WYDOT gears up for new specialty plate background
2017 plate will feature Green River Lakes and Squaretop Mountain
by Wyoming Department of Transportation
September 24, 2016
The Wyoming Department of Transportation is temporarily putting a hold on new specialty and prestige plate applications from Sept. 24 through Oct. 1 to prepare for plates that will feature a new background.
Starting in 2017, the new plate design featuring the Lower Green River Lake and Squaretop Mountain will be on the state’s 12 specialty plates, the prestige plates and the standard plates motorists receive at the county when registering their vehicles.
WYDOT will stop accepting applications for the specialty and prestige plates featuring the Tetons on Sept. 24. WYDOT will then begin processing and accepting all new applications it has for specialty and prestige plates on Oct. 1.
Per Wyoming law, license plate designs change every eight years with the new design needing to be readily distinguishable from the previous design. All designs are required to have the bucking horse logo.
"The specialty plate fee is paid each time the plate is redesigned," said Debbie Lopez, manager of Motor Vehicle Services, adding that the fee is in addition to the annual vehicle fee paid at the county.
For instance, if someone applies for a new specialty or prestige plate that has the Tetons before Sept. 24, they will need to pay the fee again in 2017 to get the new plate design.
Drivers who want a specialty plate will complete the application at WYDOT and will pay the fee for that particular specialty plate. The Disabled Veteran plate is the only one not affected. Veterans who request a Disabled Veteran plate can continue to do so because this plate is free to the requester, but they must be a disabled veteran.
"We also contact our specialty plate customers within three to six months of their plate’s expiration to remind them to reorder their specialty plate," said Shannon DeGrazio, of WYDOT’s Motor Vehicle Services program. "All current specialty plate customers who reorder in 2017 will have the option of keeping their existing plate combinations."
Although motorists will be able to start applying for specialty plates in October, they won’t be able to put the new plate on until their current registration expires unless they pay in advance at the county for the extra months of registration.
Besides a new look, the prestige plates will now have a maximum of five letters or combination of five letters, numbers and spaces. In previous years, the maximum was four.
To view the guidelines for the prestige plates or to learn more about the specialty plates, visit WYDOT’s website at www.dot.state.wy.us.
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