Originally Posted by meborder

It appears that there is no federal law that governs this topic. But there are a series of state laws that handle how registration for out of state vehicles is to be handled. From the little bit of time i put into this, all states have passed reciprocity laws that honor the registration laws of the vehicle's home state.

this makes sense. If you live in Iowa, you are required to have a front plate, but the front plate does not get a registration sticker. If you live in South Dakota, you are required to have a front plate and the registration sticker is required on both plates. It would not be reasonable to expect and Iowa resident traveling through South Dakota to have a sticker on the front plate - Iowa only issues ONE sticker and it is to be placed on the rear plate. It is impossible to get a second sticker just so you can travel through states like South Dakota that require two stickers. Front plates would be the same. Flordia (as far as i know) only issues one plate per vehicle. It is not reasonable to expect that they would have two plates just to travel through states that require two. Even if they do issue two plates, the front plate is not legally required in Florida, so there is no reasonable expectation to see a front plate on a Florida vehicle. The reciprocity law in the state you travel through states how non-resident vehicle registration is handled.

The same goes with trailers. Some states do not require plates on certain types of trailers (or trailers at all, in some cases). It is not reasonable to expect a trailer coming from a state where no plate is issued for trailers to have plates when traveling through a state where plates are required. This is the EXACT reason every state has a reciprocity law that honors the home state of the vehicle. You could still get stopped and questioned. You could even get a citation, but the reciprocity law in that state would govern whether that citation was valid - and in almost every case i can think of, it would not be valid if the trailer was properly registered in it's home state.

Here's the list of reciprocity laws that i was able to find.
I did NOT vet them all - i don't have that kind of time.


Alabama Ala. Code § 32-6-10 Reciprocal for nonresidents from states with similar laws.
Alaska Alaska Stat. § 28.10.121 Valid for 60 days; recognizes home-state plates.
Arizona Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 28-2001 Exemption for nonresidents as long as car is not used for business.
Arkansas Ark. Code § 27-14-704 Reciprocal for visitors; 30-day limit for new residents.
California Cal. Veh. Code § 6700 Exempts nonresidents if vehicle has valid home-state plates.
Colorado C.R.S. § 42-3-117 Registration and plate exemptions for nonresidents.
Connecticut Conn. Gen. Stat. § 14-34 Full reciprocity for nonresidents for registration and plates.
Delaware 21 Del. Code § 2102 Nonresidents exempt if registered in home state.
Florida Fla. Stat. § 320.37 Recognizes out-of-state plates for nonresidents.
Georgia O.C.G.A. § 40-2-90 30-day grace period for visitors; recognizes home plates.
Hawaii H.R.S. § 249-9.2 Requires out-of-state permit, but honors home registration.
Idaho Idaho Code § 49-432 Reciprocal exemptions for nonresidents.
Illinois 625 ILCS 5/3-402 Grants reciprocity for nonresident registration/plates.
Indiana Ind. Code § 9-18.1-2 Exempts nonresidents if properly registered in home state.
Iowa Iowa Code § 321.53 Explicitly honors registration laws of the home state.
Kansas Kan. Stat. Ann. § 8-138 Nonresidents exempt from Kansas plate requirements.
Kentucky Ky. Rev. Stat. § 186.140 Full reciprocity for nonresidents.
Louisiana La. Rev. Stat. § 47:511 Honors out-of-state tags for visitors.
Maine 29-A M.R.S. § 501 Reciprocity for nonresidents registered elsewhere.
Maryland Md. Transp. Code § 13-402 Exempts nonresident vehicles with valid foreign plates.
Massachusetts M.G.L. c. 90 § 3 Honors out-of-state registration and equipment.
Michigan MCL § 257.243 90-day exemption for nonresident "pleasure vehicles."
Minnesota Minn. Stat. § 168.181 Authorized to enter into reciprocity agreements.
Mississippi Miss. Code § 27-19-143 Honors foreign tags if home state honors MS tags.
Missouri Mo. Rev. Stat. § 301.271 Full reciprocity based on foreign state's laws.
Montana Mont. Code § 61-3-701 Exemptions for nonresidents based on reciprocity.
Nebraska Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-3,151 Exempts vehicles with valid out-of-state registration.
Nevada NRS § 482.385 Nonresidents exempt; requires registration upon residency.
New Hampshire N.H. Rev. Stat. § 261:44 Reciprocal for nonresidents.
New Jersey N.J.S.A. § 39:3-15 Honors out-of-state registration/plates for nonresidents.
New Mexico N.M. Stat. § 66-3-301 Honors foreign plates for 30-180 days.
New York N.Y. VTL § 250 Broad reciprocity for plates and registration status.
North Carolina N.C.G.S. § 20-83 Exempts nonresidents if registered in home state.
North Dakota N.D. Cent. Code § 39-04-18 Broad list of exemptions for nonresidents.
Ohio Ohio Rev. Code § 4503.37 Reciprocal agreements for nonresident registration.
Oklahoma 47 Okla. Stat. § 1125 Honors out-of-state registration for nonresidents.
Oregon ORS § 803.305 Exempts nonresidents from registration requirements.
Pennsylvania 75 Pa. C.S. § 1303 Reciprocity for nonresidents from compliant states.
Rhode Island R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-7-1 Honors foreign registration for nonresidents.
South Carolina S.C. Code § 56-3-150 Reciprocal registration/plate recognition.
South Dakota SDCL § 32-5-46 Key Statute: Honors all home-state registration laws.
Tennessee Tenn. Code § 55-4-120 Reciprocal exemptions for nonresidents.
Texas Tex. Transp. Code § 502.091 Reciprocal agreements handled by TxDMV.
Utah Utah Code § 41-1a-202 Exempts properly registered nonresident vehicles.
Vermont 23 V.S.A. § 411 Full reciprocity for nonresidents.
Virginia Va. Code § 46.2-655 Exempts nonresident vehicles with foreign plates.
Washington RCW § 46.85.060 Proportional and reciprocal registration rules.
West Virginia W. Va. Code § 17A-5-1 Honors out-of-state registration for nonresidents.
Wisconsin Wis. Stat. § 341.40 Reciprocity for nonresidents; honors home-state rules.
Wyoming Wyo. Stat. § 31-2-224 Exempts nonresident vehicles for 120 days. D.C. D.C. Code § 50-1501.02 Requires reciprocity permit for longer stays.