Denver police target expired license plates, vehicle registration starting Nov. 1

Denver police will begin another one-month period of targeted enforcement of expired vehicle registration and expired temporary license plate violations on Nov. 1. The special enforcement is similar to the one conducted in July. 

Police encourage drivers to register their vehicles to avoid the $95 fine from a Denver Municipal Code citation in addition to registration/renewal costs. 

For reference, police in Denver filed 64 cases of expired/fictitious license plates during one week of a non-enforcement period, Sept. 9 through Sept. 16. Compare that to 339 citations during the enforcement week of Sept. 23.

According to Denver Motor Vehicle, registration of newly purchased or acquired vehicles must be done in person at DMV offices, and registration renewals must be done online or at a kiosk. Vehicle owners are reminded that while vehicle registrations have a 30-day grace period after expiration, temporary license plates do not have a grace period after expiration. For more information about registering or renewing the registration for a vehicle, locating a branch and kiosk, utilizing online services and more, please visit denvergov.org/dmv.         

Police said that this is an opportunity for Denver police officers to address and take action on the community’s vocalized frustrations over drivers with expired license plate tags and expired temporary plates. 

Additional Information from the Denver Police Department:

To allow for enforcement of expired vehicle registrations and expired temporary license plates during this one-month period, the Denver Police Department is temporarily exercising a clause in its low-level traffic stops policy. Outside this special enforcement period, DPD officers may still stop drivers who have expired plates or temporary plates if there are additional concerns. Also, missing license plates remain a priority for the Denver Police Department and do not fall within the low-level traffic stop policy.