According to County Clerk James L (Jimmy) Poss, his office has had several cases of people who do not reside in the county attempting to purchase DeKalb plates for their vehicles. Poss told the Review that residents of other counties may not legally tag their vehicles in DeKalb, and that his office checks physical addresses against the 911 system to verify residency.

He opined that one of the reasons people attempt to acquire their plates in DeKalb County is to avoid wheel taxes in their home county. “We adjoin six other counties, and have experienced this in every area of the county except where we border Putnam. Of the six counties bordering us all are collecting a wheel tax except for Putnam. When we knowingly provide service to individuals with a physical location outside our county it is illegal. By doing this we are preventing that county to receive revenue belonging to them," Poss said.

“When processing new registrations or renewals we enter a person’s information in our system,” he continued. “This is to search and cross reference physical addresses to determine eligibility. We have recognized these occurrences when a road continues into adjoining counties, also when road names are not appearing in our county and with individuals wanting to use their second home here without proper proof of eligibility."

"For individuals, state law uses the term “Bona Fide Residence,” simply meaning a person is living at a physical location within our county. For business owners, the law allows the owner to register the vehicle in any county where a “Physical Presence” can be established,” Poss shared.

He said that the new methods of verifying residency make it harder for non-DeKalb residents who may have registered here in the past to avoid registering in their home county, and now that he can instantly check to find out which county a potential customer lives in he cannot register their vehicle in the wrong county knowing that they do not reside here. “To uphold state law and office uniformity we cannot knowingly continue service outside DeKalb County," he said.

Poss also spoke on the subject of eligibility requirements for Special Purpose License Plates and plates for elected officials.

"There are multiple plates in this category. For example, we have several applicants receiving Emergency, Fire, and Rescue Squad plates. In order to fulfill each departments request we have asked our local emergency agencies to provide us a list of their employees or members. Each of these tags have eligibility requirements for our office to follow and most require the applicants name on the title and registration to issue these tags"

He said plates for elected officials follow pretty much the same guidelines. "Just like Special purpose plates, these tags also have eligibility requirements and most require the applicants name on the title and registration to issue these tags. There also multiple plates in this category. Such as State House and Senate, U.S. Senate and Congress, Sheriff, Judicial etc."

Poss said he wants the service at his office to be even and fair to all. "It’s a pleasure and most humbling feeling to serve the people of DeKalb County. However; to maintain uniformity within our office we must follow laws and guidelines set for us. Our office aims to provide equal and honest service to the best of our skill and ability," he concluded.