Special registration plates for government officials

(a) The Governor shall be issued two registration plates, on one of which shall be imprinted the numeral one and on the other the word one. (b) State officials and judges may be issued special registration plates as follows: (1) Upon appropriate application, the division shall issue to the Secretary of State, State Superintendent of Schools, Auditor, Treasurer, Commissioner of Agriculture, Attorney General, members of both houses of the Legislature, including elected active and former officials of both houses of the Legislature, active or retired or former justices of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, judges of the Intermediate Court of Appeals, representatives and senators of the state in the Congress of the United States, active or retired on senior status judges of the West Virginia circuit courts, the judges of the United States district courts for the State of West Virginia, and judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the fourth circuit, if any of the judges are residents of West Virginia, a special registration plate for any vehicle owned by the official or his or her spouse. (2) Each plate issued pursuant to this subsection shall bear any combination of letters and numbers, not to exceed an amount determined by the commissioner, and a designation of the office. Each plate shall supersede the regular numbered plate assigned to the official or his or her spouse during the official’s term of office and while the vehicle is owned by the official or his or her spouse. (3) The division shall charge an annual fee of $15 for every registration plate issued pursuant to this subsection, which is in addition to all other fees required by this chapter. (4) The division shall charge a special initial application fee of $10 for every application received by a former or retired government official authorized to receive a plate in this section, which is in addition to all other fees required by this chapter.