Georgia Code
Article 3 - Prestige License Plates and Special Plates for Certain Persons and Vehicles
§ 40-2-86. Special License Plates Promoting or Supporting Certain Worthy Agencies, Funds, or Nonprofit Corporations With Proceeds Disbursed to the General Fund and the Agency, Fund, or Nonprofit Corporation

History. Code 1981, § 40-2-86.21 , enacted by Ga. L. 2006, p. 1094, § 12/HB 1053; Ga. L. 2007, p. 47, § 40/SB 103; Ga. L. 2007, p. 668, §§ 4-6/SB 81; Ga. L. 2008, p. 832, §§ 2, 3/HB 1220; Ga. L. 2008, p. 1191, § 1/HB 963; Ga. L. 2009, p. 453, § 2-18/HB 228; Ga. L. 2009, p. 833, § 1/HB 639; Code 1981, § 40-2-86 , as redesignated by Ga. L. 2010, p. 9, § 1-77/HB 1055; Ga. L. 2010, p. 143, § 4.1/HB 1005; Ga. L. 2011, p. 752, § 40/HB 142; Ga. L. 2012, p. 155, § 6/HB 732; Ga. L. 2013, p. 265, § 3/SB 121; Ga. L. 2014, p. 74, §§ 1-3/HB 881; Ga. L. 2015, p. 816, § 5/HB 48; Ga. L. 2016, p. 79, § 2/HB 736; Ga. L. 2016, p. 864, § 40/HB 737; Ga. L. 2017, p. 681, § 1/SB 169; Ga. L. 2017, p. 696, § 1/HB 260; Ga. L. 2018, p. 305, § 2/HB 671; Ga. L. 2018, p. 311, § 1/HB 784; Ga. L. 2018, p. 715, § 1/HB 815; Ga. L. 2018, p. 908, §§ 2-4/HB 695; Ga. L. 2019, p. 486, § 3/SB 227; Ga. L. 2019, p. 647, § 1/SB 8; Ga. L. 2019, p. 891, § 1/HB 339; Ga. L. 2019, p. 908, § 2/SB 138; Ga. L. 2019, p. 911, § 1/SB 137; Ga. L. 2020, p. 38, § 6/SB 473; Ga. L. 2020, p. 639, § 3/SB 336; Ga. L. 2021, p. 471, § 1/SB 237; Ga. L. 2021, p. 539, § 1/HB 179; Ga. L. 2022, p. 184, § 1/HB 203.
The 2016 amendments.
The first 2016 amendment, effective April 26, 2016, added paragraphs (l)(52) through (l)(54); added paragraph (m)(13); and, in subsection (n), inserted a comma after “local county tag agent” in subparagraph (n)(1)(A), in paragraph (n)(2), substituted “A special license plate” for “Special license plates” at the beginning of the first sentence, substituted “this special license plate” for “these special license plates” in the second sentence, and substituted “license plate” for “license plates” near the beginning of the last sentence, and added paragraphs (n)(5) and (n)(6). The second 2016 amendment, effective May 3, 2016, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, revised punctuation in subparagraph (n)(1)(A), and, in paragraph (n)(2), substituted “A special license plate” for “Special license plates” in the first sentence, substituted “this special license plate” for “these special license plates” in the second sentence, and substituted “Such license plate” for “Such license plates” in the third sentence.
The 2017 amendments.
The first 2017 amendment, effective July 1, 2017, added paragraph (l)(55). The second 2017 amendment, effective July 1, 2017, added paragraph (l)(55). See the Code Commission note regarding the effect of these amendments.
The 2018 amendments.
The first 2018 amendment, effective May 3, 2018, added paragraph (m)(14). The second 2018 amendment, effective July 1, 2019, added paragraph (n)(7). The third 2018 amendment, effective May 7, 2018, added paragraph (l)(57). The fourth 2018 amendment, effective July 1, 2018, substituted the present provisions of paragraph (l)(6) for the former provisions, which read: “Special license plates promoting the dog and cat reproductive sterilization support program of the Georgia Department of Agriculture. The funds raised by the sale of these special license plates shall be disbursed to the Georgia Department of Agriculture and shall be deposited in the special fund for support of the dog and cat reproductive sterilization support program created by Code Section 4-15-1 and Article III, Section IX, Paragraph VI(m) of the Constitution of the State of Georgia.”, and added paragraph (n)(7); and, effective July 1, 2019, added paragraph (m)(14). See the Code Commission notes regarding the effect of these amendments.
The 2019 amendments.
The first 2019 amendment, effective May 2, 2019, added paragraphs (l)(58) and (l)(59). The second 2019 amendment, effective May 6, 2019, added paragraph (l)(58). The third 2019 amendment, effective May 7, 2019, substituted “Reserved.” for the former provisions of paragraph (l)(47), which read: “A special license plate for the Georgia Aquarium to support its mission as an entertaining, educational, and scientific institution and to promote the conservation of aquatic biodiversity throughout the world. The funds raised by the sale of this special plate shall be disbursed to Georgia Aquarium, Inc. Such license plate shall not include a space for a county name decal but shall instead bear the legend ‘Georgia Aquarium’ in lieu of the name of the county of issuance.”; added paragraphs (l)(58) through (l)(60); and added paragraph (n)(9). The fourth 2019 amendment, effective July 1, 2019, added paragraph (m)(16). The fifth 2019 amendment, effective May 7, 2019, added paragraph (l)(58). See the Code Commission notes regarding the effect of these amendments.
The 2020 amendments.
The first 2020 amendment, effective July 1, 2020, substituted “Department of Community Affairs” for “Department of Natural Resources for use by the Historic Preservation Division” in the second sentence of paragraph (m)(4). The second 2020 amendment, effective August 4, 2020, in subsection (b), in the second sentence, substituted “shall include a design to” for “must” and substituted “a design to be of the same size as motorcycle license plates. Such special license plates shall also” for “shall”, and added the fourth sentence; and added paragraphs (l)(64) and (l)(65).
The 2021 amendments.
The first 2021 amendment, effective July 1, 2021, added paragraph (l)(66). The second 2021 amendment, effective July 1, 2021, added paragraph (l)(66) (now paragraph (1)(67)); in paragraph (m)(9), substituted “Any such special license plate issued for the first time on or before June 30, 2021,” for “Such design” at the beginning of the fourth sentence, and added the fifth and sixth sentences; and added paragraph (m)(17).
The 2022 amendment, effective May 2, 2022, added paragraph (l)(68).
Code Commission notes.
Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 2006, Code Section 40-2-86.18, as enacted by Ga. L. 2006, p. 1094, § 12/HB 1053, was redesignated as Code Section 40-2-86.
The enactment of this Code section by Ga. L. 2006, p. 1092, § 1, irreconcilably conflicted with and was treated as superseded by Ga. L. 2006, p. 1094, § 12/HB 1053. See County of Butts v. Strahan, 151 Ga. 417 (1920).
The amendment of this Code section by Ga. L. 2007, p. 47, § 40/SB 103, irreconcilably conflicted with and was treated as superseded by Ga. L. 2007, p. 668, §§ 4-6/SB 81. See County of Butts v. Strahan, 151 Ga. 417 (1921).
Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 2010, paragraph (o)(41), as enacted by Ga. L. 2010, p. 143, § 4.1/HB 1005, was redesignated as paragraph (l)(48).
Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 2017, paragraph (l)(55), as added by Ga. L. 2017, p. 696, § 1/HB 260, was redesignated as paragraph (l)(56), and in paragraph (l)(55), “Back the Badge” was substituted for “back the badge”.
Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 2018, paragraph (m)(14), as enacted by Ga. L. 2018, p. 908, § 3/HB 695, and paragraph (n)(7), as enacted by Ga. L. 2018, p. 908, § 4/HB 695, were redesignated as paragraphs (m)(15) and (n)(8), respectively.
Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 2019, paragraph (l)(58), as enacted by Ga. L. 2019, p. 647, § 1/SB 8, was redesignated as paragraph (l)(60); paragraphs (l)(58) and (l)(60), as enacted by Ga. L. 2019, p. 891, § 1/HB 339, were redesignated as paragraphs (l)(61) and (l)(62), respectively; and, paragraph (l)(58), as enacted by Ga. L. 2019, p. 911, § 1/SB 137, was redesignated as paragraph (l)(63). Furthermore, Ga. L. 2019, p. 486, § 3/SB 227 and Ga. L. 2019, p. 891, § 1/HB 339 both enacted identical provisions on Autism Alliance license plates which have been set out as paragraph (l)(59).
Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 2021, paragraph (l)(66), as added by Ga. L. 2021, p. 539, § 1/HB 179, was redesignated as paragraph (l)(67).
Editor’s notes.
Ga. L. 2006, p. 1094, § 13/HB 1053, not codified by the General Assembly, provides the enactment of this Code section became effective January 1, 2007, only upon ratification of a constitutional amendment by the voters at the 2006 general election. The constitutional amendment (Ga. L. 2006, p. 1112) was approved by a majority of the qualified voters voting at the general election held on November 7, 2006.
This Code section formerly pertained to special license plates for emergency medical technicians. The former Code section was based on Code 1981, § 40-2-86 , enacted by Ga. L. 1992, p. 2785, § 1.2; Ga. L. 1997, p. 419, § 32. Ga. L. 2010, p. 9, § 1-75/HB 1055, repealed the reservation of this Code section.
Ga. L. 2016, p. 79, § 3/HB 736, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “In accordance with the requirements of Article III, Section IX, Paragraph VI(n) of the Constitution of the State of Georgia, Section 2 of this Act amending subsections (l), (m), and (n) of Code Section 40-2-86 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated shall not become law unless it receives the requisite two-thirds’ majority vote in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.” The legislation received the requisite two-thirds’ majority vote.
Ga. L. 2017, p. 681, § 2/SB 169, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: “In accordance with the requirements of Article III, Section IX, Paragraph (VI)(n) of the Constitution of the State of Georgia, this Act shall not become law unless it receives the requisite two-thirds’ majority vote in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.” The legislation received the requisite two-thirds’ majority vote.
Ga. L. 2017, p. 696, § 2/HB 260, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: “In accordance with the requirements of Article III, Section IX, Paragraph (VI)(n) of the Constitution of the State of Georgia, this Act shall not become law unless it receives the requisite two-thirds’ majority vote in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.” The legislation received the requisite two-thirds’ majority vote.
Ga. L. 2019, p. 486, § 3/SB 227, which amended this Code section, purported to add one new paragraph to subsection (l) but actually added two new paragraphs.
Ga. L. 2019, p. 891, § 1/HB 339, which amended this Code section, purported to add two new paragraphs to subsection (l) but actually added three new paragraphs.
Ga. L. 2021, p. 471, § 2/SB 237, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: “In accordance with the requirements of Article III, Section IX, Paragraph VI(n) of the Constitution of the State of Georgia, this Act shall not become law unless it receives the requisite two thirds’ majority vote in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.”
Ga. L. 2022, p. 184, § 2/HB 203, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “In accordance with the requirements of Article III, Section IX, Paragraph VI(n) of the Constitution of the State of Georgia, this Act shall not become law unless it receives the requisite two-thirds’ majority vote in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.” The legislation received the requisite two-thirds’ majority vote.