By GRAHAM BROOKS / Staff Writer

Vehicle owners in Shelby County will experience a few changes when it comes to vehicle license plate decals and the registration receipt, according to a release from the Alabama Department of Revenue.

Beginning March 1, these changes were implemented as Shelby County began issuing new “print on demand” annual vehicle registration decals to replace the renewal month and year decals that are currently displayed on Alabama license plates.

Previously, two separate decals containing the renewal month and the year of registration containing a control number were used on license plates. Now, the new POD validation decal will include both the renewal month and the year of registration on a single decal, eliminating the need for two separate decals. The one POD decal will also include the assigned tag number to ensure that the decal is attached to the correct license plate to help assist law enforcement.

The state of Alabama Department of Revenue said all licensing officials will eventually convert to the new POD process during the 2018 calendar year. The goal is to phase in the new process in all 67 counties by the end of 2018.

Until then, both the new POD validation decal or the previous, pre-printed validation decals will be accepted until the Motor Vehicle Division begins updating the new license plate designs to eliminate the renewal month validation decal pocket on the upper left-hand side of the license plate.

The other change in Shelby County deals with the registration receipt itself. The receipt and decal are now printed as one document. The receipt will be on plain white paper and the traditional tan stock paper will no longer be used as of March 1.

For any questions regarding this matter, contact the Motor Vehicle Division at 334-242-9000.