Do Washington State Inmates Still Make License Plates?

What Is The Status Of Inmate Labor In Washington State's License Plate Manufacturing

We've seen the movies on what we think prison life is in Washington State. My brother served 15 years in Walla Walla and have always been curious about his time there.

Like The TV Show Fire Country, Do Inmates Still Make License Plates In WA State?

I've been surprised by some of his answers and suffice it to say, you don't want to go to prison.

But the question is, do Washington State inmates still make license plates just like you see in the movies?

Yes, Washington State inmates still make license plates but there is a program behind it that is fascinating.

The Washington State Department of Corrections has a program called the Correctional Industries License Plate Program, which employs inmates to manufacture license plates for the state.

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This program has been in place since 1923 and is considered one of the country's oldest and most successful inmate work programs.

Under this program, inmates are trained and employed in various tasks related to license plate production, including stamping, painting, and packaging.

In addition to making standard license plates, Washington State inmates also produce specialty plates, such as personalized and specialty design plates. These plates are sold to the public, with a portion of the proceeds supporting inmate education and rehabilitation programs.

I jumped on the Correctional Industries website and discovered these facts about the program:

Producing its first plates in 1923, the license plate factory produces an average of 7,000 vehicle license plates per day for the Washington State Department of Licensing. In Fiscal Year 2015, CI produced 2,684,762 sets of license plates, which included 47 different specialty plate designs for Colleges/Universities, Military/Veterans, Organizations, Parks/Environment, and Special Interest Groups.

That is a lot of license plates being made here right in Washington State, wow, I didn't know that.

Overall, the Correctional Industries License Plate Program is seen as a positive and productive way for inmates to contribute to society while serving their sentences so if you were ever curious if inmates still make license plates, they still do in Washington State.