STATE FORBIDDEN personalized license plates

The Departments of Motor Vehicles (DMV) of each US state and the District of Columbia were queried under the appropriate Open Records laws, requesting the following:

  • list of prohibited or banned personalized license plates

  • internal instructions of DMV employees on procedures for screening personalized license plate applications for offensive or objectionable words, phrases, or messages

  • copies of administrative appeals of withdrawn personalized plates, if accessible.

The material received from those states which responded is available through the links provided below.

This material from state Motor Vehicle Departments contains references to language and material that some people may find offensive and may not be suitable for all ages.

 

Access the files through the following links.  The files are made available individually as PDF files and all files in a single PDF file.

All in one PDF: AllStatesBannedPlates_2012.pdf    87 MB
 

Arizona 858 KB
Arkansas 54.8 MB
California 883 KB
Colorado 2.1 MB
District of Columbia 5.5 MB
Georgia 915 KB
Iowa 641 KB
Kansas 279 KB
Michigan 807 KB
Missouri 333 KB
Maine 1.1 MB
Montana 451 KB
Nebraska 542 KB
New Jersey 1.3 MB
New Mexico 712 KB
New York 248 KB
North Dakota 1.2 MB
Ohio 3.1 MB
Oklahoma 1.9 MB
Rhode Island 85 KB
South Dakota 484 KB
Tennessee 104 KB
Utah 10.8 MB
Vermont 3.6 MB
Washington 739 KB
Wisconsin 743 KB
Wyoming 105 KB

 

 

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