ORLANDO, Fla. — The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles sent a memo to clarify how the state’s new law on license plate covers should be enforced.
The guidance follows the enactment of Florida Statute 320.262, which took effect on October 1, 2025.
The law bans license plate covers. It says you cannot put anything on your plate that hides, blocks, or makes it hard to see or read the main parts of your license plate. The main parts are the license plate number and the sticker that shows it’s valid.
The memo says you can still use license plate frames, as long as they do not block the plate number or the sticker in the top right corner. The Department says the information at the bottom of the plate is not a main part.
As a result, a plate frame that covers or affects the bottom portion of the plate is allowable, provided that law enforcement officers can still clearly identify the issuing state, the license plate number, and the validation sticker.
The memo also refers to a 2019 court case about a similar law. There, the court said a license plate frame was okay because it did not stop police from seeing what they needed to see.
The Department advises law enforcement officers to consult their agency counsel if additional guidance is needed.
SEE THE LEGISLATION BELOW
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