Skip to content

Friday, Aug. 29, 2025

Can you get a ticket for not having a front license plate in Colorado?

Tyler Hickman, The Colorado Sun
yes

Colorado requires state-issued license plates on the front and rear of a motor vehicle, and violating these regulations is a Class B traffic infraction.

License plate citations can be issued by officers during traffic stops and to unattended vehicles. In 2022, Denver’s Right of Way Enforcement division issued 92,000 citations to cars with expired plates or no front plate. Class B infractions can result in fines ranging from $15-$100. 

The front license plate requirement does not apply to all vehicles in Colorado. Motorcycles, autocycles, street rod vehicles manufactured before 1949, trailers and special mobile machinery only need plates on the rear of the vehicle. 

While many U.S. states require license plates on the front and back of cars, the rule isn’t universal. In 2024, Utah passed a law only requiring vehicles to have rear plates, joining Arizona and New Mexico. 

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

About fact briefs

Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by Gigafact contributor publications.

See all fact briefs

The Colorado Sun is a journalist-founded, award-winning and nonprofit news outlet based in Denver that strives to cover all of Colorado so that our state — our community — can better understand itself. In this way, we believe we can contribute to a more vibrant, informed and whole Colorado. We are committed to fact-based, in-depth and nonpartisan journalism. We cover everything from politics and culture to the outdoor industry and education. Our goal is to produce the best possible journalism. We do that with the help of you, our readers, and community backers. We launched on Sept. 10, 2018.

Learn More

Latest Fact Briefs

Be a Friend of facts

Help us fund more great fact briefs like this one.