CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Texas is putting an end to temporary paper license plates next week as part of an effort to reduce theft and fraud.
Starting July 1, all newly purchased vehicles in Texas will be required to have metal license plates immediately, eliminating the traditional paper temporary tags that have been standard in the state.
"We're one of the few states that still does paper tagging," said Elisa Escamilla, finance director at Mike Shaw Kia.
Governor Greg Abbott signed House Bill 718, mandating hard metal license plates for all vehicles purchased after July 1. The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles says this change aims to reduce the chances of theft and fraud.
Escamilla explained how easily paper plates can be counterfeited: "I would be able to draw out or print out a fake tag that looks pretty darn similar to these paper plates."
This vulnerability creates problems for legitimate vehicle owners.
"Maybe put it on the back of their vehicle and go through the toll roads and the state is going to issue that fee to the person it was assigned to, not the person driving the car," Escamilla said.
The new requirement also addresses durability issues with paper plates.
"Whether it be the humidity, rain, wind, sometimes paper plates can fly off of the back of vehicles," Escamilla said.
The new metal plates will be color-coded with either purple, blue, green, or red, depending on the specific activity assigned to that plate.
For dealerships like Mike Shaw Kia, which handles numerous sales daily, this represents a significant operational change.
"We can have up to 20, 25 appointments and sell up to 12-15 units a day," Escamilla said.
Current vehicle owners don't need to take any action. "Anything purchased before July 1 will be grandfathered in," Escamilla said.
Those who purchase vehicles before the end of June will have 60 days to obtain their metal plates.
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