As Introduced

129th General Assembly
Regular Session
2011-2012
H. B. No. 177


Representatives Stebelton, Gonzales 

Cosponsors: Representatives Ashford, Blair, Carey, Combs, Derickson, Fende, Grossman, Huffman, Johnson, Letson, Mecklenborg, Murray, Okey, Pillich, Reece, Rosenberger, Szollosi, Thompson, Yuko 

A BILL
To amend sections 4503.43, 4503.431, 4503.432, and 1
4503.571 of the Revised Code to permit the 2
surviving spouse of a recipient of the 3
Congressional Medal of Honor, Silver Star, Bronze 4
Star, or Purple Heart who was issued or was 5
eligible to be issued the specified license plates 6
to retain the license plates or obtain such 7
license plates until the death or remarriage of 8
the surviving spouse.9


BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

       Section 1.  That sections 4503.43, 4503.431, 4503.432, and 10
4503.571 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:11

       Sec. 4503.43. (A) Any person being awarded the congressional 12
medal of honor may apply to the registrar of motor vehicles for 13
the registration of histhe person's personal motor vehicle 14
without the payment of any registration fee and service fee as 15
required by sections 4503.04, 4503.10, and 4503.102 of the Revised 16
Code, and without the payment of any applicable county or 17
municipal motor vehicle tax levied under Chapter 4504. of the 18
Revised Code. The application for registration shall be 19
accompanied by such documentary evidence in support of such award 20
as the registrar and the director of public safety may require by 21
rule. The application may be combined with a request for a special 22
reserved license plate under section 4503.40 or 4503.42 of the 23
Revised Code.24

       Upon receipt of an application for registration of a motor 25
vehicle under this section and any applicable fee, and upon 26
presentation of the required supporting evidence of the award of 27
the congressional medal of honor, the registrar shall issue to the 28
applicant the appropriate motor vehicle registration and a set of 29
license plates and a validation sticker, or a validation sticker 30
alone when required by section 4503.191 of the Revised Code.31

       In addition to the letters and numbers ordinarily inscribed 32
on the license plates, the license plates shall be inscribed with 33
the words "CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR." The license plates shall 34
bear county identification stickers that identify the county of 35
registration by name or number.36

       If the application is combined with a request for a special 37
reserved license plate under section 4503.40 or 4503.42 of the 38
Revised Code, the license plates and validation sticker shall be 39
issued upon payment of seventy-five per cent of the applicable 40
additional fee prescribed under section 4503.40 or 4503.42 of the 41
Revised Code.42

       (B) The surviving spouse of a deceased person who had been 43
awarded the congressional medal of honor, if the surviving spouse 44
has not remarried and if the deceased person received or was 45
eligible to receive special license plates issued under division 46
(A) of this section, may apply to the registrar for the 47
registration of the spouse's personal motor vehicle without the 48
payment of any fee or tax as provided by division (A) of this 49
section. If the application is combined with a request for a 50
special license plate under section 4503.40 or 4503.42 of the 51
Revised Code, the surviving spouse shall be required to pay 52
seventy-five per cent of the applicable additional fee prescribed 53
under section 4503.40 or 4503.42 of the Revised Code. The 54
application for registration shall be accompanied by documentary 55
evidence of the deceased person's award of the congressional medal 56
of honor and by any other evidence that the registrar requires by 57
rule.58

       Upon receipt of an application for registration under this 59
division and presentation of satisfactory evidence as required by 60
this division and by the registrar, the registrar shall issue to 61
the spouse the appropriate vehicle registration and a set of 62
license plates as provided in division (A) of this section.63

       (C) No person who is not a recipient of the congressional 64
medal of honor or the surviving spouse of such a person who has 65
not remarried shall willfully and falsely represent that the 66
person is a recipient of the congressional medal of honor or the 67
surviving spouse of such a person who has not remarried for the 68
purpose of obtaining license plates under this section. No person 69
shall own or lease a motor vehicle bearing license plates under 70
this section unless the person is eligible to be issued those 71
license plates. 72

       (D) Whoever violates division (C) of this section is guilty 73
of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree.74

       Sec. 4503.431. (A) Any person who has been awarded the silver 75
star may apply to the registrar of motor vehicles for the 76
registration of any passenger car, noncommercial motor vehicle, 77
recreational vehicle, or other vehicle the person owns or leases 78
of a class approved by the registrar. The application shall be 79
accompanied by such documentary evidence in support of the award 80
as the registrar shall require by rule. The application may be 81
combined with a request for a special reserved license plate under 82
section 4503.40 or 4503.42 of the Revised Code.83

        Upon receipt of an application for registration of a motor 84
vehicle under this section; presentation of satisfactory evidence 85
documenting that the applicant is a recipient of the silver star; 86
payment of the regular license fee as prescribed under section 87
4503.04 of the Revised Code, any local motor vehicle license tax 88
levied under Chapter 4504. of the Revised Code, and any applicable 89
additional fee prescribed by section 4503.40 or 4503.42 of the 90
Revised Code; and compliance with all other applicable laws 91
relating to the registration of motor vehicles, the registrar 92
shall issue to the applicant the appropriate motor vehicle 93
registration and a set of license plates and a validation sticker, 94
or a validation sticker alone when required by section 4503.191 of 95
the Revised Code.96

        In addition to the letters and numbers ordinarily inscribed 97
on the license plates, the license plates shall contain an 98
illustration of the silver star and be inscribed with the words 99
"combat veteran." The license plates shall bear county 100
identification stickers that identify the county of registration 101
by name or number.102

        (B) The surviving spouse of a deceased person who had been 103
awarded the silver star, if the surviving spouse has not remarried 104
and if the deceased person received or was eligible to receive 105
special license plates issued under division (A) of this section, 106
may apply to the registrar for the registration of the spouse's 107
personal motor vehicle as provided by division (A) of this 108
section. The application for registration shall be accompanied by 109
documentary evidence of the deceased person's award of the silver 110
star, and by any other evidence that the registrar requires by 111
rule.112

       Upon receipt of an application for registration under this 113
division, payment of all applicable taxes and fees, and 114
presentation of satisfactory evidence as required by this division 115
and by the registrar, the registrar shall issue to the spouse the 116
appropriate vehicle registration and a set of license plates as 117
provided in division (A) of this section.118

       (C) Sections 4503.77 and 4503.78 of the Revised Code do not 119
apply to license plates issued under this section.120

       (C)(D) No person who is not a recipient of the silver star or 121
the surviving spouse of such a person who has not remarried shall 122
willfully and falsely represent that the person is a recipient of 123
the silver star or the surviving spouse of such a person who has 124
not remarried for the purpose of obtaining license plates under 125
this section. No person shall permit a motor vehicle owned or 126
leased by such person to bear license plates issued under this 127
section unless the person is eligible to be issued such license 128
plates.129

       (E) Whoever violates division (D) of this section is guilty 130
of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree.131

       Sec. 4503.432. (A) Any person who has been awarded the bronze 132
star medal may apply to the registrar of motor vehicles for the 133
registration of any passenger car, noncommercial motor vehicle, 134
recreational vehicle, or other vehicle the person owns or leases 135
of a class approved by the registrar. The application shall be 136
accompanied by such documentary evidence in support of the award 137
as the registrar shall require by rule. The application may be 138
combined with a request for a special reserved license plate under 139
section 4503.40 or 4503.42 of the Revised Code.140

        Upon receipt of an application for registration of a motor 141
vehicle under this section; presentation of satisfactory evidence 142
documenting that the applicant is a recipient of the bronze star 143
medal; payment of the regular license fee as prescribed under 144
section 4503.04 of the Revised Code, any local motor vehicle 145
license tax levied under Chapter 4504. of the Revised Code, and 146
any applicable additional fee prescribed by section 4503.40 or 147
4503.42 of the Revised Code; and compliance with all other 148
applicable laws relating to the registration of motor vehicles, 149
the registrar shall issue to the applicant the appropriate motor 150
vehicle registration and a set of license plates and a validation 151
sticker, or a validation sticker alone when required by section 152
4503.191 of the Revised Code.153

        In addition to the letters and numbers ordinarily inscribed 154
on the license plates, the license plates shall contain an 155
illustration of the bronze star medal and be inscribed with the 156
words "combat veteran." The license plates shall bear county 157
identification stickers that identify the county of registration 158
by name or number.159

        (B) The surviving spouse of a deceased person who had been 160
awarded the bronze star medal, if the surviving spouse has not 161
remarried and if the deceased person received or was eligible to 162
receive special license plates issued under division (A) of this 163
section, may apply to the registrar for the registration of the 164
spouse's personal motor vehicle as provided by division (A) of 165
this section. The application for registration shall be 166
accompanied by documentary evidence of the deceased person's award 167
of the bronze star medal, and by any other evidence that the 168
registrar requires by rule.169

       Upon receipt of an application for registration under this 170
division, payment of all applicable taxes and fees, and 171
presentation of satisfactory evidence as required by this division 172
and by the registrar, the registrar shall issue to the spouse the 173
appropriate vehicle registration and a set of license plates as 174
provided in division (A) of this section.175

       (C) Sections 4503.77 and 4503.78 of the Revised Code do not 176
apply to license plates issued under this section.177

       (C)(D) No person who is not a recipient of the bronze star 178
medal or the surviving spouse of such a person who has not 179
remarried shall willfully and falsely represent that the person is 180
a recipient of the bronze star medal or the surviving spouse of 181
such a person who has not remarried for the purpose of obtaining 182
license plates under this section. No person shall permit a motor 183
vehicle owned or leased by such person to bear license plates 184
issued under this section unless the person is eligible to be 185
issued such license plates.186

       (E) Whoever violates division (D) of this section is guilty 187
of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree.188

       Sec. 4503.571. (A) Any person who has been awarded the 189
purple heart may apply to the registrar of motor vehicles for the 190
registration of any passenger car, noncommercial motor vehicle, 191
recreational vehicle, motorcycle when the registrar determines 192
that producing a purple heart motorcycle license plate is 193
feasible, or other vehicle of a class approved by the registrar 194
that the person owns or leases. The application shall be 195
accompanied by such documentary evidence in support of the award 196
as the registrar may require. The application may be combined with 197
a request for a special reserved license plate under section 198
4503.40 or 4503.42 of the Revised Code.199

       Upon receipt of an application for registration of a motor 200
vehicle under this section and any required taxesapplicable fee, 201
and upon presentation of the required supporting evidence of the 202
award of the purple heart, the registrar shall issue to the 203
applicant the appropriate motor vehicle registration and a set of 204
license plates and a validation sticker, or a validation sticker 205
alone when required by section 4503.191 of the Revised Code.206

       In addition to the letters and numbers ordinarily inscribed 207
on the license plates, the license plates shall be inscribed with 208
the words "PURPLE HEART." The license plates shall bear county 209
identification stickers that identify the county of registration 210
by name or number.211

       The license plates and validation stickers shall be issued 212
without the payment of any registration fee and service fee 213
required by sections 4503.04, 4503.10, and 4503.102 of the Revised 214
Code, and without the payment of any local motor vehicle license 215
tax levied under Chapter 4504. of the Revised Code. The applicant 216
shall comply with all other applicable laws relating to the 217
registration of motor vehicles. If the application is combined 218
with a request for a special reserved license plate under section 219
4503.40 or 4503.42 of the Revised Code, the license plates and 220
validation sticker shall be issued upon payment of seventy-five 221
per cent of the applicable additional fee prescribed under section 222
4503.40 or 4503.42 of the Revised Code. 223

       No(B) The surviving spouse of a deceased person who had been 224
awarded the purple heart, if the surviving spouse has not 225
remarried and if the deceased person received or was eligible to 226
receive special license plates issued under division (A) of this 227
section, may apply to the registrar for the registration of the 228
spouse's personal motor vehicle without the payment of any fee or 229
tax as provided by division (A) of this section. If the 230
application is combined with a request for a special license plate 231
under section 4503.40 or 4503.42 of the Revised Code, the 232
surviving spouse shall be required to pay seventy-five per cent of 233
the additional fee prescribed under section 4503.40 or 4503.42 of 234
the Revised Code, as the case may be. The application for 235
registration shall be accompanied by documentary evidence of the 236
deceased person's award of the purple heart and by any other 237
evidence that the registrar requires by rule.238

       Upon receipt of an application for registration under this 239
division and presentation of satisfactory evidence as required by 240
this division and by the registrar, the registrar shall issue to 241
the spouse the appropriate vehicle registration and a set of 242
license plates as provided in division (A) of this section.243

       (C) No person who is not a recipient of the purple heart or 244
the surviving spouse of such a person who has not remarried shall 245
willfully and falsely represent that the person is a recipient of 246
a purple heart or the surviving spouse of such a person who has 247
not remarried for the purpose of obtaining license plates under 248
this section. No person shall own or lease a motor vehicle bearing 249
license plates under this section unless the person is eligible to 250
be issued those license plates.251

       (D) Whoever violates division (C) of this section is guilty 252
of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree.253

       Section 2.  That existing sections 4503.43, 4503.431, 254
4503.432, and 4503.571 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.255