The Legislature approved three new specialty license plates this session, and one of them – the Line of Duty plate – is expected to be ready by November.
The Line of Duty plate honors police officers killed while on the job. The other two specialty plates are a “Trout Unlimited” plate and an “In God We Trust” plate.
Wisconsin has 79 specialty plates, 14 of which are donation plates. Each time one of those plates gets registered, a donation is made towards a cause – for instance, The Wisconsin Lions Foundation.
News with a little more humanity
WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” newsletter keeps you connected to the state you love without feeling overwhelmed. No paywall. No agenda. No corporate filter.
Megan Bergum, Department of Transportation section chief for license plates and postal services, says according to valid registrations, Wisconsin’s military plate was the most requested specialty plate last year. There are 51 different designations of the military plate.
“That is a license plate available to people who have been in service within the military,” said Bergum. “In 2013 we did have over 20,000 valid registrations.”
There have been roughly a dozen specialty plates proposed in the last couple of legislative sessions. Some were controversial, like a bill sponsored by Rep. Andre Jacque, R-DePere that would have created a “Choose Life” plate.
The proposal passed the Assembly but was never taken up by the Senate.
License plate donations for that plate would have gone to a new corporation formed by groups opposed to abortion.
Rep. Chris Taylor, D-Madison, introduced a plate supporting Planned Parenthood, which never made it out of committee.
Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2025, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.
