New Mexico Military, Medal and Gold Star License Plates

The Motor Vehicle Division issues these under the Motor Vehicle Code; the Division's plate page quotes the sections. Free, including registration. Medal of Honor (section 66-3-409), Purple Heart for up to two vehicles (section 66-3-414), prisoner of war, also available to the surviving spouse of a former prisoner (section 66-3-411), and the National Guard plate for an active member of the New Mexico Guard (section 66-3-413). Under section 66-3-412 as amended in 2023, a veteran eligible for more than one special plate takes any two free. Armed forces veteran and woman veteran. Sections 66-3-419 and 66-3-412.1 authorise the armed forces veteran plate and motorcycle plate for an honourably discharged veteran or a Guard or reserve retiree, for $17 once ($9 for a motorcycle) and no added fee at renewal. $8 of each $17 goes to the armed forces veterans license fund for rural veterans' services. The Division's page lists 22 decals the plate can carry (the Army benefits library says 26), from Medal of Honor and Combat Wounded to Navajo Code Talker, Bataan Survivor and Atomic Veteran. Section 66-3-424.20 provides the "Women Veterans Serve Proudly" plate on the same terms. Gold Star family. Section 66-3-424.24. The first plate is free, including registration, for a surviving parent or spouse of a servicemember killed in armed conflict with an enemy of the United States; up to three more are free except for the registration fee; a child or sibling pays $10 at first registration. Four plates per family. The Division's own page describes it twice, once as available to the "mother, father, step parent or spouse" and once as the "parent, spouse, child, or sibling"; the fee schedule on the page reflects the second. The Department of Veterans' Services' page describes the family as a "son, daughter, stepson, stepdaughter, parent or step-parent killed in combat". Apply on form MVD10353 (MVD10100 for Gold Star) with the DD-214 or the award documentation.