The Ho-Chunk Nation (HCN) will be the seventh federally
recognized tribe in the State of Wisconsin to issue license plates to enrolled
Tribal Members.
The Wisconsin Statute 341.409 allows the State of Wisconsin
and the HCN to register motor vehicles owned or operated by an enrolled member
or by the HCN.
The license plates will be released in two stages. Stage one
will be plates for tribal owned vehicles only. At this stage, HCN owned fleet
vehicles will be issued a tribal plate.
This stage is vital to the License Plate program because
these will be the first vehicles with Ho-Chunk Nation plates on them. Vehicles
with the plates on them will serve as “test subjects.” The Division of Transportation
plans to have these plates issued by the end of November.
Stage two plates will be for Tribal Members. The Division of
Transportation plans to have these plates available by January 2020.
To qualify for a HCN license plate, you must be an enrolled
Tribal Member of the Ho-Chunk Nation and must reside on trust land. The HCN
does not have jurisdiction to register vehicles for enrolled members living off
of trust land.
Enrolled Tribal Members will be able to register their
vehicles at the Division of Transportation office at the Tribal Office Building
near Black River Falls, Wisc.
The license plates will be manufactures by Badger State
Industries, which is a State of Wisconsin Prison Industries Program.
The plates were designed by Business Department Graphic
Designer, Ken Lewis.