Opinion ID: 1834031
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: DOT Revocation Policy and Procedure

Text: Iowa Code section 321.34(5) provides the statutory authority for the issuance of personalized license plates. The DOT rules governing special registration plates are located at 761 Iowa Admin.Code 400.41 (1994). Rule 400.41(2)(d)(5) provides: No combination of characters shall be issued which is sexual in connotation; defined in dictionaries as a term of vulgarity, contempt, prejudice, hostility, insult, or racial or ethnic degradation; recognized as a swear word; considered to be offensive; or a foreign word falling in any of these categories. Rule 400.41(7) provides that [s]pecial registration plates shall be revoked if they have been issued in conflict with the laws governing their issuance or this rule. 761 Iowa Admin.Code 400.41(7). The Office of Vehicle Registration (OVR) is the specific body within the DOT that issues and reviews registrations. The OVR has a specific procedure by which it determines whether a license symbol configuration is suitable for issuance or revocation after initial approval. When a vehicle owner applies for a personalized plate, the OVR staff reviews the request and if it finds a requested plate in potential violation of rule 400.41(2)(d)(5), it is brought to the attention of the director of the OVR. The director then approves or denies the plate after considering its purported message. If the OVR is uncertain whether the message is violative of rule 400.41(2)(d)(5), it contacts the applicant to clarify the meaning of the requested message. In addition, the OVR refers to Johnathan Green, Dictionary of Contemporary Slang (1985), as an aid in determining whether a message is sexual in connotation or otherwise offensive. A license plate may also come under the review of the OVR if a member of the public complains about its message. If the OVR determines that a plate identification carries a sexual or otherwise offensive connotation, it denies those configurations which would obviously violate the rule against offensive messages. In cases in which the identification is not obviously offensive, the OVR engages in a weighing process of the public interest to be protected from offensive messages versus the private interest of the bearer of the plates in having the particular configuration displayed. In weighing these interests, a finding that the bearer of the plates had a legitimate reason for the message weighs strongly in favor of allowing the individual to keep the particular identification. In questionable cases, after engaging in the weighing of interests, the OVR may approve the issuance of the particular identification, but will notify the bearer of the plates that if the OVR receives complaints, it will engage in new consideration of the message. Public complaints are therefore a gauge by which the OVR may determine how offensive a particular plate is to the public. Complaints serve to tip the scale in favor of revocation of a questionable plate.