(a) The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles shall issue registration certificates, validation stickers, and number plates upon initial registration, and registration certificates and validation stickers for each succeeding renewal period of registration, upon payment of the registration fee. Number plates so issued will become void one year from the first day of the month following the month of issue unless a longer initial registration period is authorized by law, or unless this period is extended through renewal. Registrations issued for motor trucks shall become void one year from the first day of the month following the month of issue.

(b) The Commissioner shall issue a registration certificate, validation sticker, and number plates for each motor vehicle owned by the State, that shall be valid for a period of five years. Such motor vehicle shall be considered as properly registered while the plates so issued are attached thereto. The Commissioner may replace such number plates when in his or her discretion their condition requires.

(c) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (d) of this section, no plate is valid unless the validation sticker is affixed to the rear plate in the manner prescribed by the Commissioner in section 511 of this title.

(d) When a registration for a motor vehicle, snowmobile, motorboat, or all-terrain vehicle is processed electronically, a receipt shall be available electronically and for printing. An electronic or printed receipt shall serve as a temporary registration for 10 days after the date of the transaction. An electronic receipt may be shown to an enforcement officer using a portable electronic device. Use of a portable electronic device to display the receipt does not in itself constitute consent for an officer to access other contents of the device. (Amended 1961, No. 54, § 3, eff. April 1, 1962; 1965, No. 70, § 2; 1967, No. 129, § 3; 1969, No. 259 (Adj. Sess.), § 7; 1971, No. 150 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1973; 1977, No. 85,§§ 2, 3, eff. Sept. 1, 1977; 1979, No. 34, § 2, eff. Nov. 1, 1979; 1985, No. 124 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 1987, No. 111, § 10; 1993, No. 9, § 1, eff. Feb. 1, 1994; 1995, No. 112 (Adj. Sess.), § 5; 1997, No. 39, § 2; 2001, No. 75 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 2009, No. 50, § 112; 2009, No. 152 (Adj. Sess.), § 18; 2011, No. 164 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 2013, No. 57, § 5; 2013, No. 189 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; 2017, No. 71, § 4.)