(A) No motor vehicle registered in the name of a person whose certificate of registration and identification license plates have been impounded as provided by division (B)(1) of section 4507.02 of the Revised Code, and no vehicle that may be operated pursuant to an immobilization waiver order issued pursuant to section 4503.235 of the Revised Code, shall be operated on any highway in this state unless it displays restricted license plates that are a different color from those regularly issued and carry a special serial number that may be readily identified by law enforcement officers. The registrar of motor vehicles shall designate the color and serial number to be used on restricted license plates, which shall remain the same from year to year and shall not be displayed on any other motor vehicles.

The bureau of motor vehicles shall adopt rules providing for the decentralization of the issuance of restricted license plates under this section. The rules shall provide for the issuance of the restricted license plates by at least one agency in each county.

No person operating a motor vehicle displaying restricted license plates as described in this division shall knowingly disguise or obscure the color of the restricted plate.

(B) If a person has been granted limited driving privileges with a condition of the privileges being that the person must display on the vehicle that is driven under the privileges restricted license plates that are described in this section, the person may operate a motor vehicle that is owned by the person's employer only if the person is required to operate that motor vehicle in the course and scope of the person's employment. Such a person may operate that vehicle without displaying on that vehicle restricted license plates that are issued under this section if the employer has been notified that the person has limited driving privileges and of the nature of the restriction and if the person has proof of the employer's notification in the person's possession while operating the employer's vehicle for normal business duties. A motor vehicle owned by a business that is partly or entirely owned or controlled by the person with the limited driving privileges is not a motor vehicle owned by an employer, for purposes of this division.

(C) Whoever violates this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004; 09-16-2004; 2008 SB17 09-30-2008 .