A. Upon compliance with all laws relating to registration and licensing of motor vehicles and upon application to the division, special registration plates shall be furnished for vehicles owned by:
(1) elected state officials;
(2) members of the legislature;
(3) the chief clerks of the house of representatives and of the senate;
(4) the sergeants at arms of the house of representatives and of the senate; and
(5) disabled persons, pursuant to Section 66-3-16 NMSA 1978.
B. Special registration plates furnished under this section shall identify the officials, members and disabled persons as such. If legislators, the special registration plates shall indicate whether they are members of the house of representatives or of the senate.
C. When the ownership of the vehicle for which a special registration plate has been furnished by the division changes or the holder ceases to qualify, the special registration plate shall immediately be removed from the vehicle by the holder of the special registration plate and returned to the director, at which time the person removing the special registration plate shall receive a regular registration plate for the vehicle.
D. The holder of a special registration plate may transfer his special registration plate from one vehicle to another during the year in which the plate is valid upon application to the director for the transfer. If a transfer is made, the owner of the vehicle from which the special registration plate is removed may receive a regular registration plate upon payment of the fees established by law.
E. The holder of a special registration plate pursuant to Paragraph (2) of Subsection A of this section may simultaneously hold a regular registration for the same vehicle. The division shall, by rule, provide for maintenance of simultaneous registration records.
History: 1953 Comp., § 64-3-406, enacted by Laws 1978, ch. 35, § 85; 1979, ch. 327, § 2; 1993, ch. 180, § 1; 1994, ch. 122, § 1.
ANNOTATIONSCross references. — For restrictions on indicating title of office on plates, see 66-3-14 NMSA 1978.
The 1994 amendment, effective May 18, 1994, deleted the first sentence of Subsection C, which read: "At the time of delivery of the special registration plate, the official, member or disabled person shall surrender his current registration plate issued for the vehicle if any has been issued"; substituted "may receive a regular registration plate upon" for "may not receive a regular registration plate except upon" in Subsection D; and added Subsection E.
The 1993 amendment, effective July 1, 1993, inserted "registration" in the section heading and throughout Subsections C and D; deleted "motor" before "vehicles" near the end of the introductory language of Subsection A and before "vehicle" in the first sentence and near the beginning of the second sentence of Subsection C; deleted former Paragraphs (5) and (7) of Subsection A, which read: "members of the consular or diplomatic corps of a foreign country who are certified by the United States department of state" and "members of the New Mexico mounted patrol", respectively, renumbering former Paragraph (6) as Paragraph (5) and making related grammatical changes; and made stylistic changes in Subsections A through D.
"Lieutenant-governor's aide" or "advisor" cannot appear on plate. — The department of motor vehicles (now motor vehicle division) may not issue a license plate having on it "lieutenant-governor's aide" or "lieutenant governor's advisor." 1967 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 67-114.