Do You Have to Have a Front License Plate in Illinois?

Yes. Illinois requires a front license plate on most registered vehicles. Under 625 ILCS 5/3-413(a), standard passenger cars, trucks, vans, and SUVs registered in the state must display two plates: one on the front and one on the rear.¹ Driving without the front plate is a citable offense, and recent changes have tightened the rules on how plates must be mounted and what you can place over them.

Which Vehicles Need a Front Plate

If your vehicle is a standard passenger car, truck, SUV, or van, you need both plates. The statute carves out only a short list of exceptions: motorcycles, autocycles, trailers, and semitrailers display a single rear plate. Truck-tractors and apportioned trucks also use a single plate, but mounted on the front rather than the rear.¹

There is no exemption for sports cars, luxury vehicles, or cars that didn’t come from the factory with a front bracket. The dual-plate rule exists so law enforcement can identify a vehicle from either direction, and so cameras used for tolls, red-light enforcement, and speed enforcement can photograph plates on approaching vehicles.

Antique vehicle owners sometimes assume the historical-plate option changes things. It doesn’t. Expanded-use antique vehicles can display a model-year historical plate in place of current-issue plates, provided the current plates and registration card are kept in the vehicle, but the two-plate requirement still applies to any antique that is a standard passenger car.²

How the Plate Has to Be Mounted

Having two plates isn’t the whole requirement. Each plate must be fastened horizontally, secured firmly enough that it doesn’t swing, and positioned so the bottom edge sits at least 5 inches above the ground. The plate must also be clearly visible and legible, with nothing blocking it.¹

This is where drivers get cited without realizing they’re out of compliance. A bike rack that covers the rear plate, a front plate dangling by one bolt, or a plate propped inside the windshield rather than mounted to the bumper can all draw a ticket. The Illinois State Police are specifically tasked with investigating reported violations of this section.

Plate Covers Are Banned

As of January 1, 2026, Illinois prohibits all registration plate covers. Subsection (g) of the statute makes it illegal to operate a vehicle equipped with any plate cover, clear or tinted.¹ Earlier versions of the law allowed clear plastic covers that didn’t obstruct visibility. That exception no longer exists.

Selling plate covers and advertising them for sale are also prohibited under subsections (h) and (i). And if you modify the manufacturer’s original mounting location for the rear plate in a way that conceals the registration or hinders law enforcement, the offense becomes a Class A misdemeanor, which is a criminal charge rather than a traffic ticket.¹

If You Just Bought the Car or You’re From Out of State

Newly purchased vehicles are the main legitimate reason to be driving in Illinois without a front plate. The Secretary of State issues a temporary registration permit (TRP), a polymer plate valid for 90 days, which mounts only on the rear.³ You’re driving under that permit’s authority during the 90-day window. As soon as your permanent plates arrive, both must go on.

Out-of-state visitors don’t need to add a front plate to comply with Illinois law. About 19 states issue only a single rear plate, and vehicle registration operates on reciprocity: a car legally plated in its home state is considered properly registered in Illinois. An officer who notices the missing front plate might still pull you over, but once your out-of-state registration is confirmed, that should be the end of it.

Penalties If You Don’t Display a Front Plate

A standard plate-display violation is a petty offense, which is the lowest tier of Illinois traffic violations and sits below misdemeanors. Petty offenses under the Vehicle Code carry fines starting at $75.⁴ Minor traffic offenses that don’t require a court appearance use a standardized assessment schedule, so what you pay (fine plus assessments) is usually a fixed figure rather than something a judge sets.

The penalties scale up fast if the conduct goes beyond simply missing a plate. Deliberately modifying the rear plate’s mounting location to conceal your registration is a Class A misdemeanor, carrying up to a year in jail and substantially higher fines.¹ Using tinted covers, reflective coatings, or other materials to obstruct plate visibility on toll roads carries a $750 fine, which rises to $1,000 for physically altering a plate with a chemical or reflective substance. The Secretary of State can also revoke the plate’s registration.⁵

Illinois doesn’t use a traditional point system for moving violations, but insurers pull driving records independently, and citation history can factor into premium calculations over time.

Could the Rule Change

Bills to eliminate the front plate requirement have been introduced several times in the Illinois General Assembly. H.B. 1623 in 2019 proposed moving to a single rear-mounted plate for all motor vehicles, and a similar bill failed the year before. Supporters have argued the change would save the state about $800,000 a year in plate production and would spare owners of vehicles not designed for a front bracket from drilling into their bumpers. None of these bills have passed. Law enforcement groups have opposed the change, pointing to front-facing cameras used for toll collection and automated enforcement, and to the role of front plates in identifying vehicles during pursuits and hit-and-run investigations. For now, Illinois remains a two-plate state.

1
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 625 ILCS 5/3-413 – Display of Registration Plates
2
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 625 ILCS 5/3-804.01 – Expanded-Use Antique Vehicles
3
Illinois Secretary of State. Temporary Registration Permits (TRP)
4
Illinois State Police. Offense Code Index
5
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 605 ILCS 10/27.2 – Obstruction of Registration Plate Visibility