Rejected personalized (aka "vanity) license plates in 2013 (Wisconsin) • MuckRock

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Communications

From: Shawn Musgrave

05/07/2014

Subject: None

Fax

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to Wisconsin's Open Records act, I hereby request the following records:

A list of all personalized license plate number applications that were rejected for the year 2013.

If available I am also looking for:

-The reason for the rejection of the personalized plate.
-The vehicle make and model.
-The City and County where the applicants vehicle would be registered.

I am NOT looking for any personal identifiable information such as first and last name, street number, street name.

I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as I believe this request is in the public interest. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.

In the event that fees cannot be waived, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I would request your response within ten (10) business days.

Sincerely,

Shawn Musgrave

From: Reeve, Jill - DOT

05/14/2014

Subject: None

Dear Mr. Musgrave

In response to your open records request concerning personalized plate applications that were rejected in 2013 including the reason for rejection, the vehicle make and model, and the city and county where the applicant's vehicle would be registered, I regret to inform you that there are no existing records or reports containing the information you are requesting. Personalized plates can be denied for a number of reasons and denials for all of the various reasons are not all recorded, or processed and retained electronically. Only after a license plate has been issued and assigned to a specific vehicle, is the record retained in our database. Wisconsin Statute 341.145(7) specifically states "all decisions of the department with respect to personalized registration plate applications shall be final and are not subject to judicial review under ch. 227", I have included a list of license plates that processors requested review as they could be potentially objectionable or misleading(we call them all objectionable for issuance purposes) for 2013. This list is not every denied plate, only ones processors requested review before issuing and were identified as objectionable.

We do have, and will provide, a listing through 2014 of potential objectionable or misleading personalized plate messages that DMV could decline issuance if requested, Please be aware that this list changes, new phrases are added when identified, and entries once considered as potentially objectionable may be removed if reviewed and it is determined that they should no longer be on the list. Keep in mind, this list does not mean the message was ever requested, or ever issued. The second mentioned list is large, so please let me know if it does not come through with this e-mail.

Please feel free to contact me if you have further questions or concerns at jill.reeve@dot.wi.gov<mailto:jill.reeve@dot.wi.gov>, or 608-261-2575

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