A. The department shall issue distinctive registration plates indicating that the recipient is a survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor if that person submits satisfactory proof to the department indicating that the person:
(1) was a member of the United States armed forces on December 7, 1941;
(2) received an honorable discharge from the United States armed forces; and
(3) was on station on December 7, 1941 during the hours of 7:55 a.m. to 9:45 a.m. Hawaii time at Pearl Harbor, the island of Oahu, or offshore at a distance not exceeding three miles.
B. The department shall confirm satisfactory proof with the New Mexico chapter of the Pearl Harbor survivors association.
C. No fee other than the registration fee applicable to the passenger motor vehicle, if any, shall be collected for the issuance of the distinctive registration plate pursuant to this section.
D. The recipient of a distinctive plate issued pursuant to this section shall be issued replacement plates upon request and without charge if the plate is lost, stolen or mutilated.
E. A person eligible for a distinctive registration plate pursuant to this section and also eligible for one or more special or distinctive registration plates pursuant to Sections 66-3-406, 66-3-409, 66-3-411, 66-3-412 and 66-3-414 NMSA 1978 shall be issued only one special or distinctive registration plate of the person's choice.
F. A person shall not falsely represent that the person is a survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor so as to be eligible to be issued distinctive plates pursuant to this section when that person in fact is not a survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
G. A person who violates the provisions of Subsection F of this section is guilty of a penalty assessment misdemeanor.
History: 1978 Comp., § 66-3-415, enacted by Laws 1989, ch. 162, § 1; 1993, ch. 180, § 6; 1995, ch. 8, § 5; 2018, ch. 74, § 14.
ANNOTATIONSThe 2018 amendment, effective July 1, 2018, reduced the penalty for falsely representing oneself as a survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor so as to be eligible to be issued a distinctive registration plate pursuant to this section, and made technical changes; replaced "division" with "department" throughout the section; and in Subsection G, after "guilty of a", added "penalty assessment", and after "misdemeanor", deleted "and shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100) or more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) or by imprisonment for a definite term of less than one year or both".
The 1995 amendment, effective June 16, 1995, deleted former Subsection H which barred issuance of special registration plates under this section after July 1, 1995.
The 1993 amendment, effective July 1, 1993, made stylistic changes in Subsections C and D; substituted "66-3-412 and 66-3-414 NMSA 1978" for "and 66-3-412 NMSA 1978" in Subsection E; and added Subsection H.