IOWA NEWS: Get ‘Back in Black’ with Iowa’s new ‘blackout’ specialty license plate

ANKENY - There's a cool new specialty license plate available to Iowans today. The latest addition to the Iowa Department of Transportation's options is the 'blackout” plate - an all-black plate with white lettering authorized last legislative session.

The plate is offered as both a standard alphanumeric plate and a personalized plate.

The new plate can be ordered beginning today. It can be ordered both online at https://iowadot.gov/mvd/vehicleregistration/vehicleregistration/plates/blackout, or by completing the form at https://forms.iowadot.gov/BrowseForms.aspx?templateid=411260 and mailing it to the Iowa DOT's Vehicle & Motor Carrier Services Bureau.

Iowa Prison Industries will make the plates and ship them to the county treasurer's office. The office will let the owner know when the plates are ready to pick up. Remember to bring the plates being replacing into the county treasurer's office to turn them in when picking up the new plates.

The new plate will cost $35 for a standard alphanumeric plate and an additional $25 for a personalized plate. Funds collected for the blackout plate will go to the Road Use Tax Fund, which funds state, county, and city road and bridge projects throughout Iowa.

License plates are an important tool used by law enforcement and others to help identify a vehicle. This identification has many practical purposes and can be lifesaving in the case of criminal activity or a situation like an Amber Alert. As a reminder, never use a license plate frame that obscures or blocks the numbers and letters on the plate. It can hinder this identification and violates state law.