Wyoming License Plate Covers: Plates Must Stay Free of Foreign Materials and Clearly Legible

The display rule is the starting point. W.S. 31-2-205(a) sets four requirements for every registered vehicle: plates must be conspicuously displayed and securely fastened to be plainly visible, one on the front and one on the rear; secured to prevent swinging; attached in a horizontal position no less than twelve inches from the ground; and maintained free from foreign materials and in a condition to be clearly legible. The phrase "free from foreign materials" is what a cover has to answer to, and it is drafted without any allowance for a transparent one. Wyoming does not follow the states that expressly permit a clear cover, and it does not follow the states that expressly ban all covers either. The test is functional: can the plate be read.

The front-plate list is unusually long, and it matters because a driver who has no front plate at all cannot be cited for covering it. W.S. 31-2-205(a)(i)(A) excludes from the front-plate requirement motorcycles, multipurpose vehicles, trailers including house trailers, vehicles operated with demo, full use or manufacturer plates issued under W.S. 31-16-125, street rods registered under W.S. 31-2-226, custom vehicles registered under W.S. 31-2-227, antique vehicles registered under W.S. 31-2-223, off-road recreational vehicles registered under W.S. 31-2-232, and any motor vehicle which was originally manufactured without a bracket, device or other means to display and secure a front license plate. That last exclusion is broader than most states allow and covers a large share of modern imports. Every vehicle still needs the rear plate under W.S. 31-2-205(a)(i)(B).

The offense itself sits in Title 31 chapter 4. W.S. 31-4-101(a) forbids knowingly operating, or as an owner knowingly permitting the operation of, a vehicle on any highway unless valid plates or permits issued for the vehicle are displayed as the act requires, with validation stickers properly placed within thirty days of issuance, and paragraph (a)(iii) reaches plates, validation stickers or license permits altered, mutilated or obscured so as to prevent the plate number from being easily read. W.S. 31-4-101(b) adds a flat prohibition on altering or mutilating a valid license plate, sticker or permit, which is what a cover attached by drilling through the plate, or a plate trimmed to fit a frame, runs into.

Two further Wyoming details make a dark cover harder to defend. W.S. 31-2-204(b) requires that the background of all plates be fully reflectorized and that there be marked contrast between the plate colour and the numerals and letters, and a tinted or mirrored shield defeats the reflectorisation the state paid for. W.S. 31-5-913(b) separately requires either a tail lamp or a separate lamp constructed and placed to illuminate the rear registration plate with a white light, so a cover that dims the plate at night undermines a second statutory requirement rather than only the display rule.

Size is worth knowing before buying a frame. Under W.S. 31-2-204(b) a Wyoming plate carries the county number at the left-hand end, then the bucking horse and rider emblem, then the assigned number, with the word Wyoming and the year of issue or validation above or below. Plates for motorcycles, multipurpose vehicles and light utility trailers under one thousand pounds are not less than three inches by six inches. A frame sized for a standard plate will cover the county number or the year on one of those smaller plates, and the county number is part of the registration identifier, not decoration.

S. 31-4-104 applies: any person who violates any provision of that act for which no separate penalty is provided shall on conviction be punished by a fine not to exceed $750. There is no jail exposure and no licence suspension attached to the display rule itself. S. 31-4-101 requires knowledge for the operating offense, so an officer who stops a vehicle over a road-grime-covered plate is generally looking for the plate to be cleaned rather than for a conviction. S. 31-4-102(c), which makes it a felony punishable by a fine of up to $5,000, imprisonment for up to two years, or both.

S. 31-2-204(a) also requires a physical or electronic copy of the certificate of registration to be carried in the vehicle at all times and displayed on demand of any peace officer, which is normally checked in the same stop.