Source: http://www.ago.ne.gov/ag_opinion_view?oid=2260
Timestamp: 2013-05-24 18:56:54
Document Index: 100769485

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 60', '§ 60', '§ 60', '§ 13', '§ 28', '§ 60', '§ 60']

AGO Opinion 98049
Back to Opinion Listing Undercover License Plates, Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-304
Opinion 98049
SUBJECT: Undercover License Plates, Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-304
REQUESTED BY: The Honorable E. Benjamin Nelson, Governor
You have asked whether the Nebraska State Patrol may lend
undercover license plates to allied agencies for use in criminal
investigations. We assume that by "allied agencies" you mean
governmental units, whether state, federal or local, with the
responsibility of investigating alleged criminal behavior.
Our answer is yes, if such use is approved by the Director of
In 1997 the legislature enacted Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-304, a
law addressing the issuance of undercover plates by the Department
of Motor Vehicles. As we understand it, the Department had been
issuing such plates for a number of years as a courtesy to various
law enforcement agencies but concerns had arisen about the lack of
express legislative authorization. Also, there may have been a
concern that the privilege was being abused in some cases and it
was apparently felt that greater accountability was needed.
The law provides that such plates may be issued to state,
county, city, or village law enforcement agencies for "legitimate
criminal investigatory purposes." Certain agencies and officers
are then listed by name or title as authorized recipients, together
with the authorized uses of the plates. The State Patrol is one of
four groups which are authorized to use the plates for state law
enforcement purposes. The law neither specifically authorizes nor prohibits the
State Patrol from sharing undercover plates for authorized
purposes. The Legislature did recognize that undercover plates
might be shared and did not elect to prohibit this. During
legislative debate, Senator Kristensen, the bill's sponsor was
asked by Senator Chambers if the authorized uses mentioned in the
bill were broad enough to permit a local or state law enforcement
agency to provide their undercover plates to the F.B.I. and the
response was that there was no practical way to control who would
be driving a vehicle with undercover plates. Floor Debate on LB
256, 95th Neb. Leg., 1st Sess. 31-32 (April 9, 1997). We
understand this as a somewhat equivocal "yes, they may provide them
to other law enforcement agencies." Nothing was done to amend the
language to specify that authorized agencies could not lend the
plates to another agency to accomplish a mutual and authorized
goal; i.e. "legitimate criminal investigatory purposes". The fact no amendment was offered in this regard, the
traditional cooperation between law enforcement agencies, the
legislative encouragement of such cooperation found in statutes
like the Interlocal Cooperation Act, Neb. Rev. Stat. § 13-801 et
seq. and statutes dealing with drug enforcement, particularly Neb.
Rev. Stat. § 28-430, support our conclusion. One may ask whether allied state or local agencies must be
treated differently from federal ones, particularly since Senator
Chambers was successful in his effort to remove federal law
enforcement from the bill's original list of authorized recipients. We are of the view that it is the purpose to which the plates will
be put, rather than the identity of the jurisdiction the borrowing
agency serves, that is most important. This conclusion is
supported by the fact that the sponsor's comment about the sharing
of the plates with the F.B.I. did not lead to an amendment to
restrict such plate-sharing. Also, when explaining his move to
take federal agencies off the authorized recipients list, the
senator said that if the F.B.I. was going to use undercover plates,
he did not want it to be done with the Legislature's explicit
authorization. Floor Debate on LB 256, 95th Neb. Leg., 1st Sess.
38 (April 9, 1997). In other words, direct issuance to federal
agencies is impermissible, but a recipient may make a loan of the
plate if it chooses and if that arrangement is approved by the
Director of the Department of Motor Vehicles pursuant to Neb. Rev.
Stat. § 60-304(3). This raises the related question of whether the restriction in
the second sentence of section 60-304 limits the Patrol to issuing
the plates for "state law enforcement purposes", as opposed to the
general "criminal investigatory purposes" found in the first
sentence of section 60-304, and, if so, whether this prevents the
Patrol from loaning a plate to a federal agency for federal law
enforcement purposes or to a local law enforcement agency which is
investigating a city ordinance violation. In our opinion, the two
sentences are complementary. The proponent of the bill
acknowledged some redundancy in these provisions and did not view
them as mutually exclusive. Floor Debate on LB 256, 95th Neb.
Leg., 1st Sess. 16-17 (Feb. 26, 1997). The second sentence may
supplement the first by authorizing the use of the plates with some
of the enforcement work done by the named entities in the civil
realm, such as some of the work done by the Patrol's Carrier
Finally, in our opinion, since the Legislature neither
expressly approved nor prohibited the loaning of undercover plates,
this is an issue for administrative interpretation by the
Department of Motor Vehicles. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-304(3)
provides as follows: Upon receipt of a completed form, the director shall
determine whether the undercover license plates will be
used by an approved agency for a legitimate purpose
pursuant to subsection (1) of this section. If the
director determines that the undercover license plates
will be used for such a purpose, he or she may issue the
undercover plates in the form and under the conditions he
or she determines to be necessary. The decision of the
director regarding issuance of the undercover license
plates is final.
Your opinion request letter does not specify whether the
Director of the Department of Motor Vehicles has authorized
undercover license plates for the State Patrol to be loaned to the
FBI or other criminal law enforcement agencies. If he has, then in
the absence of any statutory prohibition on the loaning of plates
and in view of the statute making the Director's decision final,
this administrative decision cannot appropriately be called into
question. Sincerely,