Driving to D.C.? Make sure your license plates won’t expire while you’re there.

The District of Columbia apparently is the only place in the nation where drivers can be arrested and jailed if their plates are more than 30 days out of date, according to the Washington Post.

The Post tells the story of a Navy officer who ran out to pick up dinner for his wife and young daughter. He returned more than three hours later — after being arrested, handcuffed, fingerprinted, photographed and jailed because his Florida license plates were expired.

Last summer, during California’s budget-crisis negotiations, the Legislature in a budget tactic required the DMV to delay issuing license plate renewals for a month, basically pushing the expiration date a month later. The DMV said it notified police across the country of the change so that Californians traveling wouldn’t be ticketed for expired plates.

It didn’t work in at least one case.

A Santa Rosa man who moved last summer to Virginia received a ticket for expired plates even though he showed the officer a DMV flier explaining the expiration delay.

“That’s for California,” the officer said. “This is Virginia.”

The driver has a court date this month to plead his case. Let’s hope he wins.

To read the full Washington Post story, CLICK HERE