Outdated Equipment Could End Prison's 90-Year Run Making Maine License Plates
Secretary of State Shenna Bellows says Bolduc Correctional Facility's plate shop needs costly upgrades to keep running.
Maine could stop requiring that its license plates be made at Bolduc Correctional Facility in Warren under a bill now before the Legislature, the Bangor Daily News reported.
The state prison system has turned out license plates for close to 90 years. LD 2179 would make a wide range of changes to the state's motor vehicle laws, including dropping the rule that plates come from Bolduc.
Secretary of State Shenna Bellows told the Legislature's Transportation Committee at a Feb. 24 hearing that the building and equipment used to make the plates are outdated. If lawmakers want production to stay at the prison, she said, the state would have to spend money on significant upgrades to both.
"This may be the time for the prison to get out of the manufacturing of plates," Bellows said.
This story was first reported by Bangor Daily News.
