Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
With the use of license plate cameras locally, will laws for not covering vehicle license plates be enforced? Vehicle license plate covers (clear or otherwise) are a form of withholding vehicle operator identification and substantially hinders law enforcement.
Covering a license plate is illegal, according to Clovis Police Department Deputy Chief Trevor Thron.
“Yes, any kind of tinted license plate cover or any decorative border going around the plate that obstructs the view of the plate or the registration sticker is illegal and we have been enforcing that law,” Thron wrote in an email.
Thron wrote the city’s license plate reading system will be up and running in a couple of months.
He noted there are city ordinances that cover this matter, labeled as “improper display of registration.”
The ordinance, number 12-10-4.1 outlines the need and proper display of a vehicle license plate.
The ordinance reads, in part: “Any police officer may, upon discovering that the registration plate of any vehicle is illegible because of wear or damage or other causes, issue a citation to the owner or operator of the vehicle. The citation shall provide that the owner shall, within thirty days from the date of the citation, apply for and obtain a duplicate or replacement plate from the division.
“Any motor vehicle owner who has been issued a citation for an illegible registration plate and who fails to comply with the terms of the citation requiring the acquisition of a duplicate or replacement plate within thirty days of the date of the citation is guilty of a misdemeanor.”
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