Ask Mike: Prisoners and license plates
Hey Guys,
Consider the license plate. Some plates are customized, some are just a random string of letters and numbers, and some (in California, anyway) have handprints and hearts. And, according to legend, every last one of them was made by a convict in America’s lovely prison system. Is that really true?
I can’t say definitively if every plate is made by a guest of the government, but a number of states do have prisoners manufacture license plates. In the state of Michigan, for example, prisoners do create each and every plate at the Parr Highway Correctional Facility. Overall, about 130 inmates produce over 8,000 plates every day. You can take a photo tour and see the process here.
Other states that employ inmates for the production of license plates include Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Nevada, and Colorado.
Indiana uses prisoners to make plates, too. But the Hoosier State ran into a bit of trouble when the prisoners were put on “lock down.” No plates could be made, and there was a bit of shortage. Hey, that’s life in the big house. Oh, and it’s not like this gig pays a lot. New York prisoners earn 42 cents per hour.
Do you guys have any favorite customized license plates that you’ve seen on the road? I don’t really have a favorite, but I do remember one that was so boring I never forgot it. On a red car, the license plate read: “RED CAR.” So creative.
Thanks for reading,
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My favorite was on a black Jeep. The license read “BAA BAA”
I once saw a VW bug car with a license plate that read LADY BUG.
Yes, I have a favorite of all time. A gorgeous, shiny new Porsche revving back up to leave a red traffic light in Georgia. Plate said PO SHA.
An Isuzu pickup truck said “GSNDHYT” (took me a minute…)
I work for a prison…On the license plate of my co workers car it read NPRISON
a really nice silver honda (i don’t remember the model) and the license plate said THANKS MA
it took me a min. for the izuzu too…(gunzunheidt)
I’ve seen a few around but don’t remember them
My favourite was a friend of mine got divorced and got the car ( porsche boxster) and it said ” WAS HIS”
I once had an older Porche I enjoyed playing with and since I lived in Georgia I gave it a southern “twang” with a personalized place that said “PAWSH” which is how everybody pronounced it anyway?
The best I saw was
“2COOL2RACE”
my sentiments entirely!
Cheers!
I once saw a plate the read OW DLRU A little hard to figure out and I’m surprised they got away with it!
There was a white CHEVY Blazer with the plate GUILTY in my town.
I suppose it would make sense if making license plates was entirely automatic.
At least prisoners have a job and some form of pay. Personally I’m into those hearts and hand prints on license plates. We work hard for our money and could possibly use some decoration for our cars.
My favorite read said something like “Iluvtofu.” as in “I love tofu.” some people misread it and it made quiet a nice controversy ^^
i saw one that said gotcash on a lamborgini
I alway’s like Laurence Welk’s license plate, A1ANA2A, A oneah n’ a twoah
I saw one that said IM 1337
Up at the community college here, there’s a minivan with “GRIF&DOR” on their plate.
Someone here must be a huge Harry Potter fan.
Scratch
Yes this is true actually. It’s one of the many odd jobs that prisoners on good behavior are allowe to do at their prisons. I was watching an episode of Locked Up on MSNBC and they were showing this all male prison and the men there did the clothes wash, clerical, automotive, and among others, creating license plates.
How did you just find out about this? This has been going on for decades. You are stupid Yahoo.
I saw one once that read SHY BOY.
I once saw one that said IRSMART
I are smart….
yes you is.
PT80HED
On the plate holder it said:
“It says potato head”
Yes this was in Idaho
Speaking of criminals and plates, the real crooks are the ones selling them. To get a vanity plate in Ohio it will cost $50 and this isn’t a one time deal either. Renewal for vanity plates are also $50.
I saw a BMW with the reg. plate “WTB V4N.” (want to buy van)
… Being the WoW nerd that I am, it made my day.
I read an article a few years ago in the newspaper about somebody who works for the state, and part of their job is to check all the personalized license plates to make sure that none of them are obscene. She said that she talked with her kids about what the latest slang is so she can keep up.
My dads license plate is FGT 1234(i 4get the last numbers) and its ironic cuz thts what my sister calls him(; shes a bad child
Yes, they make license plates and also makes the sighs that we see on intertates and highways and streets, just take a look behind of one of the signs and you see a little logo or something my husband showed me one time.
My favorite plate-related tidbit: In New Hampshire, the license plates all carry the state’s motto, “Live Free or Die.” It’s pretty funny when you consider that the people who make them definitely are NOT living free!
My favourite personalized license plate is
4TOPLESS
OW DLRU ???
When my dad finally retired at 67 years old, he bought himself a new Jaguar as a retirement gift. His customized plate reads “JAG AT 67.” It may be a tiny bit vain, but he deserves it.
My friend has a license plate that says, “DOULVIT”
(Do you love it)
i saw one OB1KNOBI. thought that was inivative use of lettering
I saw a yellow Mustang with a license plate of “#FFFF00″
My favorite was PBFT (leadfoot)
My favorite has, and always will be: “ADLFLVR” They had a Dolphins sticker next to it, but really what my family and I took it as was, “Adolph Lover” Seriously should reconsider that license plate.
Two of my favourites;
On a Tesla car, “LOL OIL”
Tesla cars are completely electric and run for about an hour. No oil whatsoever. Today’s “electric cars” use oil AND electricity. Joy, double the resource intake. Silly Prius.
In Virginia, the hand print state license plate that says “Virginia!
-license plate number-
Kids first!”
His customized license plate said “EATTHE”
So it read;
“Virginia!
EATTHE
Kids first!” with green and red children’s hand prints on the side.
Oh lawdy.
I read one that sayd SKTCHY, kinda sketchy right?
i have had a liver/kidney transplant,,,NUPRTS
my name is malone,,,wife is mcandrews,,,togther= MCLONE
my crazy ex GF had one..LOCO UNO
I saw once read as IAMAGAY
I’ll never forget seeing this pink and lavender and aqua jeep… when i was like 8 or 9… with an unforgettable license plate… BARBIE… the girl driving it… did NOT look like barbie. lol
I always thought it would be a great idea for a get-a-way driver to have a license plate full of ones and L’s. (11ll11ll1) Then when the police were trying to call in the plate, they would get confused and flustered.
I saw a license plate this morning that was memorable.
3LILPIGS
My favortie was on this brand new sports car, with a mirror type paint custom paint job. The kind of car that LOOKS so expenisive you can’t help but cringe that someone is actually driving it. The plate read TAX REFND.
some are just a random string of letters and numbers
This has NEVER been true in ANY state. They APPEAR random when looking at any one plate. If you look at a SMALL portion of a production run, it becomes obvious there is a distinct pattern.
My favorite plate read PAID 4.
On a rather expensive car “MY RRIF” (Registered Retirment Investment Fund)
my favorite is HotMOM- pretty neat
Old fashioned VW Beetle: “FEATURE” … obviously a programmer for Microsoft.
As for the prisoner aspect, NH License plates each have the state motto “Live Free or Die” … I think those really are put out by prisoners.
The new hampshire motto is printed on their licence plates by the prisoners that reads “live free or die” that sort of encourages their prisoners do try to escape right?
I saw one that said OHBABY
I saw and old people car like a Lincoln or something that had a license plate which said crmdgen (curmudgeon) haha hilarious!
I saw one on a jeep that said “STD”
Loved this one. It was a scion xb, it was painted like a classic black and white converse shoe. The plate read Shoebox. I will ALWAYS remember it. It was rush hour so I even got to take pictures of it.
hahahA
I once saw a plate that said “YUKONXL” on a GMC Yukon XL.
I was stunned that someone would actually pay money for that.
My plates say YES PLZZ
haha
I saw one that mothers always say before kids get in the car.It said “TRY2GOP”
I also read on that said “NIGHATR” I was shocked. I couldn’t believe they were allowed to get it.
In California, all the license plates are made by prisoners. I know because I work for the Department of Motor Vehicles. We get a shipment of the plates every week. It follows by sequence and if you specially order a plate, it takes about 4months to receive.
My fave plate is “MINE”
On this car that had alot of Mickey Mouse bumper stickers the plate read MICKEY
A couple of funny ones…
The local plumber has BMBSAWY (Bombs away)
And a martial arts studio locally says KRTECHP (Karate chop) on it’s van.
I’ve always wanted one that said LMAOLSR.
I saw a Michigan Plate that said “Utah” I laughed hard… as I am from Utah and was in utah when I saw Michigan plates Saying that!
Dont think so because they are made by machines not by hand but maybe they use the some convicts to operate the factory but the ones they choose are usually the ones that are there for not so dangerous charges and good people that got into trouble. When you make a prison system privatized thats what happens.
My favorite is my own… mostly women know it….
Quim
Got it from my favorite writer
and my sexy bumper sticker says….
Just cause you have one…. Don’t be one…
That is for both sexes…lol
Years ago I saw an Audi with the plate HAUDI (howdy)
I saw a Saturn Sky once, and the license plate read SKY HY. Kind of clever, but kind of silly.
I’ve seen a black Corvette C5 several times with a plate that read FABLE. Don’t know what he meant by that.
I considered getting one that said RACEME on a really slow car, but I wouldn’t want to be thought of as another stupid teenager who thinks his civic is fast as lightning.
i saw one today. it was on a viper and it was sssss. as in the noise a snake makes. lol i thought it was kinda cool.
my dads a big fan of larry the cable guy so for fathers day i got him a plate that says GITRDNE. he loves it.
My uncle is from Arkansas, is a big Razorback fan, and now lives in Arizona. His plate reads IM4HOGS.
I was on my way in to Long Beach, CA, on I10, to pick up my two daughters for the weekend, when I came up behind a white Porsche. The plate read, “3M TA3″.
Having an OCD about figuring out custom plates, I dropped back down in speed to match, and studied the meaning. After about 10 mins, couldn’t figure it out, so I gave up, kicked the cruise, set at 85, back in, and proceeded to pass the Porsche. It was being driven by the most gorgeous blond I have, still to this day, ever seen in my life. I assimilated the new info, and slowed to study the new input. After a couple of waves, peace signs, etc., I moved on, only to click my right hand signal on, to move back into the right hand lane (80% of speeding tickets are issued to people in the left lane), and I catch a glimpse of the front plate, in the right hand rear view mirror …
Sometime in the 80′s, Florida inmates printed the license plates upside down, you can imagine what a problem that caused, with some rather obscene comments.
My state, Arizona, would not issue me a plate that read “Q Q Q Q”… I wonder why….
I once saw an old Corvair that had the license plate
“R Nader”
I saw one that said URAPNS on a Papa Johns car. I laughed sooooo hard.
there was a mini cooper whose license read “HUGE”
When I was selling real estate, I noticed my broker’s Lexus had a plate that read “RELEST8.” Not my all-time fave, but kind of cute.
The license plate which sticks out most in my mind was one I saw on the back of one of my literature professor’s car years ago. I was leaving for my long drive back to the Dallas area when I happened to spot him getting into his car parked along the street a short distance ahead of me. As he pulled out of his parking space, I noticed his license plate. It read JWB PhD. How appropriate, I thought. His initials rhyme perfectly with his professional status. He has been dead now for more than 10 years, so it won’t matter if I mention his name. He was Dr. James W. Byrd, Ph D, a professor and author specializing in the study of Black Literature at what was then East Texas State University.
There is a white Chevrolet S-10 Blazer running around Orange County CA that reads JAMNDMB, must be a Dave Matthews Band affectionado.
Mine…it says…DYZILLA
i saw one that said 4evr pms. The car had a bunch of dents and knicks in it, from car accidents, im guessing. I wouldn’t want to drive behind her
I saw one that JK MNO
when you see it you see “hey there’s Noel (no L)”
once i saw a car i don’t remember what it was but it said “dnt hate”
I was like wow
Electric Tesla car with license plate that said
“LOL OIL”
OW DLRU???
I once saw a very nice lexis with the liences plate saying “bank rup”
hate to say it, but I worked in a prison in Vermont and every license plate, every street and hwy sign and even documents for the state were all made by inmates.
Ive seen two..one said “Eau My” as in Oh My. and another said “hot tea”
Connecticut also has the inmates make every license plate. They do not get paid though.
On a 2000 VW Bug – Y2K BUG
I’m in a Cadillac from the early 80s driving around town with a personalised plate reading “LDYMGT”, I meant it as in the car’s a “Lady Magnet” but people mistake it for me being in the business of “Lady Management”.. Haha
i wanna get one that says something along the lines of SEE MY MT or C MY MOUNT, THS MY MT (WoW terms)
or something to do with football
IMAJAG, JAXJAGS, FLG8R, IMAG8R
I live on Cape Cod, which is a big vacation destination. A lot of folks own summer homes there. Every summer I see a handful of license plates from different states saying the names of local towns. Sort of bragging rights, I guess.
I once saw one driving back from Altoona, IA that said “CHEEZEMAN”
I saw this one license plate that said “JUDOMOM”
“EGG CUP”
Mine would be ” 02b0t” which is actually ( Oh To Be Naught-ty)
GRRRR on a volkswagen bug ;D
i saw a toyota prius that said, 60mpgpal. i thought that was hysterical.
I went to the Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia and saw a license plate from there that said “CPEBRTN” (Cape Breton)
Also so another one the other day that said “2ND”
OW DLRU???- Maybe “How old are you?” I was wondering what that said… I know I’ve seen a few hilarious ones, but I cant remember right now.
Prisoners in the old SCRCI in Alaska were paid 1.00 per day back in 1970. I know because I was in charge of their payroll, among other things. I am very weak at mathmatics, but this was the easiest I ever had it. No license plates were made in this place back then; I think the place was since relocated from Anchorage to Eagle River, and I don’t know if they make them now or not.
OW DLRU….Read it slow. OW D L R U? ‘ow the ‘ell are you.
I saw this one license plate that said “JUDOMOM”