The days of white-knuckling the steering wheel while hoping the police officer behind you doesn’t notice your expired registration tabs are over.  

With the passage of House Bill 533 in February that took effect July 1, Idaho motorists are no longer required to display registration tabs on the corner of their license plates, nor will they receive them from the state. 

The Idaho Department of Motor Vehicles says eliminating sticker tabs will save it around $300,000 annually in material and production costs. 

Instead, a valid license plate and up-to-date registration will fully satisfy Idaho laws.  

Before HB 533, police officers in Idaho could use the color-coded vehicle tab system to determine whether a vehicle was registered. 

“The color was an important distinction,” said Capt. Brian Harrison of the Post Falls Police Department. “However, officers could not conduct a traffic stop on this observation alone.” 

Harrison said officers, unless they could physically read the date on a tab and determine its validity, still had to run a registration check before making a stop under HB 533. Officers can run their own checks using their on-board computer or can call it in to dispatchers.

Harrison added that legislation “occasionally” passes that diminishes the police’s ability to meet the community's expectations. 

“But that is not the case in this instance,” he said.

Harrison said failure to renew vehicle registration is an infraction with a $67 fine.

The Post Falls Police issued 221 expired registration citations in 2025.

He said making a traffic stop solely for expired registration is rare, and that more commonly an officer will stop a motorist for a moving violation and then discover an expired registration. 

Coeur d'Alene Police Chief Greg Yeager said he suspects the law will reduce registration verification and enforcement because officers simply don’t have time to drive around checking vehicle registrations.  

“Now registration will only be checked when the officer is already managing another matter, such as a traffic stop for a moving violation, criminal matter related to the vehicle, or a motor vehicle collision,” he said. 

Harrison said he is concerned that removing the tabs could cause the owner to miss renewing them on time. 

“Out of sight, out of mind,” he said.