Subject to ORS § 805.105 and 805.205 and the following, the Department of Transportation shall select registration plates it issues:

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(1) Registration plates shall be in the size, form and arrangement and made of materials determined by the department subject to the following:

(a) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (f) of this subsection, the design of the registration plates shall be that chosen by the commission from entries in the contest held pursuant to chapter 572, Oregon Laws 1987.

(b) If registration plates are issued, means shall be provided for identifying the vehicle from the front and rear by means of characters or numerals.

(c) All plates shall be made with a reflective material, so as to be a fully reflectorized safety plate. The reflectorized material shall be of such a nature as to provide effective dependable brightness in the promotion of traffic safety during the service period of the plate issued.

(d) Except as otherwise authorized under ORS § 805.200, all plates shall contain the distinctive number or characters assigned to the vehicle and the word ‘Oregon.’

(e) When a pair of registration plates is issued, each plate shall bear the same identification as the other plate of the pair.

(f) The department may choose plates for vehicles that are not required to display plates from the series produced as provided in chapter 572, Oregon Laws 1987. Nothing in this paragraph prohibits the department from issuing plates from the series produced as provided in chapter 572, Oregon Laws 1987, for vehicles that are not required to display such plates.

(2) The department may provide for designation of the registration period for which the registration is issued on the plate by means of stickers described under ORS § 803.555 or any other method the department determines appropriate.

(3) The department may provide plates that may be used on a vehicle for successive registration periods when validated by one or more stickers described under ORS § 803.555. [1983 c.338 § 260; 1985 c.16 § 101; 1993 c.741 § 121; 2007 c.564 § 4]

[1987 c.572 § 5; 1989 c.742 § 5; repealed by 1993 c.741 § 147]