Plate Covers & Obstruction

Alabama has no statute that names license plate covers, tinted shields or frames. A full-text search of the Code of Alabama on the Legislature's own code database returns zero sections…

Alaska has never enacted a license plate cover statute. Nothing in AS 28.10 or in the Department of Public Safety equipment regulations names a plate cover, shield, frame, tint or…

Arizona bans any plate cover, spray, electronic device or electrochromatic film that obscures the numbers, characters, year tabs or issuing state name "from any angle", under A.R.S. §…

A.C.A. § 27-14-716(c)(1) prohibits placing any type of cover over an Arkansas license plate that makes the plate more difficult to read or that reduces its reflective properties. The…

California does not let you put a cover over your license plate. Vehicle Code section 5201(c) allows exactly two things: a full car cover on a lawfully parked vehicle, and a license…

Colorado writes its plate-cover ban around machine readability. C.R.S. § 42-3-202 (2)(b) makes it unlawful to operate a motor vehicle with an affixed device or substance that causes…

Since October 1, 2025 a Connecticut number plate must be "substantially unobscured" rather than "entirely unobscured," and the statute now defines that by whether a reasonable person…

Delaware bars any tinted cover and any material placed on or around a number plate that conceals or obscures information on it, including the registration expiration sticker, under 21…

The District of Columbia bans license plate covers outright and prices the offence far above the ordinary tag infraction. Under 18 DCMR § 422.8 no person may operate a vehicle where…

Florida treats an obscured plate as a crime, not a ticket. Fla. Stat. section 320.061(1) makes it unlawful to apply or attach any substance, reflective matter, illuminated device…

Georgia permits a license plate cover only where the covering material is colorless and transparent, and the same Code section separately forbids attaching any apparatus to the rear of…

Since Act 124 took effect on May 29, 2025, Hawaii has one of the bluntest plate-cover rules in the country. HRS section 286-73 prohibits the use of any cover or shield installed over a…

Idaho never uses the words cover, frame, shield or tint anywhere in title 49 in connection with a license plate. The rule that catches plate covers is Idaho Code section 49-428(2)…

Illinois does not ask whether a plate cover obscures the plate. 625 ILCS 5/3-413(g) makes it unlawful to operate any motor vehicle equipped with a registration plate cover, full stop…

Indiana never uses the phrase license plate cover in its code, but Ind. Code § 9-18.1-4-4(b) reaches covers anyway. A plate must be maintained free from foreign materials and in a…

Iowa Code section 321.37(3) makes it unlawful for a vehicle owner to place any frame around or over the registration plate which does not permit full view of all numerals and letters…

Kansas has a dedicated plate-cover statute. K.S.A. 8-15,110, enacted in 2010, makes it unlawful to display a plate covered in whole or in part with any clear or opaque material or any…

Kentucky puts the rule in its registration statute rather than its equipment chapter. KRS 186.170(1)(c) requires that plates be kept legible at all times, that the rear plate be…

La. R.S. 32:53(A)(3) makes it unlawful to apply a covering or any substance to a Louisiana license plate, or to use an electronic device or electrochromatic film, that obscures the…

Maine has no statute that names plate covers, tinted shields or frames, but it does something harsher than most states: 29-A M.R.S. § 2104(2) makes it a Class E crime to obscure the…

Maryland attacks registration plate covers from three directions. Transportation Article § 13-411.1 defines a plate cover by what it is designed to do, then bans selling one, offering…

Massachusetts bans plate covers by naming the device rather than by regulating tint or reflectivity. G.L. c. 90, § 6 says number plates shall be kept clean with the numbers legible and…

Michigan does not regulate license plate covers by naming them. It regulates the result. MCL 257.225(2) requires that the plate be maintained free from foreign materials that obscure…

Minnesota leaves no room for a tinted, smoked or even perfectly clear plate cover. Minn. Stat. § 169.79, subd. 7 says it is unlawful to cover the assigned letters and numbers, or the…

Mississippi reaches plate covers through its tag-display statute, Miss. Code Ann. § 27-19-31(2)(a), and it names the hardware directly. The tag, every character on it and any legally…

Missouri is one of the states that answers the plate cover question in the statute itself rather than leaving it to a general obstruction rule. Mo. Rev. Stat. Section 301.130.5…

Montana never wrote a statute naming license plate covers, frames or tinted shields. What governs instead is Mont. Code Ann. § 61-3-301(1)(a), which requires plates to be conspicuously…

Nebraska has no statute naming license plate covers, and it does not need one. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-399(3) requires every letter, numeral and identification mark on the plate to be…

Nevada has no statute that uses the words "plate cover" or "plate frame." What it has instead is NRS 482.275(5), which requires every license plate to be securely fastened, positioned…

New Hampshire outlaws license plate covers by their tint, not by whether the plate can still be read. RSA 261:176, II makes it a violation to apply, or to permit anyone to apply, "any…

New Jersey does not ban license plate frames outright. R.S. 39:3-33 makes it an offence to drive with a frame or holder that conceals or obscures the state name, the registration…

New York does not allow license plate covers of any kind. Vehicle and Traffic Law § 402(1)(b)(ii-a) states flatly that number plates shall not be covered by glass or any plastic…

North Carolina bans anything over a plate that makes part of it unreadable, and it names frames and clear covers specifically. G.S. 20-63(g) makes it an infraction to cover a plate…

North Dakota has no statute that names license plate covers, shields, tinted lenses or frames, and a search of title 39 returns no prohibition on any of them. What it has instead is a…

R.C. 4503.21(A)(2) imposes two separate duties on an Ohio driver: the rear license plate must be securely fastened so as not to swing, and it shall not be covered by any material that…

Oklahoma outlaws every license plate cover, not just tinted or smoked ones. 47 O.S. Section 1113(A) makes it a violation to operate a vehicle in the state on which the license plate is…

Oregon draws a hard line between a frame and a cover. ORS 803.550(2)(b) makes a plate illegally altered if any material or covering, other than a frame or plate holder, is placed on…

Pennsylvania flatly prohibits a tinted registration plate cover. Section 1332(b)(5) of the Vehicle Code makes it unlawful to display a plate that "has a tinted plate cover," with no…

Rhode Island has no statute that mentions license plate covers, shields, frames or tinted lenses by name. The rule that reaches them is R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-3-18(b), which requires…

A tinted licence plate cover is illegal in South Carolina by name. S.C. Code Section 56-3-1240(D) forbids displaying any other licence plate, lighting equipment, tag, sign, monogram…

South Dakota has no statute or administrative rule that bans a license plate cover, frame, tinted shield or spray. The controlling provision is SDCL 32-5-98, which requires two plates…

Tennessee draws a hard line on plate covers. Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-4-110(b) says no tinted materials may be placed over a license plate "even if the information upon the license plate…

Texas outlaws license plate covers in Transportation Code Section 504.945(a)(7), which makes it an offense to display a plate carrying a coating, covering, protective substance or…

Utah Code 41-1a-403(2)(a) says an individual may not attach to or over a license plate a license plate cover. There is no tint qualifier, no transparency exception and no exception…

Vermont's plate rule leaves no room for a cover. 23 V.S.A. § 511(a) says number plates "shall be kept entirely unobscured, and the numerals and letters thereon shall be plainly legible…

Virginia bans any cover, frame, bracket, holder, mounting, or colored glass or plastic placed on, around, or over a license plate if it in any way alters or obscures the plate…

Washington bans license plate covers outright. RCW 46.16A.200(7)(c)(i) makes it unlawful to use license plate holders, frames, covers, or other materials that conceal, obstruct…

West Virginia never wrote a statute that names a licence plate cover, a shield or a frame. The rule that decides the question is W. Va. Code § 17A-3-15(b), which requires every…

Wisconsin attacks plate covers from two directions. Wis. Stat. s. 341.61 (3) makes it an offence carrying a forfeiture of up to $500 to place any substance on a plate that hinders its…

Wyoming does not name plate covers, tinted shields or frames in its vehicle code, but two provisions between them reach every one of them. W.S. 31-2-205(a)(iv) requires a license plate…