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



(b)  Upon an original registration the director
of finance shall fix, and shall charge to the owner, a fee equal to the cost of
the number plate and tag or emblem plus the administrative cost of furnishing
the plate and tag or emblem and effecting the registration.  Upon the issuance
of a new series of number plates as determined by the directors of finance of
each county through majority consent, the director of finance shall charge the
owner a fee equal to the costs of the number plate plus the administrative cost
of furnishing the plates.  Upon issuing a tag or emblem, the director of
finance shall charge the owner a fee of 50 cents.  The owner shall securely
fasten the number plates on the vehicle, one on the front and the other on the
rear, at a location provided by the manufacturer or in the absence of such a
location upon the bumpers of the vehicle and in conformance with section
291-31, in such a manner as to prevent the plates from swinging.  Number plates
shall at all times be displayed entirely unobscured and be kept reasonably
clean.  In the case of trailers, semitrailers, or motorcycles, one plate shall
be used and it shall be fastened to the rear thereof at a location provided by
the manufacturer or in the absence of such a location at the rear thereof, and
in the case of motorcycles in conformance with section 291-31.



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



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



(e)  If an owner of a vehicle registered in any
county, upon the disposition of the vehicle, requests that the license plates
furnished to the owner with respect to the registration of the vehicle be
assigned to another vehicle subsequently acquired by the owner, the assignment
may be made by the director of finance at the director's discretion.  To defray
additional administrative costs incurred by acceding to those requests, the
director of finance shall charge a fee of $5 for each reassignment of license
plates, in addition to the fee for registration.  The procedure for registering
the 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 L
1966, 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 substantial
evidence to support defendant's obstructed license plate infraction where
safety check emblems were placed on the license plate and violation does not
require that the license plate numbers, specifically, be obstructed.  112 H.
233 (App.), 145 P.3d 776.