Florida law requires all vehicles to display a license plate assigned by the state. This leads many Florida drivers to ask an important question: Can cops tell if you have the wrong license plate?
Law enforcement officers have methods for determining whether a vehicle is not displaying the correct license plate. If you do this, you could face criminal charges for attaching a plate that wasn’t assigned, potentially resulting in a permanent criminal record.
The criminal traffic defense lawyers at The Ticket Fighter Law Firm fight charges stemming from invalid plates, validation stickers, or driver’s licenses, helping clients obtain a fair and just outcome.
How Police Detect Wrong License Plates in Orlando
Florida law makes it illegal to knowingly attach a license plate or validation sticker that wasn’t assigned to a certain vehicle. This offense is a second-degree misdemeanor.
How can police detect wrong-tag attachment? Officers might determine that you have the incorrect license plate in the following ways.
Law Enforcement Visual Inspections and Routine Plate Checks
An officer may run your plate while following you or after pulling you over for another violation. For example, the police may discover that your car has an unassigned plate by calling in your plate number while pursuing you for erratic driving.
Under normal circumstances, an officer might run your plates to see whether you have outstanding warrants or your vehicle has been reported stolen.
However, such a routine check can return information that you’re driving on an expired registration or a suspended license. The officer can then use this as probable cause to stop you for driving with an improperly installed registration plate.
This sort of check can also reveal that your vehicle has an unassigned license plate. However, confirming this might take additional work.
The information the officer gets back will include a description of your vehicle. They must compare the year, make, model, and color associated with your registration license plate with the vehicle you’re driving. If they don’t match, the officer may reasonably suspect that your car has the wrong plate.
It’s important to note that this suspicion isn’t enough to establish a violation. The law still requires law enforcement personnel to prove that an unassigned plate was knowingly attached.
Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) in Florida
Can cops tell if you have the wrong license plate without stopping you?
Police plate-scanner technology in Orlando is more commonly known as automated license plate readers (ALPRs). These devices can be fixed or mobile. Fixed ALPRs may be located on traffic light posts or other infrastructure, while mobile ALPRs are positioned on police cars. Virtually all marked police cars have them installed and run automatic checks on every license plate it sees.
Orlando police license plate-detection systems capture images of plates and store them in a database. The images are then analyzed to read the plate number and compared against the following records:
- Stolen cars
- Wanted persons
- Missing persons
- Terrorism watchlists
ALPR systems won’t automatically report that your vehicle has an unassigned plate. However, they may report that there’s some other issue, such as stolen plates, that would give an officer probable cause to stop you and subsequently determine that you were using an unassigned license plate on your car.
Florida Laws on Improper or Wrong License Plates
Florida requires all vehicles to be registered and licensed in the owner’s name. Licensed vehicles must display the assigned license plate. This requirement applies whenever the car is driven, stopped, or parked upon any public roads, highways, or streets.
Florida’s main statute addressing the installation of an unassigned plate contains the following four elements:
- Knowingly attaching
- To any motor vehicle or mobile home
- A registration license plate, validation sticker, or mobile home sticker
- Not issued and assigned or lawfully transferred to such vehicle
The consequences of improper tag attachment in Florida mirror those of similar second-degree misdemeanors. Under state law, the courts may sentence an offender to pay a fine of up to $500, along with court costs. Per Florida Statute 320.261, penalties upon conviction may include:
- Up to 60 days of jail time
- Up to six months of probation
Although the law doesn’t specify how judges should choose the appropriate sentence, most first-time offenders will receive a more lenient sentence than repeat offenders.
This outcome isn’t guaranteed. That said, having an experienced traffic-crimes defense attorney may increase your chances of receiving a sentence at the lower end of the range.
How Officers Determine Knowledge and Intent When Attaching Plates
Florida’s law doesn’t define or expand on the “knowingly.” However, general legal principles define “knowingly” as knowledge of the facts and circumstances that make the act illegal.
Applying this logic to the statute prohibiting unassigned license plates, the state must have evidence showing that you knew the plate or sticker was attached to a vehicle it wasn’t assigned to.
Notably, this definition excludes innocent mistakes.
If you registered two vehicles at the same time and inadvertently switched the plates when installing them, you probably didn’t violate the law. However, you would violate the law if you replaced the expired plates on one of your cars with the unexpired plate from another vehicle so you could continue driving it.
Proving knowledge can be challenging for prosecutors. They can ask jurors to make reasonable inferences. For example, if you put a plate on your car that you stole from a junk yard, jurors could reasonably infer that you knew the plate wasn’t assigned to your vehicle.
Similarly, prosecutors can use any admission you make to officers that you knew the plates didn’t belong on your vehicle. Statements like this carry a great deal of weight with jurors.
Practical Tips for Drivers Stopped Over Motor Vehicle Plate Issues
A conviction for using an unassigned plate or validation sticker can result in stiff penalties. Here are some practical steps to take if you get stopped for using the wrong license plate on your vehicle.
Remain Silent
You might feel frightened, stressed, or anxious when you get pulled over for any reason. However, because of the knowledge requirement of the license plate statute, it’s essential to remain calm when the police stop you for an unassigned plate.
How can cops tell if you have the wrong license plate if you assert your right to remain silent? You can see how declining to speak can make it exceedingly difficult for the state to make its case.
Ask for a Lawyer
Asking for a lawyer benefits you in two respects. First, the police should cease questioning you once you request legal counsel. Under the Fifth Amendment, you have the right to remain silent and have a lawyer represent you during any custodial questioning.
Second, your lawyer may be able to help you avoid charges by explaining to the officers that you didn’t violate the law. They can present arguments and evidence on your behalf to explain that your actions don’t amount to a criminal offense.
Call The Ticket Fighter Law Firm
When choosing an attorney, it’s vital to look for experience specific to traffic criminal offenses. These violations have unique elements and defenses that many lawyers don’t understand. When you contact our law firm, you’ll get the benefit of our high success rate in fighting these types of charges.
How an Orlando Criminal Defense Lawyer Can Help
Working with an Orlando criminal defense attorney is a good idea for many reasons. Your lawyer can represent you during the police investigation by speaking on your behalf. In doing so, they’ll permit you to avoid speaking and inadvertently disclosing any information that should remain confidential.
Your attorney can also gather evidence for your defense. Their assistance will be essential if the evidence you need for your defense is in someone else’s hands. For example, your lawyer can help secure videos, photographs, and documents from the car dealership that accidentally swapped your license plate with someone else’s.
Critically, your legal representative can present your defense to the state and negotiate for a dismissal or a fair plea bargain.
A dismissal is the ideal outcome because you’ll be cleared of all wrongdoing if your case is dismissed. However, a plea bargain is also a positive result, as it allows you to avoid the cost and risk of a criminal trial.
If the state has a strong case against you, your lawyer may be able to push for a sentencing recommendation that eschews the harshest penalties for a fraudulent license plate offense in Florida.
Finally, your attorney can prepare for trial while working to resolve your case without the need to go to court. If settlement negotiations fall through, they can argue your defense before a jury at trial.
Contact The Ticket Fighter Law Firm for a Consultation
The skilled legal professionals at our traffic criminal defense law firm have over 20 years of experience overcoming traffic violations and citations. If you’re facing charges for driving with the wrong license plate in Orlando, our attorneys will force the state to prove every element of your Orlando wrong license plate charge.
A conviction for knowingly driving with the wrong plates can result in jail time and a permanent criminal record. Contact us to schedule a free consultation and push back against your charge for attaching tag not assigned in Florida.