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Committee backs law to codify rejection of obscene or misleading personalized license plates
Summary
The committee voted to advance a bill that would put the Motor Vehicle Division's policy on rejecting obscene, profane or misleading personalized license plates into statute to strengthen the agency's position against First Amendment challenges.
Senate Bill 128 would codify the Motor Vehicle Division’s current practice of rejecting personalized license plate requests that are obscene, vulgar, misleading or promote illegal activity. Sponsor Senator Doig told the committee the statute aims to reduce litigation risk by putting the policy in statute rather than only in agency rules.
Committee members questioned who would decide whether a requested plate is obscene or misleading. Senator O’Malley asked whether the Division would have an appeal process; the sponsor replied that no appeal process exists now and the bill would not create one. A senator asked whether the Division’s staff use Urban Dictionary to vet unusual acronyms; the sponsor confirmed that the Division currently consults sources such as Urban Dictionary in practice.
The committee discussed examples (for instance, plates that can be visually confused by substituting zeros for o’s), and members said the Division would be the front‑line decision maker. With no one registered in opposition or support, the committee approved a do‑pass recommendation on the bill by unanimous consent.
The committee record shows no amendments were adopted. The bill was advanced to the next stage with a do‑pass recommendation.
