# Why aren't cars with "sovereign citizen" plates summarily impounded and drivers charged? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 9, 2025, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-cars-with-sovereign-citizen-plates-summarily-impounded-and-drivers-charged/1020658 "2025-07-09T13:38:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2025, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-cars-with-sovereign-citizen-plates-summarily-impounded-and-drivers-charged/1020658/81 "2025-07-17T22:51:13Z")
In MO where I lived ~1995-2015 the annual stickers went in the upper right. Until a fad developed for scofflaws to use tinsnips to cut off the upper right corner of plates w valid stickers, then attach that bit to their own expired unrenewed plates. So the state changed the shape of the stickers and put the target indentation dead center in the plate. Hard to cut that out without removing and destroying the plate. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2025, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-cars-with-sovereign-citizen-plates-summarily-impounded-and-drivers-charged/1020658/82 "2025-07-17T23:14:04Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > We don’t deal with sovereign citizens very often but when we do we have a special radio code for it and a set of written procedures regarding them That is the most interesting and sensible bit in the thread. Thank you for sharing your unique perspective on a very vexing situation. They deserve to be rounded up and re-educated or eliminated / ejected. But our sorta-civilized coutry frowns on that so you and your coworkers are stuck splitting the difference. Ouch! ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2025, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-cars-with-sovereign-citizen-plates-summarily-impounded-and-drivers-charged/1020658/83 "2025-07-18T00:13:37Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Being a Good Samaritan does not give someone the right or privilege to mess with someone else’s car. Not true. Some jurisdictions allow for a private individual to break a window if a child or pet is in a car on a hot day. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2025, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-cars-with-sovereign-citizen-plates-summarily-impounded-and-drivers-charged/1020658/84 "2025-07-18T01:10:52Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > > [@pkbites](#): > > > > Being a Good Samaritan does not give someone the right or privilege to mess with someone else’s car. > > Not true. Some jurisdictions allow for a private individual to break a window if a child or pet is in a car on a hot day. What part of “except in an emergency” from one of my previous posts did you not understand? ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2025, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-cars-with-sovereign-citizen-plates-summarily-impounded-and-drivers-charged/1020658/85 "2025-07-18T01:18:31Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > > [@pkbites](#): > > > > Same here. Then idiots put them all over the plate obscuring it. > > When we had them the registration came with clear instructions including a diagram showing to put the sticker in the upper right corner of the plate. The next year you had the choice of peeling off the sticker and replacing it or just putting the new one on top. Way too many people put the next one in the upper left. Then the next year on the bottom left. Then the lower right. Presumably ad infinitum if they didn’t stop sending them out. Our stickers come in a little envelope and on the envelope there is a diagram that shows a picture of a plate and an arrow pointing to the bottom right of the picture of the plate and it says “Place sticker here”. A not insignificant number of patrolmen have pulled people over with expired tags and they pulled the little envelope out of their glovebox with the sticker on the little envelope where it says “Place sticker here”. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2025, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-cars-with-sovereign-citizen-plates-summarily-impounded-and-drivers-charged/1020658/86 "2025-07-18T01:26:15Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > A not insignificant number of patrolmen have pulled people over with expired tags and they pulled the little envelope out of their glovebox with the sticker on the little envelope where it says “Place sticker here”. - Too bad a license can’t be revoked for “being too stupid to drive.” ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2025, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-cars-with-sovereign-citizen-plates-summarily-impounded-and-drivers-charged/1020658/87 "2025-07-18T01:26:23Z")
New flash: the general public is too stupid to breath, much less live. ETA: or drive I genuinely feel for our LEOs who have to deal with the bottom 10% of our citizens all day every day. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2025, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-cars-with-sovereign-citizen-plates-summarily-impounded-and-drivers-charged/1020658/88 "2025-07-18T04:11:23Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I genuinely feel for our LEOs who have to deal with the bottom 10% of our citizens all day every day. Yup, watch _On Patrol Live_ and you’ll get a good idea of the absolute idiocy they have to deal on a daily basis. The SovCits are the _worst_ and the cops always hate to deal with them. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2025, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-cars-with-sovereign-citizen-plates-summarily-impounded-and-drivers-charged/1020658/89 "2025-07-18T05:41:37Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > They deserve to be rounded up and re-educated or eliminated / ejected. As I’ve said before I fantasize about the idea of having them declared outlaws in the original sense of the world, outside the law. Anyone can steal their stuff, hurt them, or even kill them with total impunity. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2025, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-cars-with-sovereign-citizen-plates-summarily-impounded-and-drivers-charged/1020658/90 "2025-07-18T11:50:34Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > As I’ve said before I fantasize about the idea of having them declared outlaws in the original sense of the world, outside the law. Anyone can steal their stuff, hurt them, or even kill them with total impunity. It might make a good lesson of just what benefits come with civilization and the law. There is the problem that there are some who would be willing to take that deal and go off to live in the woods. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2025, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-cars-with-sovereign-citizen-plates-summarily-impounded-and-drivers-charged/1020658/91 "2025-07-18T11:55:01Z")
I’m sure there was at least one novel with a game preserve kept full of human game for the ruling class to hunt. Might be an idea we could try here IRL. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2025, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-cars-with-sovereign-citizen-plates-summarily-impounded-and-drivers-charged/1020658/92 "2025-07-18T12:07:06Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > A not insignificant number of patrolmen have pulled people over with expired tags and they pulled the little envelope out of their glovebox with the sticker on the little envelope where it says “Place sticker here”. IIRC, the problem was you could renew 2 or 3 months early; but had to put the sticker on at a certain time, not too early or it obscured the current year’s validation (Probably why some creative types used all four corners). One news story about this reported on a fellow who had gotten his sticker early, and stuck it on his fridge to remind himself when the time came. When the time came … these things do NOT peel off. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2025, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-cars-with-sovereign-citizen-plates-summarily-impounded-and-drivers-charged/1020658/93 "2025-07-18T12:13:25Z")
My worry is that a group of outlaws might organize set up some kind of militant compound. Sure, they have no legal protection. But with that off the books, you could end up with up with a real problem if they start aggressively staking out a territory. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2025, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-cars-with-sovereign-citizen-plates-summarily-impounded-and-drivers-charged/1020658/94 "2025-07-18T12:32:11Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I’m sure there was at least one novel with a game preserve kept full of human game for the ruling class to hunt. > > Might be an idea we could try here IRL. - Classic short story though the hunter is a wealthy (and bored) aristocrat. > **[The Most Dangerous Game](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Most_Dangerous_Game)** > > "The Most Dangerous Game", also published as "The Hounds of Zaroff", is a short story by Richard Connell, first published in Collier's on January 19, 1924, with illustrations by Wilmot Emerton Heitland. The story features a big-game hunter from New York City who falls from a yacht and swims to what seems to be an abandoned and isolated island in the Caribbean, where he is hunted by a Russian aristocrat. The story is inspired by the big-game hunting safaris in Africa and South America The story... ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2025, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-cars-with-sovereign-citizen-plates-summarily-impounded-and-drivers-charged/1020658/95 "2025-07-18T12:32:44Z")
Just make sure your “game” is carefully disarmed before releasing them. But yeah, the reason all those novels end badly for the hunters and game preserve owners is exactly that the game refuses to stay within their role. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2025, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-cars-with-sovereign-citizen-plates-summarily-impounded-and-drivers-charged/1020658/96 "2025-07-18T12:36:09Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > IIRC, the problem was you could renew 2 or 3 months early; but had to put the sticker on at a certain time, not too early or it obscured the current year’s validation Wow, that’s a silly idea. It amazes me a state could come up with a rule set without consulting the other 50-ish states where annual± stickers work fine. When you get the new sticker, put it on your plate. The fact it obscures the prior sticker is legally immaterial in any of the several states I’ve lived and owned cars in. The sticker demonstrates your registration is valid for 12+ months into the future and that’s all that matters. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2025, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-cars-with-sovereign-citizen-plates-summarily-impounded-and-drivers-charged/1020658/97 "2025-07-18T13:52:00Z")
Yeah, it seems that once you have the new sticker, it supersedes the previous one. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2025, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-cars-with-sovereign-citizen-plates-summarily-impounded-and-drivers-charged/1020658/98 "2025-07-18T14:03:41Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > Yeah, it seems that once you have the new sticker, it supersedes the previous one In my state it does (Wisconsin) it does. You can apply the sticker as soon as you receive it. It means the registration has been extended to that year. Some plates the reg gets renewed every 2 years. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2025, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-cars-with-sovereign-citizen-plates-summarily-impounded-and-drivers-charged/1020658/99 "2025-07-18T15:46:02Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > There is the problem that there are some who would be willing to take that deal and go off to live in the woods. More power to 'em. They’d be out of our hair at least. Also there would be a [published legal notice](https://usalegalnotice.com/) of their declared sovereignity (is that a word?) and gangs of marauders eager to show them the advantages of community. > [@md-2000](#): > > IIRC, the problem was you could renew 2 or 3 months early; but had to put the sticker on at a certain time, not too early or it obscured the current year’s validation That makes no sense. “According to what I’ve just pulled up your tags expire in September 2025 and you’ve got a SEP 26 sticker – that’s a $150 fine, bub.” ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2025, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-cars-with-sovereign-citizen-plates-summarily-impounded-and-drivers-charged/1020658/100 "2025-07-18T17:15:00Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > More power to 'em. They’d be out of our hair at least. Also there would be a [published legal notice](https://usalegalnotice.com/) of their declared sovereignity (is that a word?) and gangs of marauders eager to show them the advantages of community. I fear that the sovereigns would become the marauding gangs and would not be out of our hair. The biggest asshole among them would force each of them to sign a contract to be his underling and cause enough trouble that the army would have to flush them out. If we could exile them to a fenced-in “Free-range” area in Alaska, then I have no issue with it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-cars-with-sovereign-citizen-plates-summarily-impounded-and-drivers-charged/1020658.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-cars-with-sovereign-citizen-plates-summarily-impounded-and-drivers-charged/1020658.md?page=6)