116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
New Iowa license plates on the way
Last summer, officials with the Iowa Department of Transportation announced plans to replace the state's standard license plate - a blue and white design with a farm and city skyline.
The existing plate had been in use since the late 90s.
In August, at the Iowa State Fair, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds unveiled three finalist designs, which would be open to public vote.
The winning plate was to be selected with public and law enforcement input.
Later that month, the Iowa DOT announced the winning design was 'City and Country Reboot,” which depicts a city skyline in the upper left, a wind turbine and a farm in the upper right, and a green field along the bottom.
The design received nearly 39 percent of votes cast in a public poll.
What's Happened Since
Last Tuesday, the Iowa DOT announced that new plates had begun production at Iowa Prison Industries in Anamosa and would begin appearing on Iowa vehicles in the next few weeks.
'The main purpose of license plates is to make the vehicle easily identifiable,” LaVonne Short, with the Iowa Department of Transportation, said in a Tuesday news release. 'We did quite a bit of testing to make sure the new plates serve that purpose well.”
The plates have three letters followed by three numbers. The original plates had three numbers followed by three letters.
Plates will be assigned to newly acquired vehicles and will replace lost or damaged plates. They also will be assigned to vehicles when existing license plates reach the end of their 10-year life span.
Plates will be distributed to each county treasurer's office. With the state's automated plate-ordering system, plate inventories are tracked and new plates are produced and delivered as needed.
Counties distribute plates at different rates, so it may be a few months before the new designs show up in some Iowa counties.
Urban counties with a higher population, meaning more plate turnover, could see the new design sooner that rural counties.
l Comments: (319) 398-8309; mitchell.schmidt@thegazette.com
NEW PLATES: 'City and Country Reboot' is the name of the design chosen for Iowa's new license plates, now in production at Iowa Prison Industries in Anamosa. Starting sometime in the next three weeks, they should be assigned to new vehicles and will replace lost or damaged plates and ones older than 10 years. (Submitted photo)
OLD PLATES: The old Iowa license plates, which have a farm and city skyline in the background, started out with three numbers followed by three letters. (Gazette photo)
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