LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — A new system to report cars with no plates or expired registration has been so successful in Nevada that other states are looking to implement it.
The Nevada DMV’s “Registration Spotter” page has generated more than 38,500 reports from the public since launching in October. All that data is being shared with law enforcement across the state and the DMV, and used every day by DMV compliance officers patrolling the Las Vegas valley.
“People that are paying get upset that other people are getting away with not paying,” said JD Decker, chief of the Compliance Enforcement Division for Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles during a ride along with FOX5 in the fall.
Compliance officers use public tips
Shortly after the program’s launch, Decker found a plate with a tag expired back in 2018 going off a tip submitted by the public. The plate had been expired so long it had been assigned to another vehicle.
“So between a driver license, insurance, and registration, if the person doesn’t have two out of the three, then generally the car will get impounded,” Decker said. “I’m still shocked that someone will drive a vehicle with literally just no license plate on it. I still can’t believe that happens.”
Decker said officers have compared data of the cars they’ve pulled over to the Registration Spotter database, and many are on the list.
“My officers have done stops where the people say, are you stopping me because I was on the list or just because you saw my car was expired?” Decker said. “Most of the people that we pull over knew it was going to happen eventually. They just put it off.”
Database helps target problem areas
The database has also helped officers track down things like illegal home repair shops where multiple unregistered vehicles are being worked on. Officers have used the public tips to target areas with a lot of reports.
“Locations with high volumes of unregistered vehicles, sometimes sitting in parking lots, but sometimes sitting at residences,” Decker explain.
Decker said most importantly, people are coming to the DMV and fixing what’s wrong because they don’t want to be on the list.
“When people come in is they say, yeah, I got to get my car registered. I don’t want to get put on that list,” Decker said.
National interest in program
Decker said this is not just a Nevada problem — it’s national, especially since the pandemic. As other states are having similar problems, they’re very interested in what Nevada is doing about it. He’s been making presentations to national organizations on the Registration Spotter program and how it works.
The database is now also being used by the DMV to determine late fees. If a driver comes in trying to get a certificate of non-operation saying they haven’t been using a vehicle and want to get it registered, the DMV can check the database to see if it has been reported out on Nevada roads.
Copyright 2026 KVVU. All rights reserved.
