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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Motor Vehicle Enforcement Division is warning drivers who use unauthorized license plates they could have their vehicle impounded, registration revoked and even face criminal charges.
Motor Vehicle Enforcement Division spokesman Charlie Roberts said his agency recently received “dozens of phone calls” from police departments around the state reporting vehicle owners who are using unauthorized plates on their personal vehicles.
Roberts estimates there are several hundred cars on Utah roads with license plates that don’t comply with the law.
Using a novelty plate purchased online or a license plate with a different color or facsimile is a class C misdemeanor, Roberts said. Drivers with these types of license plates will have their vehicle impounded and their registration revoked until they display an authorized license plate.
“The whole purpose of license plates is not for advertisement, or to see how cute they can get it, it’s so police can identify them,” Roberts said. “It’s for your own protection. So if you have your vehicle stolen, we can recover it.”
It is a third-degree felony to forge or counterfeit a license plate or use a plate knowing it has been altered, forged or falsified, he said.
Unauthorized license plates are also often associated with criminal activity, Roberts said.
Vehicles in Utah must display authorized plates and decals from the Division of Motor Vehicles. Authorities urge any Utahns using unauthorized plates to replace them with DMV-issued plates and decals.
Contributing: Brianna Bodily, KSL Newsradio
