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New Secretary of State reaffirms rejection of inappropriate license plates

Secretary of State Giannoulias reveals rejected vanity plates in 2022 Small percentage prohibited for violating the state’s vehicle code

There will be no PEEPEE, SUKIT or DUCKYOU for Illinois drivers.

Those are just a few of the nearly 400 requests for vanity and personalized license plates that were rejected by the Illinois Secretary of State’s office in 2022, according to Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias.

Last year, 54,236 Illinoisans requested vanity and personalized plate requests and 383 were shot down due to their tawdry, lewd or offensive nature or because they were difficult to read.

“We love the creativity and pride Illinoisans take in choosing their personalized license plates,” said Secretary Giannoulias.

“Most plate requests are approved, but a small percentage fail to meet the standards of good taste and decency and are rejected because they violate the state’s vehicle code.”

The Secretary of State’s Office oversees the process by which Illinoisans may request specific vanity or personalized license plates for their vehicles. Many use the office’s popular Pick-a-Plate feature on the website – ilsos.gov – which allows the applicant to type in different combinations of letters, or letters and numbers, to see if they are available for purchase.

A small panel in the office’s Vehicle Services Department reviews the license plate requests to prevent offensive language. Among those rejected included: PEEPEE, GOTPOOP, SUCKER, KISSASH, SUKIT, BITEU, DUCKYOU, COKAIN, HAIILNO, WHTHFUK and WMWWWMW.

Secretary Giannoulias said his office maintains an ever-growing rejection list, which currently stands at more than 7,000 license plate combinations deemed offensive or difficult to read.

The Secretary of State’s office has issued a total of 922,147 vanity or personalized license plates to Illinoisans. Of this number, 312,399 are considered vanity plates – meaning they contain all letters – and 609,748 of the plates are considered personalized plates – meaning they contain a combination of letters and numbers specifically requested by the vehicle owner.

The cost of a standard passenger random license plate is $151. The cost of a standard passenger vanity license plate at initial purchase is $245, and subsequent annual renewals cost $164. The cost of a standard passenger personalized license plate at initial purchase is $198, and subsequent annual renewals cost $158.

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Ray Hanania

Ray Hanania is an award-winning columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.

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Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.

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