Arizona is getting more specialty license plates

Arizona residents already have more than 60 specialty license plates to choose from, and they may soon have even more options.

State lawmakers approved several bills during this legislative session, which wrapped up earlier this week, to create seven new specialty license plates.

“The nice thing about having so many specialty plates, of course, is that there are a real diverse number of charitable organizations that get a lot of people’s interest,” said Doug Nick, a spokesman with the Arizona Motor Vehicle Division.

New options include a flying cross license plate, which is only available to those who prove they are veterans and a flying cross recipient. Their immediate family members can also get the plate.

There are also a special plates for college football, community service, humanitarian services and Alzheimer’s research. The “share the road” specialty plate aims to promote safety and awareness of cyclists.

The charitable organizations behind the plates have to come up with $32,000 to cover start-up costs before they’re made available.

Nick said the organizations are also in charge of coming up with the design for the plate. He said the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) will work with law enforcement to ensure the design “meets all the requirements of being a good license plate.”

“In other words, it’s easily readable by law enforcement and it’s not too busy in terms of design, the color and all those things,” he said.

It costs $25 to purchase a specialty license plate. Of that, $17 goes to the charity behind the license plate and the rest covers administrative costs.

Last July, ADOT announced the annual sales of the specialty license plates exceeded $10 million during the fiscal year that ended at the end of June.

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