NAMPA, Idaho — Beginning this week, Idaho drivers will no longer need registration stickers on their license plates, but vehicle registration itself is not going away.
The Idaho Transportation Department says dropping the stickers will save about $300,000 a year in printing and mailing costs. ITD says the rest of the registration process is not changing, and drivers can still be cited if they are pulled over with expired registration.
For law enforcement, the change is not about whether registration still matters. It is about what officers can see and do from the road.
Lt. Don Peck with the Nampa Police Department says officers will lose a visual cue they have long used to spot possible expired registration.
“Not having that sticker, I'm not gonna have that visual cue to check that plate to see if the registration is current,” Peck said.
Watch for a first-hand look at how officers will check registration without stickers —
On a ridealong with Idaho News 6, Peck said there are misconceptions about how officers check registration. He said Nampa patrol cars do not have automatic license plate readers, meaning officers have to manually type in a plate to check it.
“I don't have technology in my car that can run a license plate other than me physically putting it in my computer,” Peck said.
During the ridealong, one car without a sticker caught our attention. Peck said before July 1, a missing or expired sticker could catch an officer’s eye. Beginning this week, that sticker will no longer tell police whether the vehicle is actually registered.
Peck says officers can still check registration, but they will have to manually run the plate.
“So I punch it in my computer, and then I have to go through, and I have about 8 different screens that return on it,” Peck said.
He also said license plate readers around the city are not automatically checking every plate with the DMV for registration status. Without the visual cue, Peck says officers will likely run fewer plates just to check registration.
Also starting July 1st, two new license plates will be available. Idaho’s agriculture plate is getting a refresh with funds going to Idaho Ag in the Classroom. A new black-on-white plate will also be available, with most of those funds going to the Idaho State Police Law Enforcement Project Choice Fund.
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