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The new Iowa license plates with the City and County Reboot design are now available at the Clarke County Courthouse.
The new plates came in to the courthouse as the stock of old plates depleted. If vehicle owners want a new plate, it costs $5 to purchase a set. Otherwise, new plates will go out into circulation as needed, like after a plate has been in service for 10 years or if a set of plates is lost, stolen, or a new car or driver gets plates.
License plates being replaced every 10 years started in 2012 after plates had been tested and it was found that they begin lose reflectivity and legibility after the 10-year mark. Drivers can check at the courthouse to see how long their plates have been in service.
The City and County Reboot design is only on the standard county plate. Personalized plates, special processed emblem plates and decal plates will have the new design as well. Collegiate, DNR plates, and any other specialty plate will not boast the new design.
The amount of characters per plate has not changed and the county, per Iowa law, will still be visible at the bottom of each plate.
The City and County Reboot design was selected at the 2017 Iowa State Fair by public vote. Gov. Kim Reynolds was presented with eight designs and she selected the final three to be voted on during the duration of the Iowa State Fair, either directly or online. The design process had no costs.
License plates are manufactured by the Iowa Prison Industries at the penitentiary in Anamosa. It costs $3.89 to manufacture a set of plates. On average, 1.3 million plates are made each year, about 1.2 million large plates and 888,000 small plates. Of the 4.4 million plates in service in Iowa, just under 4.2 million are the county standard plates. It will take time for all those plates to go out of circulation and all the new City and County Reboot design plates to be on vehicles.
For any more information on Iowa license plates visit http://iowadot.gov/mvd/vehicleregistration/vehicleregistration/plates/plates.