Paper license plates in Texas will no longer be issued starting July 1

Say goodbye to paper license plates in Texas

Paper license plates will no longer be issued by car dealers starting July 1.

AUSTIN, Texas - Paper license plates will no longer be issued by car dealers starting July 1. 

New laws are going into effect that will streamline the process for receiving metal license plates.

No more paper license plates

What they're saying:

Paper license plates were being sold by bogus dealers by the thousands. Many used them to avoid vehicle inspections, toll roads, or to commit crimes.

"Somebody can just create a fake paper plate, put it on a stolen car, and essentially that car is now hidden, it's a ghost car now. We don't know what it is, which kind of complicates our investigations because, I mean obviously, it's got a paper plate, we don't know other than the make, model, and color of that car who it really belongs to," Austin Police Auto Theft Unit Sgt. Christian Maynes said.

Sgt. Maynes said if the plates are run, "it may not come up or if it does come up, it's going to come up to a different vehicle that doesn't belong to that car."

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Texas says goodbye to temporary paper license plates in July

Beginning July 1, most Texas car buyers will be issued their permanent plates at the time of purchase.

Now, because of legislation passed in 2023, car dealers will only issue metal plates. The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles has created four limited-use metal plates.

"I think it's going to help in the fact that the paper plates aren't going to be able to be forged and counterfeit anymore, but we still might have a problem with, yes, we're going to have new hard plates, but those can be stolen as well," Sgt. Maynes said.

To try to make sure metal plates weren’t stolen, Sgt. Maynes suggested making it a little more difficult to do so.

"We're all used to just the stock screws, it's a normal Phillips head screw or a flat head screwdriver that put them on. Maybe go purchase, I think you get on Amazon, just anti-theft screws where it's like a different type of shape that a criminal may not have," Sgt. Maynes said.

What's next:

For anyone who purchased a vehicle before July 1, a 60-day grace period will be in place. 

After that time period, failure to comply could result in fines or penalties.