(a) A license plate issued by this state or any other jurisdiction within or without the United States shall remain attached during the period of its validity to the vehicle for which it is issued while being operated within this state or during the time the vehicle is being held for sale in this state, or until the time that a vehicle with special or identification plates is no longer entitled to those plates; and a person shall not operate, nor shall an owner knowingly permit to be operated, upon a highway a vehicle unless the license plate is so attached. Special permits issued in lieu of plates shall be attached and displayed on the vehicle for which issued during the period of their validity.
(b) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2012, and, as of January 1, 2013, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute that is enacted before January 1, 2013, deletes or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.