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FAQ # 22 Details

Protected Plates in Other States

New 12-10-10

In Sept. 2010 I inquired to find out how many people are on the protected lists in Illinois and Texas (compared to California's 1.5 million).

On Oct. 19 I got this reply from Texas:

Good morning.  It was a pleasure to have the opportunity to speak with you yesterday.

In the State of Texas, the Texas Transportation Code, provides the authority for the issuance of alias registration. (Sec. 502.206.  REGISTRATION OF CERTAIN LAW ENFORCEMENT VEHICLES UNDER ALIAS.  On receipt of a written request approved by the executive administrator of a law enforcement agency, the department may issue exempt license plates for a vehicle and register the vehicle under an alias for the law enforcement agency's use in covert criminal investigations.  Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.)  Alias records are included in copies of the Registration and Title System (RTS) database masterfile and weekly updates that are provided to vendors.  Were a law enforcement officer to make a traffic stop or a vendor check the license plate number for an alias record, the record does NOT shown any unique identifier that would indicate that record as an alias.

To redact/suppress a motor vehicle record in the State of Texas requires a court order. The vehicle owner would have to appear before a District Judge and provide documentation that his/her life is in imminent danger. Suppressed records are not provided to vendors.

In FY 2010, there were 18,253 alias records and 70 suppressed records in RTS.

Please contact me, if you have any questions or if we can be of further assistance.

Thank you for the opportunity of serving you.

Diane Emrick-Dodson
Texas Department of Motor Vehicles
Vehicle Titles & Registration Division
(512) 302-2072

And on Nov. 12 I got this reply from Illinois:

Our Department of Information Technology has informed me of the following:

Currently there are 3,328 driver’s licenses that have been tagged.  If someone looks up information on any of these from within SOS, the SOS police are notified who looked it up and what DL was looked at.

There are also 5,867 registered license plates that are on a protected list.

I do not believe we have a way to breakdown the list into any categories.  So far all indication is we cannot break it down.

Unfortunately, we are unable to breakdown the files any further.  I hope the information helps.

Call if you have any questions.

Donna Leonard
Executive Counsel
Illinois Secretary of State
(312) 814-5535