Can you go to jail for expired tags?

The word misdemeanor is what scares people, and where it appears here it sits at the bottom of each state’s scale. In Georgia, driving on an expired decal is technically a misdemeanor under O.C.G.A. §40-2-8, but the statute names no statewide fine for the ordinary case and it is fine-only in practice. North Carolina’s Class 3 misdemeanor, its lowest criminal class, requires willfulness: knowing the plate is expired and displaying it anyway. Tennessee’s Class C misdemeanor puts up to 30 days on the statute’s face, but caps the fine at $50 and in practice registration cases are fine-driven. Missouri goes the other way and grades expired plates as an infraction, with a fine of $5 to $500 under RSMo §301.440.

Where real criminal exposure starts is time, repetition, and vehicle type. Florida grades the offense by how long you have been expired: six months or less is a noncriminal nonmoving infraction, but more than six months expired, a second or subsequent offense becomes a second-degree misdemeanor under Fla. Stat. §320.07(3). Michigan draws its line by vehicle: an expired plate on a commercial vehicle registered by elected gross weight is a misdemeanor with up to 90 days on the statute’s face, while an ordinary passenger car gets a civil infraction.

What actually matters is your state’s fine and dismissal path. Several verified states, including Texas and Arizona, dismiss the ticket once you complete late registration: Arizona’s dismissal is mandatory once you obtain proper registration, and Texas builds a 20-working-day renewal window into the statute. Every state in the table below links to the verified law file with the statute and the exact steps.