Don’t lose that decal: new license plate production to start Aug. 15
Kansans should not expect to walk out of the tag office with a new, embossed license plate in hand anymore.
Starting Aug. 15, digitally-produced license plates will be created on demand in Wichita at Center Industries using a digital printer that prints the tag information on a background, then bonds the background material to the metal plate. The new plates will feature flat numbers and letters.
The plate will then be mailed to the customer’s home within 10-14 business days.
Production of Kansas’ new digitally-produced license plates was pushed back from Aug. 1 to Aug. 15 due to equipment issues.
Linda Kizzire, Sedgwick County treasurer, said when people go to a tag office or a substation for title work, a clerk will give them a decal and a paper 30-day tag with the same number on it that will be on the actual plate. They need to hang on to that decal until the actual license plate arrives in the mail.
Kizzire suggests that people should keep the decal and registration in their glove compartment until the license plate arrives.
Kansas Department of Revenue public information officer Rachel Whitten said the state is aware that people could lose the registration decals within that time period, but they are confident that if people have the directions, they will be able to follow through with them.
Other county officials have expressed concerns about people misplacing those decals while waiting for their tags.
“I honestly don’t see this as an issue,” Kizzire said. “The bulk of our issue is when we get a tag returned to us because customers don’t update their addresses.”
In the initial discussions of the transition, Kizzire said, the Kansas Sheriffs’ Association and the Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police did not want the decal placed on the license plate prior to it being mailed because if it was lost or stolen, someone would have your plate and decal, making it a valid Kansas plate.
“You as the victim wouldn’t be aware of that happening,” she said. “At least if they stole the plate without the decal then it wouldn’t be a valid plate, but I’m not speaking for the other 104 counties. I’ll speak for our county.”
Later on, the state is planning to see if it would be better to put the decal on the plate before sending it to the customer.
Sedgwick County reprints about 2,500 decals per year, but most of the time, the tag office is resending returned decals. The most important thing is educating customers about the new process, Kizzire said.
“I think we probably will be reprinting more decals, but I’m going to wait and see what happens,” Kizzire said. “I really hope that everyone remembers anytime we change anything there is the possibility of an issue. It is a transition for all 105 counties, not just Sedgwick.”
Not everyone needs the updated license plate, though. Only residents who register a new vehicle without transferring a plate, or those who change from standard to specialty or personalized plates after Aug. 15 will receive the new tag.
Kizzire said the transition will save a lot of time and labor, as well as eliminate the need to keep license plates in stock.
“Center Industries would have to physically change the sheeting that would go through the processors and it was quite time consuming,” she said. “If they had several orders for personalized plates they would have to remove all the plating and this digital process will be much more cost-effective and will save labor hours.”
Once the system is up and operational, it will be better for residents, Kizzire said.
“I think it’s really going to help the state and I think it’s going to benefit us also,” Kizzire said. “It’s hard to change after all these years, but we’ll have to remain positive on this change and transition. People are just used to coming in and walking out with a tag, but this will be a lot better system. It’s a learning curve, so be patient.”
Oklahoma, Nebraska and Texas also have flat plates.
This story was originally published July 19, 2018 at 3:28 PM.