OH HB194

Authorizes the registrar of motor vehicles to use a competitive selection process to contract with a private vendor to design and market specialty license plates for up to two years, renewable for additional two-year terms.

Vendor must use compatible electronic infrastructure with the bureau of motor vehicles and comply with copyright and trademark laws; the registrar retains responsibility for issuance and collection of taxes and fees.

Establishes a $5 service fee applicable to multiple vehicle registration and licensing transactions, with fees collected deposited into the public safety-highway purposes fund.

Creates the public safety license plate contract fund to compensate the private vendor from fees collected on specialty license plate sales, and adds contributions from specialty plates to the drug law enforcement fund for drug task force grants.

Requires the joint committee on agency rule review to approve all specialty license plate designs, with the registrar prohibited from restricting colors or design features except for public safety reasons.