiring from the Colorado National Guard, a person wishing to retain such special license plates shall submit a verification of retired status that is issued by the department of military and veterans affairs to establish eligibility for retention of the plates. A retired member of the Colorado National Guard is required to verify retired status only once under this section.
The executive director of the department may prepare any special forms and issuesuch rules as may be necessary to implement this section.
Source: L. 2005: (4) amended, p. 145, § 17, effective April 5; entire article amended with relocations, p. 1130, § 2, effective August 8. L. 2015: (2) amended, (HB 15-1026), ch. 231, p. 860, § 5, effective August 5.
Editor's note: (1) This section is similar to former § 42-3-117 as it existed prior to 2005.
(2) Subsection (4) was originally numbered as § 42-3-117 (5)(a), and the amendments to it in Senate Bill 05-041 were harmonized with § 42-3-218 (4) as it appears in House Bill 051107.