Vehicle registration plates of Ohio

A golf cart in Put-in-Bay displaying Ohio passenger plates.

License plates are issued in the U.S. state of Ohio for several types of vehicles by the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, part of the Department of Public Safety. Most types of plates are issued in pairs, to be displayed in the front and rear of the vehicle. They are manufactured by inmates at the Lebanon Correctional Institution.^[1]

History

The state has issued license plates since 1908. With the exception of the World War II years, the passenger number plates were issued in pairs. Starting in 1935, a county coding scheme involving the letters in the plate's serial number was introduced. This scheme was used throughout the state until the 1970s, when the system broke down in the most populous counties because of the number of vehicles registered in them. The coding scheme was abandoned with the issuance of the 1982 plates. Today, there is a county coding scheme on a sticker that displays the county number based on its placement in alphabetical order.

In 1967, the state began issuing special plates to DUI offenders with limited driving privileges. Judges in Ohio, however, rarely issued them until a 2004 state law made it mandatory for all DUI offenders with limited driving privileges to have them.

Passenger baseplates 1908 to present

Only plates issued since 1996 are currently eligible for display.

Image	Dates issued	Design	Slogan	Serial format	Serials issued	Notes
	1908	White lettering on blue base	none	1234	unknown	Ohio stylized logo instead of state name
	1910	White lettering on wood grain base	none	1234 12345	unknown
	1911	Black lettering on white base	none	12345	unknown
	1914	Red lettering on white base	none	12345	unknown	Ohio stylized logo instead of state name
	1915	Black lettering on white base	none	12345	unknown	Ohio stylized logo instead of state name
	1919	White embossed lettering on red base	none	123456	unknown	Ohio stylized logo instead of state name
	1926	White embossed lettering on brown base	none	123-456	unknown
	1950	Black embossed lettering and border on yellow base	none	A-123-B	unknown	Aluminum "waffle" hatch-textured base used for strength
	1959	Red embossed lettering and border on white base	none	AB-1234	unknown
	1985 to 1991	Green embossed lettering and shape of Ohio on white base	none	123•ABC	unknown
	1991 to 1996	Blue embossed lettering and shape of Ohio on white base	The Heart of it All	ABC•123	ABC•123 to ?
	1996 to 1998	Dark blue on gold gradient fade	The Heart of it All	ABC 1234	AAA 0001 to ARZ 9999
	1998 to 2001	Dark blue on gold gradient fade	Birthplace of Aviation	ABC 1234	ASA 0001 to approximately BIF 9999, CAA 0001 to ?
	2001 to 2003	Dark blue on reflective white with Ohio Bicentennial Commission logo and red and blue bars	Ohio Bicentennial Birthplace of Aviation	AB12CD	AA10AA to EZ99ZZ
	2004 to 2010	Dark blue on reflective white with state seal ("Sunburst") graphic and red and blue bars	Birthplace of Aviation	ABC 1234	DAA 1000 to EQZ 9999 ; EUJ 1000 to FAK 9999 (This gap was caused by the "Beautiful Ohio" plates that were already manufactured.)
	2010 to present	Dark blue on rolling hills with farm, distant skyline, and airborne biplane	Beautiful Ohio Birthplace of Aviation	ABC 1234	ERA 1000 to EUH 9999 ; FAL 1000 to ? (This gap was caused by the state's decision to not issue the "Beautiful Ohio" plates at the time of the recession.)	Available as a no-cost alternative to the concurrent "Sunburst" design from November 23, 2009 to 2010, when it became the primary design. Originally limited to 1.5 million plates.

Alternative passenger plates

Image	Dates issued	Design	Slogan	Serial format	Serials issued	Notes
	1967 to present	Red on yellow for DUI offenders with limited driving privileges. Issued since 1967 but rarely used before the plate became mandated on all DUI offenders in 2004.	none	123456 1234567

Non-passenger plates

From the 1976 until 1996, license plates for pickup trucks and other light truck-related vehicles (SUVs and conversion vans aside) were issued truck plates that said "Non Comm" (for "non-commercial truck") while semi-trucks were issued plates that said "Commercial". Since 1996, however, the more consumer-oriented truck plates now say "Truck," instead of "Non-Comm."

• 

  Church bus (1972)

Temporary tags

Diagram illustrating how to fill out a 2001-series temporary tag

Vehicles purchased from a dealership are given a 30-Day Temporary Tag. The paper tag is filled out by hand. Since March 2001, it has featured a hologram.^[2][3]

County coding

Ohio uses a numerical county-coding scheme to indicate the county of registration. The county code is displayed on stickers placed on the lower left corner of both the front and rear plates.

The county number is the most visible, while the full county name is in small print below. The scheme assigns a number to each of the state's eighty-eight counties based on its position alphabetically. For example Adams County, the first alphabetically, is assigned the number 01, and Wyandot County, the last alphabetically, is assigned the number 88.

List of county numbers

Adams Allen Ashland Ashtabula Athens Auglaize Belmont Brown Butler Carroll Champaign Clark Clermont Clinton Columbiana Coshocton Crawford Cuyahoga Darke Defiance Delaware Erie

Fairfield Fayette Franklin Fulton Gallia Geauga Greene Guernsey Hamilton Hancock Hardin Harrison Henry Highland Hocking Holmes Huron Jackson Jefferson Knox Lake Lawrence

Licking Logan Lorain Lucas Madison Mahoning Marion Medina Meigs Mercer Miami Monroe Montgomery Morgan Morrow Muskingum Noble Ottawa Paulding Perry Pickaway Pike

Portage Preble Putnam Richland Ross Sandusky Scioto Seneca Shelby Stark Summit Trumbull Tuscarawas Union Van Wert Vinton Warren Washington Wayne Williams Wood Wyandot

Reserved series

On recent seven-character baseplates, the state has reserved certain letter series to be issued in coordination with specific car dealerships or leasing agencies.

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

HON - Honda HOM - Honda of Mentor, Ohio JSL - Jake Sweeney Leasing, Cincinnati LAS - Shaker Auto Leasing LEX - Metro Lexus LXS - Metro Lexus MAL - Mike Albert Resale Center and Leasing, Cincinnati MBZ - Mercedes-Benz MCT - Motorcars Toyota, Cleveland Heights MCH - Motorcars Honda, Cleveland Heights MET - Metro Toyota, Cleveland MGM - Marshall Goldman Motors MVP - Classic Auto Group (Northeast Ohio - Cld area) NON - Nissan of North Olmsted SUN - Sunnyside, Cleveland SST - Sunnyside Toyota TOY - Toyota VCJ - Adventure Chrysler Jeep, Willoughby WIN - Classic Auto Group (Northeast Ohio - Cleveland area)

References

1. ^ ""Flat" License Plates Now Issued For Made-To-Order Plates" (Press release). Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Ohio Department of Public Safety. 2003-08-12. Archived from the original on 2003-12-02. http://web.archive.org/web/20031202152828/www.state.oh.us/odps/division/bmv/0803News.html#Flat_Plate. Retrieved 2009-12-02. 
2. ^ "Issuing Requirements". Dealer Licensing Division, Ohio Department of Motor Vehicles. 2009-12-01. http://www.bmv.ohio.gov/dealer_licensing/temp-tag-training.htm. Retrieved 2010-09-19. 
3. ^ "ODPS Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles History". Ohio Department of Motor Vehicles. http://www.bmv.ohio.gov/history.stm. Retrieved 2010-09-19. 

External links

• Ohio license plates 1969-present