341.15 Display of registration plates.
(1) Whenever 2 registration plates are issued for a vehicle, one plate shall be attached to the front and one to the rear of the vehicle. Whenever only one registration plate is issued for a vehicle, the plate shall be attached as follows:
(a) If the vehicle is a truck tractor or road tractor or a motor truck issued the plate under s. 341.405 (2), to the front.
(b) For any other vehicle for which only one plate is issued, to the rear, except that a plate issued to or for a municipality under s. 341.26 (2m) may be attached to the front of the vehicle if the design or use of the vehicle is such as to make a plate attached to the rear difficult to see and read.
(1m)
(a) Except as provided in par. (b), any registration decal or tag issued by the department shall be placed on the rear registration plate of the vehicle in the manner directed by the department.
(b) Any registration decal or tag issued by the department for a truck tractor, road tractor or motor truck under sub. (1) (a) or for any other vehicle which may bear a registration plate attached to the front as provided in sub. (1) (b) shall be placed on the front registration plate of the vehicle in the manner directed by the department.
(2) Registration plates shall be attached firmly and rigidly in a horizontal position and conspicuous place. The plates shall at all times be maintained in a legible condition and shall be so displayed that they can be readily and distinctly seen and read. Any peace officer may require the operator of any vehicle on which plates are not properly displayed to display such plates as required by this section.
(3) Any of the following may be required to forfeit not more than $200:
(a) A person who operates a vehicle for which a current registration plate, insert tag, decal or other evidence of registration has been issued without such plate, tag, decal or other evidence of registration being attached to the vehicle, except when such vehicle is being operated pursuant to a temporary operation permit or plate or displays a historical plate under s. 341.265 (1m) or 341.266 (2) (dm);
(b) A person who operates a vehicle with a registration plate attached in a non-rigid or non-horizontal manner or in an inconspicuous place so as to make it difficult to see and read the plate;
(c) A person who operates a vehicle with a registration plate in an illegible condition due to the accumulation of dirt or other foreign matter.
History: 1971 c. 278; 1981 c. 150; 1983 a. 258; 1985 a. 29; 1991 a. 239; 1993 a. 64; 1995 a. 128; 2013 a. 221.
The language referencing a single plate in s. 341.40 (1) (a) is the first of a list of criteria that vehicles registered in a jurisdiction other than Wisconsin must meet in order to be exempt from the registration laws of this state. Having been issued at least one plate is a condition precedent for exemption, not a display requirement. Since s. 341.40 (1) (a) does not address how nonresidents are to display license plates, there is no conflict with sub. (1). Given the legislature's use of the word “whenever," sub. (1) unambiguously applies to all vehicles operated in Wisconsin, not just those that are also registered in Wisconsin. State v. Boyd, 2012 WI App 39, 340 Wis. 2d 168, 811 N.W.2d 853, 11-1056.
This section is applicable to temporary plates under s. 341.09. U.S. v. Dexter, 165 F.3d 1120 (1999).