§32-6-280. Issuance of distinctive plates; list of eligible retired professional firefighters; identification; fees; use of plates or tags.

(a) As used in this section, retired professional firefighter means a retired member of a paid or part-paid fire department of a city, town, county, or other subdivision of the state, including the chief, assistant chief, warden, engineer, captain, firemen, and all other officers and employees of the department who actually engaged in fire fighting or rendering first aid at the scene of an accident.

(b)(1) Notwithstanding Sections 32-6-64, 32-6-67, and 32-6-68, a retired professional firefighter, upon application and subject to the provisions of this section, may be issued a distinctive motor vehicle license plate or tag as identification as a retired professional firefighter.

(2) In addition to the proper numbers, words, and insignias used on the standard license plate or tag issued for motor vehicles, the distinctive plates or tags so issued for a retired professional firefighter shall have a design created by the state association of professional firefighters in coordination with the Mobile Retired Firefighters and Paramedics Association and the Tuscaloosa Retired Firefighters Association.

(c)(1) The distinctive license plate provided herein shall be approved by the Commissioner of Revenue and shall be issued through the judge of probate, license commissioner, or other license issuing official of the several counties of the state in the same manner as are other motor vehicle license plates or tags and the officers shall be entitled to their regular fees for the service.

(2) By December 1 of each year, the Firefighters' Personnel Standards and Education Commission shall submit to the judge of probate, the license commissioner, or other license issuing official of each county a list of eligible retired professional firefighters retired from paid or part-paid fire departments under this section.

(3) Upon the initial application for a distinctive license plate under this section, an applicant for a distinctive plate provided herein shall present to the judge of probate, the license commissioner, or other license issuing official of the county, proof of his or her retirement from a fire department that is included on the list provided by the Firefighters' Personnel Standards and Education Commission. Proof of the person's retirement from a fire department included on the list from the Firefighters' Personnel Standards and Education Commission is not required for renewal of the distinctive plate.

(4) Upon the applicant submitting proof of his or her identification, the retired professional firefighter shall be issued the requested number of distinctive license plates or tags upon the payment of the regular license fee for tags, as provided by law, but shall not be required to pay the three dollar ($3) fee.

(5) The distinctive license plates or tags so issued shall be used only upon and for personally owned, private, passenger vehicles, to include station wagons and pick-up trucks, registered in the name of the retired professional firefighter making application therefor, and when so issued to the applicant shall be used upon the vehicle for which issued in lieu of the standard license plates or license tags normally issued for the vehicle.

(6) Anyone who is proven to have either falsely obtained or certified an individual to obtain a distinctive retired professional firefighter license plate shall be guilty of a Class C misdemeanor, and upon conviction, shall be punished according to law.

(d) Distinctive plates or tags as provided by this section shall be prepared and furnished for the licensing year commencing January 1, 2012, and thereafter as is provided by law for the issuance of other license plates.

(Act 2010-710, p. 1732, §§1-4.)