§249-7  Number plates.  (a)  Uponreceipt of the tax the director of finance shall number and register thevehicle in the owner's name in a permanent record or book to be kept by thedirector for this purpose, and shall furnish the owner thereof with a receiptshowing upon its face the license number issued for the vehicle and the factthat the license tax has been paid thereon for the whole or the remainder ofthe current year in which the receipt is issued.  The director of finance shallalso furnish the owner, upon the original registration of the vehicle, twonumber plates for the vehicle or one plate in the case of trailers,semitrailers, or motorcycles with the registration number marked thereon.  Uponthe payment of the tax for each year a tag or emblem bearing a serial numberand the month and year of expiration shall be provided to the owner.  Transferof current number plates, tag, or emblem, except as authorized by this chapteror by chapter 286, is punishable by a fine of not more than $50 for eachoffense.

(b)  Upon an original registration the directorof finance shall fix, and shall charge to the owner, a fee equal to the cost ofthe number plate and tag or emblem plus the administrative cost of furnishingthe plate and tag or emblem and effecting the registration.  Upon the issuanceof a new series of number plates as determined by the directors of finance ofeach county through majority consent, the director of finance shall charge theowner a fee equal to the costs of the number plate plus the administrative costof furnishing the plates.  Upon issuing a tag or emblem, the director offinance shall charge the owner a fee of 50 cents.  The owner shall securelyfasten the number plates on the vehicle, one on the front and the other on therear, at a location provided by the manufacturer or in the absence of such alocation upon the bumpers of the vehicle and in conformance with section291-31, in such a manner as to prevent the plates from swinging.  Number platesshall at all times be displayed entirely unobscured and be kept reasonablyclean.  In the case of trailers, semitrailers, or motorcycles, one plate shallbe used and it shall be fastened to the rear thereof at a location provided bythe manufacturer or in the absence of such a location at the rear thereof, andin the case of motorcycles in conformance with section 291-31.

(c)  Upon the issuance of the tag or emblem theowner shall affix the tag or emblem to the top right portion of the rear numberplate, except that all vehicles owned by the State, any county government, anyboard of water supply, and official representatives of any foreign governmentsshall be issued registrations which need be renewed only in the new plate issueyear.

(d)  After the initial payment of the tax andthe original registration of a vehicle as herein specified, a motor vehicleshall not be required to be reweighed in any succeeding year unless it has beenso altered or changed as to increase or diminish its weight.  No new numberplates shall, however, be issued to a new owner except as provided in sections249-7.5 and 249-8.

(e)  If an owner of a vehicle registered in anycounty, upon the disposition of the vehicle, requests that the license platesfurnished to the owner with respect to the registration of the vehicle beassigned to another vehicle subsequently acquired by the owner, the assignmentmay be made by the director of finance at the director's discretion.  To defrayadditional administrative costs incurred by acceding to those requests, thedirector of finance shall charge a fee of $5 for each reassignment of licenseplates, in addition to the fee for registration.  The procedure for registeringthe vehicles shall otherwise be identical with that provided by this section.[RL 1935, pt of §2157; am L 1937, c 214, §1, subs 4; RL 1945, §5708; am L 1951,c 162, §2; am L 1953, c 158, §1; RL 1955, §130-7; am L 1961, c 10, §1; am L1966, c 49, §3; HRS §249-7; am L 1968, c 45, §2; am L 1980, c 47, §1 and c 133,§2; am L 1982, c 237, §1; gen ch 1985; am L 1990, c 132, §1; am L 2007, c 7, §1]

 

Case Notes

 

  There was substantialevidence to support defendant's obstructed license plate infraction wheresafety check emblems were placed on the license plate and violation does notrequire that the license plate numbers, specifically, be obstructed.  112 H.233 (App.), 145 P.3d 776.