Mo. moving toward new look for license plates

Missourians can go online to vote on the design for a new state license plate through March 5 by going to dory.dor.mo.gov/dor/voteplate/.

“This is a fun thing to do,” said Trish Vincent, director of the Missouri Department of Revenue.

“We’re trying to have a good time with this. We want Missourians to have a voice about what plates go on their cars.”

The three plate finalists, created by a private design firm, were selected by the License Plate Advisory Committee, whose members included Vincent and representatives from the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the state House and Senate transportation committees and Missouri Vocational Enterprises, a unit of the Department of Corrections that manufactures Missouri license plates.

The last time Missouri got new plates was in 1996, when the committee unveiled the current design, which was created by St. Louis artist Bill O’Donnell. It replaced maroon plates that had been in use since 1979.

The redesign in progress is a requirement of legislation passed in 2004. Maura Browning, the Department of Revenue’s public information officer, said the new plates will improve visibility for law enforcement and help reduce the theft of renewal tabs.

“The true reason to have a license plate is for law enforcement, and I think a lot of us forget that, myself included,” Browning said.

Vincent said the new plate design will also prevent renewal tab thefts.

“The new plate will be something the Highway Patrol can use to combat fraud and expiration of plates,” she said. “We have some significant tab theft issues in major metropolitan areas.”

In the past, thieves have cut off the renewal tabs on the corner of plates. As a deterrent, the Department of Revenue started advising people to put their renewal tabs in the center of the plate, even though there is not a designated place in the center of the current plates.

The new plate design will have designated space in the middle for the month and year tabs, making them more difficult to steal.

The new license plates will also help the revenue department ensure that everyone is taxed correctly and that St. Louis residents’ cars pass emissions tests.

“These plates are for enforcement. They are not an ornament for the vehicle,” Vincent said.

Members of the License Plate Advisory Committee will display the plates and answer questions at three open meetings in Springfield, St. Louis and Kansas City in the coming weeks. A computer will be available at the meetings for Missourians to vote when they see the plates.

“It will be a nice opportunity for people to understand why new plates are a good idea,” Browning said.

The new plate will be issued in 2008 or 2009 and implemented over two years.