60-3,135. Undercover license plates; issuance; confidential.

(1)(a) Undercover license plates may be issued to federal, state, county, city, or village law enforcement agencies and shall be used only for legitimate criminal investigatory purposes. Undercover license plates may also be issued to the Nebraska State Patrol, the Game and Parks Commission, deputy state sheriffs employed by the Nebraska Brand Committee and State Fire Marshal for state law enforcement purposes, persons employed by the Tax Commissioner for state revenue enforcement purposes, the Department of Health and Human Services for the purposes of communicable disease control, the prevention and control of those communicable diseases which endanger the public health, the enforcement of drug control laws, or other investigation purposes, the Department of Agriculture for special investigative purposes, and the Insurance Fraud Prevention Division of the Department of Insurance for investigative purposes. Undercover license plates shall not be used on personally owned vehicles or for personal use of government-owned vehicles.

(b) The director shall prescribe a form for agencies to apply for undercover license plates. The form shall include a space for the name and signature of the contact person for the requesting agency, a statement that the undercover license plates are to be used only for legitimate criminal investigatory purposes, and a statement that undercover license plates are not to be used on personally owned vehicles or for personal use of government-owned vehicles.

(2) The agency shall include the name and signature of the contact person for the agency on the form and pay the fee prescribed in section 60-3,102. If the undercover license plates will be used for the investigation of a specific event rather than for ongoing investigations, the agency shall designate on the form an estimate of the length of time the undercover license plates will be needed. The contact person in the agency shall sign the form and verify the information contained in the form.

(3) Upon receipt of a completed form, the director shall determine whether the undercover license plates will be used by an approved agency for a legitimate purpose pursuant to subsection (1) of this section. If the director determines that the undercover license plates will be used for such a purpose, he or she may issue the undercover license plates in the form and under the conditions he or she determines to be necessary. The decision of the director regarding issuance of undercover license plates is final.

(4) The department shall keep records pertaining to undercover license plates confidential, and such records shall not be subject to public disclosure.

(5) The contact person shall return the undercover license plates to the department if:

(a) The undercover license plates expire and are not renewed;

(b) The purpose for which the undercover license plates were issued has been completed or terminated; or

(c) The director requests their return.

(6) A state agency, board, or commission that uses motor vehicles from the transportation services bureau of the Department of Administrative Services shall notify the bureau immediately after undercover license plates have been assigned to the motor vehicle and shall provide the equipment and license plate number and the undercover license plate number to the bureau. The transportation services bureau shall maintain a list of state-owned motor vehicles which have been assigned undercover license plates. The list shall be confidential and not be subject to public disclosure.

(7) The contact person shall be held accountable to keep proper records of the number of undercover plates possessed by the agency, the particular license plate numbers for each motor vehicle, and the person who is assigned to the motor vehicle. This record shall be confidential and not be subject to public disclosure.

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