Georgia License Plate Lookup

By Mohamed SkhiriUpdated November 10, 2026Checked against the Georgia Department of Revenue's form MV-20

The agency behind every Georgia plate

Georgia splits motor vehicle work between two agencies. The Department of Driver Services handles licenses; the Department of Revenue's Motor Vehicle Division handles titles, registrations and tags. So to look up a Georgia license plate through official channels, you're dealing with the DOR, its County Tag Offices and its forms, not the DDS.

Form MV-20: the official GA license plate search

The MV-20, the Request for Vehicle Information, covers vehicles titled or registered in Georgia. How it works:

• What you can order. The fee table lists a tag, title or lien vehicle information printout for $1 and a title history for $5.
• Why you're asking. Section D asks you to identify the permissible use behind the request, and Section E has you certify that everything on the form is true.
• Who's exempt from fees. Government agencies, law enforcement and legal aid organizations, when they identify themselves and the request is official business.
• How to send it. Mail the form, the fee and a photocopy of your government-issued ID to the DOR's Title Processing Unit in Atlanta.

That makes the MV-20 the one route for a GA license plate lookup from the state. A request that gives only the VIN returns vehicle information without owner names. Owner details depend on what you put in Section D, which is why an owner request lives or dies on that section.

Georgia license plate lookup owner: what qualifies

Georgia's rules say access to motor vehicle records must be for a permissible use under the federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act and state law. The uses that apply to most people are a matter of motor vehicle or driver safety or theft, an insurance claim, a court case, a towed or abandoned vehicle, and the owner's written consent. Licensed private investigators can request records for one of those purposes too. The DPPA also restricts what happens next: a recipient can only pass the information on for another permitted use, and anyone who obtains it for a purpose the law doesn't allow can be sued by the owner in federal court.

So when someone tries to look up a Georgia license plate number to find a driver's home, the answer from the DOR is no, and the answer from any website claiming otherwise should worry you more than it helps.

The right move in common Georgia situations

After a crash or hit-and-run

Call the police with the plate number and get the report. Officers identify the vehicle through law enforcement systems, and your insurer uses the report for the claim. It's quicker than any paper request, and quicker than trying to look up a Georgia license plate yourself, and it's the evidence the claim will need.

A car abandoned on your property

Start with local police. Georgia also has a separate form for requesting owner information on an abandoned vehicle, the MV-603, with a $2 research fee per vehicle, so the owner can be notified before the car is removed.

Buying a used car

Skip the owner search and check the vehicle. A $5 title history on the MV-20 shows the title record, and a free VIN decode and recall check covers the specs and open recalls. When you buy, never accept a title the seller signed without your name filled in; Georgia makes delivering or accepting a title assigned in blank a misdemeanor. Our Georgia title guide covers the 7-day window and replacement titles.

Your own vehicle

Your registration and title already carry your plate and VIN, so there's no need for a GA license plate search on your own car. For changes or a lost title, the DOR's MyMVD online services and your County Tag Office handle it.

Is there a free GA license plate lookup?

Not one that returns an owner. When you look up a Georgia license plate number through the DOR, the printout costs a dollar, and owner details come only with a permitted use. Websites that offer a free Georgia license plate lookup by owner name either sell vehicle history unrelated to the owner or can't legally deliver what they promise.

GA license plate lookup: quick answers

To look up a Georgia license plate officially, use form MV-20; a printout costs $1 and a title history $5. Owner details need a permitted use in Section D. After a crash, the police report is the faster route, and for a car you're buying, a Georgia license plate lookup matters less than the $5 title history.

Georgia plate lookup FAQ