Alabama § 32-6-280 - Issuance of Distinctive Plates; Design; Eligibility; Fees.

§ 32-6-280. Issuance of Distinctive Plates; Design; Eligibility; Fees.

(a) As used in this division, the following terms have the following meanings:

(1) PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTER. A paid member of a paid or part-paid fire department of a city, town, county, or other subdivision of the state, including the chief, assistant chief, warden, engineer, captain, firefighters, and all other officers and employees of the department who actually engage in firefighting or rendering first aid at the scene of an accident.

(2) RETIRED PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTER. A retired member of a paid or part-paid fire department of a city, town, county, or other subdivision of the state, including the chief, assistant chief, warden, engineer, captain, firefighters, and all other officers and employees of the department who actually engaged in firefighting or rendering first aid at the scene of an accident. Notwithstanding any other provision of this division, the term includes a retired professional firefighter who is a resident of this state and who has retired from a professional fire department in another state and otherwise meets the requirements of this division.

(b)(1) Notwithstanding Sections 32-6-64, 32-6-67, and 32-6-68, a professional firefighter or a retired professional firefighter, upon application and subject to this division, may be issued a distinctive motor vehicle license plate as identification as a professional firefighter or a retired professional firefighter.

(2) In addition to the proper numbers, words, and insignias used on the standard license plate issued for motor vehicles, the distinctive license plate issued for a retired professional firefighter shall have a design created by the state association of professional firefighters in coordination with the Mobile Retired Firefighters and Paramedics Association and the Tuscaloosa Retired Firefighters Association, and the distinctive license plate issued for a professional firefighter shall have a design created by the state association of professional firefighters.

(c)(1) The distinctive license plates shall be approved by the Commissioner of Revenue and shall be issued through the judge of probate, license commissioner, or other license issuing official of the several counties of the state in the same manner as are other motor vehicle license plates, and the officers shall be entitled to their regular fees for the service.

(2) By December 1 of each year, the Firefighters’ Personnel Standards and Education Commission shall submit to the judge of probate, the license commissioner, or other license issuing official of each county a list of eligible professional firefighters and retired professional firefighters. The Firefighters’ Personnel Standards and Education Commission shall also add to the list any retired professional firefighter from another state who submits proof to the commission of eligibility pursuant to this division.

(3) Any individual who joins a paid or part-paid fire department after December 1 of any year or any individual who is omitted from the list prepared as described in subdivision (2) may obtain a distinctive license plate by presenting to the license issuing official proof of his or her membership in a paid or part-paid fire department by means of a certificate signed by the chief of the department on a form prescribed by the Firefighters’ Personnel Standards and Education Commission.

(4) Upon the initial application for a retired professional firefighter distinctive license plate, an applicant for a distinctive license plate shall present to the judge of probate, the license commissioner, or other license issuing official of the county proof of his or her retirement from a fire department, which is included on the list provided by the Firefighters’ Personnel Standards and Education Commission. Proof of the individual’s retirement from a fire department included on that list is not required for renewal of the distinctive license plate.

(5) Upon submitting proof of his or her identification, the professional firefighter or retired professional firefighter shall be issued the requested number of distinctive license plates upon the payment of the regular fee for license plates, as provided by law.

(6) The distinctive license plates shall be used only on and for personally owned, private passenger vehicles registered in the name of the retired professional firefighter or professional firefighter and, when issued to the applicant, shall be used on the vehicle for which issued in lieu of the standard license plates normally issued for the vehicle.

(7)a. In addition to any other fees provided for by law, an annual additional fee of one dollar ($1) is added to the cost of the retired professional firefighter license plate provided for in this division. The annual additional fee collected pursuant to this paragraph shall be distributed by each licensing official to the Comptroller, less the commission provided in Section 40-12-269. The Comptroller shall distribute the total net proceeds monthly into a fund managed by the Alabama Joint Fire Council to be used for the purpose of expanding and maintaining the Alabama Firefighter Memorial located in Tuscaloosa.

b. An annual additional fee of ten dollars ($10) is added to the cost of the professional firefighter distinctive license plates provided for in this division. The combined fees shall be distributed by each licensing official to the Comptroller, less the commission provided in Section 40-12-269. The Comptroller shall distribute the net proceeds monthly as follows:

1. Twenty-five percent shall be deposited into a fund managed by the Alabama Joint Fire Council and shall be used for the purpose of expanding and maintaining the Alabama Firefighter Memorial located in Tuscaloosa.

2. Twenty-five percent shall be distributed to the Alabama Joint Fire Council to be used for expenses associated with the Firefighter Peer Support Program.

3. Twenty-five percent shall be distributed to the board of the Alabama Firefighters Annuity and Benefit Fund.

4. Twenty-five percent shall be distributed to the secretary-treasurer of the State of Alabama Firefighters Emergency Relief Fund.

c. The funds generated by the fees shall be subject to audit from either the Department of Examiners of Public Accounts or an independent certified public accountant once every three calendar years .

(8) Anyone who is proven to have either falsely obtained or certified an individual to obtain a distinctive professional firefighter or retired professional firefighter license plate shall be guilty of a Class C misdemeanor.

(d) Retired professional firefighter distinctive license plates and professional firefighter distinctive license plates shall be prepared and furnished as is provided by law for the issuance of other license plates.

(e) The Department of Revenue may adopt rules to administer this division.