Do the rules for license plates (Chapter 14, Subchapter 7) also apply to the temporary paper buyer's tags dealers issue to new car buyers, including the 100-foot visibility rule and the no-cover rule?

Subject

Whether Arkansas's license-plate display rules apply to temporary preprinted paper buyer's tags issued for vehicles bought from licensed dealers, including the 100-foot readability rule.

Plain-English summary

Senator Scott Flippo asked the AG how license-plate rules in one subchapter relate to temporary buyer's-tag rules in another. The AG answered that the statutory display requirements are independent. A temporary tag must meet its own requirements in A.C.A. § 27-14-1705 and the specifications set by the Secretary of the Department of Finance and Administration. It does not have to meet every rule written for an issued license plate.

The opinion gives a concrete comparison. Both types of display go at the location provided for the permanent license plate. An issued license plate must be readable from 100 feet in daylight, but the temporary-tag statute supplies no viewing distance. It requires the tag to be “visible and readable when viewing” it. The AG therefore found no conflict between the two sets of display rules.

The senator's original request also raised a question about plastic covers. The opinion reproduces that question in footnote 1 but does not separately decide whether a particular cover complies with temporary-tag specifications. Its answer is that temporary tags follow their own statutory display requirements rather than the issued-plate requirements.

What this means for you

Buyers with a temporary dealer tag

Display the tag where the permanent plate would go and keep it visible and readable. The opinion says the 100-foot daytime readability rule for issued plates does not apply to temporary tags. Look to § 27-14-1705 and the DFA Secretary's specifications for the tag's own requirements.

Dealers explaining the rules

The AG distinguishes the tag supplied by a dealer from the license plate issued by the Office of Motor Vehicle on registration. The temporary tag's statutory location and readability requirements still apply even though the 100-foot plate rule does not.

Buyers using an existing plate

Footnote 8 identifies a separate option: an owner or lessee of a registered motor vehicle may elect to display a plate on a replacement motor vehicle under § 27-14-902(a)(3)(B), instead of a temporary preprinted buyer's tag. This opinion does not analyze the other conditions for that election.

Common questions

Must a paper buyer's tag be readable from 100 feet in daylight?

No. The AG says that distance is required for issued license plates, while § 27-14-1705 gives no viewing distance for temporary tags. A temporary tag must still be visible and readable when viewed.

Can I put the tag somewhere other than the permanent plate position?

The opinion quotes § 27-14-1705(d)(1)(A): the tag must “be placed at the location provided for the permanent motor vehicle license plate.”

Did the AG approve a particular plastic cover for paper tags?

No specific cover is approved in the analysis. Footnote 1 quotes the senator's question about a light plastic cover and the plate-cover rule. The answer distinguishes the statutory display rules for temporary tags and issued plates.

Does the opinion say when a transferred vehicle must be registered?

Footnote 7 quotes the AG's earlier Opinion 2024-086: “In general, vehicles transferred to a new owner must be registered within 60 days.” The main question here concerns display rules, not the registration deadline.

Background and statutory framework

A.C.A. § 27-14-703 states that motor vehicles driven or moved on a highway are generally subject to Chapter 14. The opinion explains that issued plates have location and readable-distance requirements under §§ 27-14-715 and 27-14-716. It says a vehicle bought from a licensed dealer must obtain and display a temporary preprinted buyer's tag before registration, with display requirements in § 27-14-1705. Those requirements overlap with issued-plate rules in some respects, including location, and differ in others, including viewing distance.

Footnote 2 corrects a premise in the request: the Office of Motor Vehicle issues license plates upon registration, while a dealer can provide a temporary buyer's tag. Footnote 8 describes the existing-plate option for a replacement vehicle.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2025. Check current Arkansas tag rules and DFA specifications before using it for a new vehicle purchase.

Citations

• A.C.A. §§ 27-14-703, 27-14-715, 27-14-716, 27-14-902(a)(3)(B), 27-14-1705
• Ark. Att'y Gen. Op. 2024-086 (companion opinion)

Source

• Landing page: https://arkansasag.gov/divisions/opinions-foia/attorney-general-opinions-search/

Official summary

Question 1: Because preprinted paper buyer's tags are provided by dealers and are specifically "addressed in [A.C.A. §] 27-14-1705," are "the buyer's tag[s] … excluded [under § 27-14-703] from following the [sections] in" subchapter 7 about license plates?

Brief response: The statutory display requirements for temporary preprinted buyer's tags are independent of those for license plates, so temporary tags do not need to meet the display requirements for license plates. Some of the requirements for temporary tags will overlap with license plates; some will not.

Question 2: "How can the buyer follow both codes": the requirements for both preprinted paper buyer's tags and license plates?

Brief response: Because the requirements for temporary preprinted paper buyer's tags and license plates are independent, a buyer is not required to apply the license plate requirements to temporary tags.

Question 3: "If the rhetoric for 27-14- subchapter 7 says one thing and subchapter 17 says another, would these two codes be ambiguous?"

Brief response: Because the requirements for temporary tags and license plates do not conflict, this question is moot.

Original opinion text

Opinion No. 2024-089

January 30, 2025

The Honorable Scott Flippo
State Senator
Post Office Box 705
Bull Shoals, Arkansas 72619

Dear Senator Flippo:

I am writing in response to your request for a follow-up opinion related to Attorney General Opinion 2024-086. In that opinion, you broadly asked whether “Temporary Preprinted Buyer’s Tags [are] required to follow AR Codes § 27-14- in Sub-Chapter 7.” You have now asked several specific questions about that subchapter.

Initially, you note that A.C.A. § 27-14-703(1) exempts from “the provisions of this chapter”—that is, Chapter 14 of Title 27—“[a]ny vehicle driven or moved upon a highway in conformance with the provisions of this chapter relating to manufacturers … [and] dealers ….” You also note that, under A.C.A. § 27-14-1705, licensed dealers issue preprinted paper buyer’s tags. In light of this, you ask the following paraphrased questions:1

1
Without alteration, your submitted request is as follows:

27-14- sub chapter 7 and sub chapter 17:

"In code 27-14- 703 it said in referring to exceptions"relating to manufacturers, dealers .....

1. Since the plates are provided by dealers, such as the buyers tag, would the buyer's tag be excluded from following the codes in Chapter seven since they are addressed in 27-14-1705?

Example: In 27-14-715 a plate must be visible up to 100' ; I think the paper tag would be impossible to read at 100' by a police officer.

Another example is 27-14-716 which states "any cover over the plate makes it harder to read and reduces reflective properties is prohibited."

In 27-14-1705 the buyer's tag is required to be covered with light plastic.

The Honorable Scott Flippo
State Senator
Opinion No. 2024-089
Page 2

1. Because preprinted paper buyer’s tags are provided by dealers2 and are specifically “addressed in [A.C.A. §] 27-14-1705,” are “the buyer’s tag[s] … excluded [under § 27-14- 703] from following the [sections] in” subchapter 7 about license plates? You specifically note that “[i]n [A.C.A. §] 27-14-715, a [license] plate must be visible up to 100[ feet]” and in A.C.A. § 27-14-716 “placing any type of cover over a license plate which makes the license plate more difficult to read or which reduces the reflective properties of the license plate is prohibited.”

Brief response: The statutory display requirements for temporary preprinted buyer’s tags are independent of those for license plates, so temporary tags do not need to meet the display requirements for license plates. Some of the requirements for temporary tags will overlap with license plates; some will not.

2. “How can the buyer follow both codes”—that is, the requirements for both preprinted paper buyer’s tags and license plates?

Brief response: Because the requirements for temporary preprinted paper buyer’s tags and license plates are independent, a buyer is not required to apply the license- plate requirements to temporary tags.

3. “If the rhetoric for 27-14- subchapter 7 says one thing and subchapter 17 says another, would these two codes be ambiguous?”

Brief response: Because the requirements for temporary tags and license plates do not conflict, this question is moot.

2. How can the buyer follow both codes ?

According to people, including a County Police Captain, I have talked to about Temporary preprinted paper Buyer's tag they refer me to SubChapter 7 and some refer to 1705 or both.

3. If the rhetoric for 27-14- sub chapter 7 says one thing and subchapter 17 says another would these two codes be ambiguous ?
2
In your request, you state that “plates are provided by dealers,” but plates are not provided by dealers. They are provided by “[t]he Office of Motor Vehicle, upon registering a vehicle.” A.C.A. § 27-14-715(a). On the other hand, temporary preprinted buyer’s tags can be provided by the dealer. Id. § 27-14-1705A(a)(1)(B). As explained in Opinion 2024-086—and expounded in this one—temporary preprinted buyer’s tags and license plates have distinct purposes and distinct requirements. They overlap in that “a temporary preprinted buyer’s tag only temporarily satisfies certain buyers’ duties to display a valid license plate on a vehicle” before registration. Ark. Att’y Gen. Op. 2024-086.

The Honorable Scott Flippo
State Senator
Opinion No. 2024-089
Page 3

DISCUSSION

Question 1: Because preprinted paper buyer’s tags are provided by dealers and are specifically “addressed in [A.C.A. §] 27-14-1705,” are “the buyer’s tag[s] … excluded [under § 27-14-703] from following the [sections] in” subchapter 7 about license plates?

Under A.C.A. § 27-14-703, “[e]very motor vehicle … driven or moved upon a highway … shall be subject to the provision of this chapter.” One of the requirements in Chapter 14 is that all registered vehicles have an attached license plate,3 which is issued when the vehicle is registered.4 These license plates must meet several display requirements, such as location specifications5 and readable-distance requirements.6 But before a license plate is issued at registration, there is no duty to display a license plate on the vehicle.7

Instead, before being registered, a vehicle that is bought from a licensed dealer must obtain and display a temporary preprinted buyer’s tag.8 These temporary tags have their own display requirements—some of which overlap with issued licenses plates; some of which don’t. For example, a similarity is that the temporary tags must “be placed at the location provided for the permanent motor vehicle license plate.”9 But unlike license plates, which must be readable from 100 feet in daylight, there is no statutory distance from which temporary tags must be visible; they need only to be “visible and readable when viewing” them.10 Beyond the statutory requirements for temporary tags, “[t]he Secretary of the Department of Finance and Administration shall provide specifications, form, and color of the temporary preprinted paper buyer’s tag.”11

In other words, the statutory display requirements for temporary preprinted buyer’s tags are independent of those for license plates, so temporary tags do not need to meet the display requirements for license plates. Instead, temporary tags must meet their own requirements, which

3
A.C.A. § 27-14-716(a).
4
Id. § 27-14-715(a).
5
Id. § 27-14-716(a)(2).
6
Id. § 27-14-715(c).
7
Id. § 27-14-716(a)(1) (requiring that “issued” license plates be attached (emphasis added)); see also Ark. Att’y Gen. Op. 2024-086 (explaining that, “[i]n general, vehicles transferred to a new owner must be registered within 60 days”). 8 A.C.A. § 27-14-1705; Ark. Att’y Gen. Op. 2024-086. Although not relevant to your request, “an owner or lessee of a registered motor vehicle [may] elect[] to display a license plate on a replacement motor vehicle under § 27-14- 902(a)(3)(B),” instead of displaying a temporary preprinted buyer’s tag. A.C.A. § 27-14-1705(j). 9 A.C.A. § 27-14-1705(d)(1)(A).
10
Id. § 27-14-1705(d)(1)(C)(i).
11
Id. § 27-14-1705(e).

The Honorable Scott Flippo
State Senator
Opinion No. 2024-089
Page 4

are set out in § 27-14-1705 and by the Secretary of the Department of Finance and Administration. Some of the requirements will overlap with license plates; some will not.

Question 2: “How can the buyer follow both codes”—that is, the requirements for both preprinted paper buyer’s tags and license plates?

As explained above, the requirements for temporary preprinted paper buyer’s tags and license plates are independent, so a buyer is not required to apply the license-plate requirements to temporary tags.

Question 3: “If the rhetoric for 27-14- subchapter 7 says one thing and subchapter 17 says another, would these two codes be ambiguous?”

Because the requirements for temporary tags and license plates do not conflict, this question is moot.

Deputy Attorney General Noah P. Watson prepared this opinion, which I hereby approve.

Sincerely,

TIM GRIFFIN
Attorney General