# COMAR Title 11 — Department of Transportation

## Subtitle 15 — Motor Vehicle Administration — Vehicle Registration

### Chapter 29 — Rejection of Registration Plates

**Authority:** Transportation Article, §§12-104(b) and 13-619, Annotated Code of Maryland

**Administrative History:** Effective date: October 18, 1999 (26:21 Md. R. 1630)

**Administrative History:** Regulation .01 amended as an emergency provision effective August 12, 2015 (42:18 Md. R. 1173); amended permanently effective November 23, 2015 (42:23 Md. R. 1434)

#### Regulation .01 Scope and Applicability.

*COMAR 11.15.29.01*

A. The owner of a vehicle in a class eligible for registration plates consisting of letters, numbers, emblems, terms, symbols, logos, or a combination of them may apply for a special registration plate from the Administration.

B. This chapter applies to all registration plates issued under COMAR 11.15.07 and 11.15.19 regardless of the date of issuance.

#### Regulation .02 Refusal to Issue Registration Plates.

*COMAR 11.15.29.02*

The Administration may refuse to issue or rescind issuance of a registration plate containing letters, numbers, emblems, terms, symbols, logos, or a combination of them which:

A. Is identical to one already issued by the Administration;

B. Is being requested for a fraudulent or deceptive purpose;

C. Has a scatological or sexual meaning or connotation;

D. Contains profanities, epithets, or obscenities;

E. Communicates a message of any kind about any of the following characteristics of a group of people:

  (1) Race,

  (2) Ethnic or national origin,

  (3) Color,

  (4) Religion,

  (5) Disability, or

  (6) Sexual orientation;

F. Makes reference to the commission of illegal acts; or

G. Contains any other combination that the Administrator finds unacceptable within the law.

#### Regulation .03 Compliance.

*COMAR 11.15.29.03*

The Administration shall determine compliance with the conditions set forth in Regulation .02 of this chapter by reference to current and historical usage.

#### Regulation .04 Complaints.

*COMAR 11.15.29.04*

A complaint that a plate violates the conditions of Regulation .02 of this chapter may cause the Administration to review the matter, but may not by itself serve as a basis for a determination that the conditions of Regulation .02 of this chapter have been violated.

#### Regulation .05 Administrative Appeals.

*COMAR 11.15.29.05*

An organization or individual whose preferred letters, numbers, emblems, terms, symbols, logos, or a combination of them are disapproved by the Administration under this chapter is entitled to a hearing before the Office of Administrative Hearings pursuant to the Administrative Procedures Act.