New Law In Effect. Enforcement Starts. Yes, You Can Be Jailed.
UPDATE: The State of Florida just issued a memo that seems to backtrack the initial statute. Read our update here.
BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2025 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — The license plate frame on your car, whether it says “Dealership Name” or “I Love Stranger Things” is now illegal in the State of Florida. You need to remove it. Seriously. A Florida Statute went into effect at the end of October. Expect enforcement to start when the new year starts.
We’re publishing the statute, in its entirety, below. But here’s the simple version: any frame that obstructs any part of a Florida license plate — and that’s pretty much any frame — is illegal. You can be warned. You can be fined. And believe it or not, you can be jailed. While it seems unlikely you’re going to be locked up on the first offense, records are kept. If you are a repeat obstructed license plate offender, you very well could end up with an inside view of your closest jail.
It doesn’t matter if your auto dealer installed the frame. It doesn’t matter if it was on the car when you bought it or leased it. What does matter is that it’s there and it’s now against the law. Here’s the complete Florida statute now in effect:
>>A person may not alter the original appearance of a vehicle registration certificate, license plate, temporary license plate, mobile home sticker, or validation sticker issued for and assigned to a motor vehicle or mobile home, whether by mutilation, alteration, defacement, or change of color or in any other manner. A person may not apply or attach a substance, reflective matter, illuminated device, spray, coating, covering, or other material onto or around any license plate which interferes with the legibility, angular visibility, or detectability of any feature or detail on the license plate or interferes with the ability to record any feature or detail on the license plate.<<
