Dash Swap

I have a 1969 Dart and the dashboard is badly rusted due to animals inhabiting under the dash and filling it with nice, moist nest material. Anyway....I found a replacement dash, but need to properly address the fact that the VIN Plate on these cars is attached to the dash...which is fairly easy to remove. Is this a State by State issue or is their some Federal rule to protect from VIN tampering, etc.? I have not yet looked on the chassis to see if there's any other VIN stamps, but the VIN is stamped on a "tag" and riveted to the dash. Can I just replace the rivets and move on or should I save everything as is for when the "inspector" pays a visit to get it titled here?