Utah dropping front license plate requirement. When can drivers ditch them?

Photo: Unsplash // ahmet hamdi

By: Katie McKellar, Utah News Dispatch

Utah will no longer require drivers to have a front license plate under a bill that’s won approval from the Utah Legislature.

Under SB45, Utah will only require drivers to have one license plate displayed on the back of their vehicles, rather than both a front and back license plate.

If the governor signs the bill, the change will take effect on Jan. 1, 2025.

In the meantime, Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Cameron Roden said Utah’s current front license plate requirement can technically still be enforced up until the bill’s effective date as troopers familiarize themselves with the bill’s changes. However, he said except for exigent circumstances, troopers will likely match enforcement with the law change.

It’s also worth noting violations of Utah’s current front license plate requirement is a secondary offense, so Utahns already can’t be pulled over for only that.

Currently, 21 other states don’t require drivers to have front license plates.

The bill’s sponsor Sen. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, said the aim of the bill is to save money while also streamlining and simplifying license plate production across the state.

Last month, McCay told lawmakers on the House Revenue and Taxation Committee that he decided to work on the bill after he heard from constituents complaining about having to drill holes in their front bumpers.

Then he looked at whether Utahns comply with the state’s current front license plate requirements, “and found it’s actually really low,” McCay said.

After meeting with officials from the Utah Highway Patrol and the Utah Department of Motor Vehicles, McCay said he was able to reach a compromise to address law enforcement officials’ concerns about removing the front license plate requirement, which makes it easier for police to identify vehicles.

The state is expected to save about $3.50 per license plate that no longer needs to be printed and distributed, McCay said. However, SB45 directs $1 from each license plate fee to go into a fund the Utah Highway Patrol can use to train and hire more troopers.

“We have a need for new troopers, and as a result we’re going to be funding a lot of that from this fund,” McCay said.

Meanwhile the bill will also reduce license plate costs for individual Utahns, to the tune of about $1.75 million a year, according to the bill’s fiscal note.

However, the bill also increases costs for those applying for personalized license plates, adding an additional $25 processing fee on top of the state’s existing $50 application fee.

The added $25 fee, McCay said, is to help make the personalized license plate program more cost effective for the Utah Tax Commission while also discouraging people from trying to apply for offensive designs. Currently, if a design is rejected, the existing $50 application fee is refunded, whereas the new $25 processing fee would not be refundable.

McCay included two other requests from law enforcement officials in the bill. It also bans license plate covers or frames that obscure the plate’s number or decals, particularly “convex” covers that distort the appearance of the plate.

Additionally, the bill allows troopers to use license plate readers to scan a plate number while they’re pulling someone over, rather than having to type the number into their computers.

The bill won unanimous approval from both the House and Senate.