Since 1917, various members of the Ohio legislature had introduced bills to create a statewide police force. Many people, especially members of labor unions, opposed these bills, fearing that the Ohio government would use this police force to end strikes. Finally, in 1933, the Ohio government created this statewide police force, which is known as the Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP).

The legislation creating the OSHP limited the patrolmen to enforcing motor vehicle laws on Ohio’s roads. A provision of the bill explicitly banned the OSHP from policing strikes and other forms of labor unrest. Initially, the OSHP consisted of sixty officers. The officers had to be between twenty-four and forty years of age. More than five thousand men applied to be one of the first sixty officers.

The OSHP established six district offices across Ohio, with three OSHP substations in each district. The district offices were in Toledo, Ravenna, Sidney, Delaware, Cambridge, and Chillicothe, while the substations were located in private homes across the district. The first patrol officers rode motorcycles, including in the dead of winter, to enforce the law. During its first year of existence, the OSHP accomplished much.

First, the OSHP succeeded in creating a statewide radio network, allowing law enforcement officials to communicate with each other across Ohio. For the time, it was the most comprehensive radio system in the United States. The OSHP also cited more than 120,000 drivers and made 4,233 arrests. In response to the OSHP’s early success, the Ohio legislature increased the number of patrolmen to 120 in 1935.

In 1941, the Ohio legislature authorized three hundred patrolmen. That same year, the OSHP began to patrol additional routes besides state highways. The OSHP now had responsibility over all Ohio roadways except for those in municipalities. At this time, the OSHP also became responsible for all driving tests, which a new driver had to take to prove that he or she was competent to drive a motor vehicle. To assist patrolmen in enforcing traffic laws as well as to assist officers in searches for missing persons, the OSHP began to use airplanes in 1948.

In 1950, the OSHP also began to patrol Lake Erie and other waterways. Use of radar for speed enforcement and "Intoximeters" for drunk driving offenses began in 1952. Since the mid-twentieth century, the OSHP has continued to expand in size and in responsibilities.

In 1968, the Ohio General Assembly removed any limitations on the maximum number of OSHP patrolmen. Rather, the General Assembly established a new requirement that the OSHP should have at least 880 officers. 27 were motor vehicle inspectors.

On March 23, 1981, OSHP Troopers were finally given the right of search and seizure within its jurisdiction as any other police officer. In the early 1990's, the OSHP unveiled its 1-800-GRAB-DUI program. This was a toll-free telephone number to report intoxicated drivers. To encourage participation, highway signs and license plates of OSHP patrol cars appeared throughout the Buckeye State. In just under a year, over 18,000 calls to the GRAB DUI phone line were recorded During the last decades of the twentieth century, the OSHP also became an important agency in stopping the illegal drug trade.

The main goals of the OSHP throughout the last half of the twentieth century and the first years of the twenty-first century, however, continued to be the enforcement of traffic laws on Ohio’s roadways and to ensure that Ohio’s drivers were safe and qualified to drive motor vehicles. To illustrate this point, in the first nine months of 2005, the OSHP made 757,441 traffic stops.

The OSHP operates with over 1300 uniformed officers and over 1000 support personnel throughout 54 Posts, four Turnpike Installations and administrative offices throughout the state.

License Plates of the Ohio State Highway Patrol

1934 saw the introduction of the new state highway patrol's license plates for both automobile and motorcycles as it was late in 1933 before a fleet could be properly assembled and deployed. In fact they went "all out" and had agency-titled license plates from 1934 until 1942 before opting to run absolutely no license plates at all on their vehicles for decades thereafter.
The 1934 car plates were made of embossed steel. They measured 5 3/4" x 13 3/4" and colored white over maroon. The title HIGHWAY (over) PATROL occupied the left and center part of the plate followed by a number up to two digits. OHIO-1934 occupied the bottom center of the plate between the lower mounting holes. Deployed numbers went from number 4 to number 27 that year, as numbers 1 thru 3 went to the Governor and two other state officials.
The title HIGHWAY PATROL was only used for 1934. All subsequent OSHP license plates used STATE PATROL instead and the plates were the same format and color scheme as civilian license plates of the day.

A large debt of gratitude for the photographs and information seen on this page goes to Justin Kleinfelter and Lenny Fetterman. Two gentlemen who are as impassioned about the history preservation of this subject matter as I am.

In 1958, the Ohio State Highway Patrol celebrated the milestone of their 25th Anniversary. As one commemoration of this occasion, the Patrol commissioned special license plates to be run of the front and rear of all their marked patrol vehicles.
The plates were made of navy blue steel with and embossed border. The inside of the border was occupied by a large reflective white decal with the inscription "1933 1958 Ohio Highway Patrol 25th Silver Anniversary- A QUARTER CENTURY OF SERVICE". Most of the inscription done inside a blue ribbon motif. Although it's been said that these plates were run front and rear on OSHP cars in 1958, the only period photos seen as of this date show the plate on the front of the vehicle.
The patrol car number is sometimes etched onto the backside of these plates, but this may have been more of an anomaly than common practice.
When the 25th Anniversary was over by early 1959, the plates were usually retained by the assigned patrolman as a souvenir.

There would be no other OSHP license plates issued for the next two decades.

In January of 1977, the Ohio State Highway Patrol launched a special project license plate for all of its marked fleet. The plate was a standard Ohio passenger car base plate which was made of embossed aluminum and painted red over reflective white. The state name OHIO was embossed in small font at the bottom center of the plate and the center field of the plate had the embossed characters CB CH9.
The 1970's saw a surge in popularity of Citizen's Band or CB radios. Everyone from truckers to courier drivers to teenagers at home were using this form of instant communication through the airwaves. CB Channel 9 was monitored by the OSHP, so Colonel Reiss saw the value of advising the motoring public in Ohio that any calls for service could be broadcast to and received by the OSHP on Channel 9.
These special plates were run only on the rear of marked OSHP cars until November of 1982 when the plates were ordered removed and returned to headquarters in Columbus.

In November of 1982, the Ohio State Highway Patrol was gearing-up for its 50th Anniversary the following year. As part of that milestone commemoration, the agency unveiled a Golden Anniversary license plate to be run on all of the marked OSHP fleet, which by this time had transitioned from an all-white colored fleet to silver.
The new plate was made of flat highway sign grade aluminum and had a solid reflective gold background with black silkscreened characters. The center of the plate featured the emblem of the OSHP over an outline of the state. A circular motif with GOLDEN at the top and ANNIVERSARY at the bottom was flanked by laurels to complete the circle. 1933 occupied the center left part of the plate and 1983 the center right.
The plates were issued as one per car and to be mounted on the rear only much like the previous CB CH9 plate. By early 1983, a teletype message went out to all OSHP personnel that they could purchase a package of two OSHP Golden Anniversary license plates for $5.00 per package. Singles were sold for $3.50 and later $2.50 each.
These plates were run until January 1 1984 when a teleptype order directed that all OSHP Golden Anniversary license plates were to be removed and retained at the respective Posts until further notice.
On the morning of January 4th 1984, a new teletype directive was sent out to all Posts directing that each Trooper was to be given one of the Golden Anniversary license plates as a souvenir.
The previous CB CH9 plates that had been sent back to Columbus were to be re-issued after the 50th Anniversary.

When the order was given to remove all the Golden Anniversary license plates, it was then directed that all the 1977-1982 CB CH9 plates that were stored in Columbus for the past year were to be redistributed to the Posts to be re-affixed to the marked patrol vehicles. While this worked for some plates that were in good condition, others were too worn to look proper on what was in some cases, to be mounted on brand new patrol cars.
The second issue CB CH9 license plate was made and distributed from 1984 until the early 1990's. The plate was similar to the 1977 first issue in color and format, but with the only differences being that the new version did not have a red border (step border instead), the state name OHIO was embossed in a larger font, and a rectangular recess for validation decals occupied the lower right and left corner of the plate.

In 1990, the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles introduced a new license plate which had the validation sticker recesses on the bottom corners of the plate incorporated into the border itself. The plate was made of embossed steel. The color scheme once again was red over reflective white. The state name OHIO was embossed in the top center of the plate and CB CH9 was embossed in the center leaving space on the far left and far right side of the plate.
It was during the early 1990's and through the rest of the decade that OSHP ran different variations of this plate where the CB CH9 was positioned differently on the plate and in some cases colored blue over reflective white.

In August of 1991, the Ohio State Highway Patrol with the support of MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) launched the 1-800-GRAB-DUI program. All OSHP marked patrol cars bore these special license plates that directed citizens who observed a potential drunk driving offender to call the toll free number to report the observation. From August 1 1991 to August 30 2003, over 56,000 calls were placed to the toll free number resulting in 14,435 arrests of habitual offenders (5 or more previous drunk driving charges) according to MADD. This license plate program was eventually extended to county sheriff and municipal police forces throughout Ohio as well.
The plates were made on the new "Heart of it All!" base plate introduced to all Ohio motorists in late 1990. The plate's characters were entirely silkscreened. OHIO was screened in blue at the top center of the plate with a cursive script in red reading "the heart of it all" scrolled below and over the state name. The center of the plate had the toll free telephone number 1-800-GRAB-DUI emblazoned in red across the center of the plate. The bottom center of the plate had REPORT over DRUNK DRIVERS silkscreened in dark blue. There were medium blue rectangles screened in the validation decal recesses in the bottom corners of the plate.
These plates were often run concurrent with the CB CH 9 plates of the era.

In 1997, the state of Ohio re-plated for all of the state's motorists. The new plates payed hommage to Ohio's pioneers of aviation, Dayton's Orville and Wilbur Wright by using the slogan BIRTHPLACE OF AVIATION on these new aluminum plates.
This was launched at a time while the 1-800-GRAB-DUI program was still ongoing. The plates had a reflective white background which at the horizontal mid-point, began to fade into a gradient of reflective gold which intensified towards the bottom of the plate. The state name OHIO was silkscreened in dark blue at the top center of the plate. The news slogan BIRTHPLACE OF AVIATION was silkscreened in red below the state name. The center of the plate had the toll free telephone number 1-800-GRAB-DUI emblazoned in red across the center of the plate. The bottom center of the plate had REPORT over DRUNK DRIVERS silkscreened in dark blue. There were dark blue rectangles screened in the validation decal recesses in the bottom corners of the plate.
These plates were often run concurrent with the CB CH 9 plates that were also manufactured on the same base plate.

It is not known for 100% certainty, but well-assumed that around 2001, the Ohio State Highway Patrol launched a new license plate to be displayed on all its marked patrol vehicles. The same BIRTHPLACE OF AVIATION base plate was used, however this time, the center field of the plate had the trademark winged-wheel motif of the OSHP silkscreened in grey. The horizontal center span had the words Need Help? which was silkscreened in dark blue over 1-877-7-PATROL in red. These plates were used while the 1-800-GRAB-DUI and CB CH 9 plates continued to be displayed on OSHP vehicles as well.
The usage of this type continued until approximately 2008.

In 2008, the Ohio State Highway Patrol celebrated its Diamond Anniversary. Once again the milestone was marked with an Anniversary issue license plate to mark the occasion. This time the aluminum plate had a reflective white background with a black strip that spanned horizontally across the top of the plate just above and just below the upper mounting holes. In the center of this strip was an elongated oval in gold with the words OHIO STATE HIGHWAY PATROL and an outline in black. Below that, a space followed by a thin horizontal line in gold. The center field of the plate featured a large diamond shaped motif in black and trimmed in gold. The number 75 in gold and trimmed in black occupied the center of the diamond with a small emblem of the OSHP imposed over top. The lower part of the diamond had 1933 to the left and 2008 to the right in gold. A scroll banner in gold with ANNIVERSARY in black spanned the lower segment of the diamond. The gold and black horizontal strip pattern from the top of the plate was reversed for the bottom. The plates were run rear only for the duration of the Anniversary until their removal from service in January of 2009.

In 2004, the state of Ohio once again re-plated for the Buckeye State's motor vehicles. Once again the aluminum plate featured a reflective white background but with a red strip that spanned horizontally across the top of the plate just above and just below the upper mounting holes. In the center of this strip was a stylized cursive script for the state name Ohio in medium blue and the slogan Birthplace of Aviation once again. Below that, a space followed by a thin horizontal line in blue. The center horizontal span had the 1-800-GRAB-DUI screened in red. The bottom center of the plate had REPORT over DRUNK DRIVERS silkscreened in dark blue. There was one medium blue rectangle screened in the validation decal recess in the bottom right corner of the plate.
It's been stated that some of these 1-800-GRAB-DUI plates also featured the OSHP winged wheel silkscreened in light grey in the center background, but no example has been seen or provided yet. These base plates were also used with the Need Help? 1-877-7-PATROL script and OSHP winged wheel subdued in grey in the center background.

Around late 2011, the Ohio State Highway Patrol unveiled another design for their agency's license plates. Still reflective white, but this time with a large subdued image of the OSHP winged wheel in grey and yellow occupying much of the plate's background. At the top center of the plate is a small OSHP emblem. Below that along the horizontal span are the words DRUG ACTIVITY/IMPAIRED DRIVERS silkscreened in black. Below that and emblazoned across the horizontal center of the plate is CALL silkscreened in black followed by #677 silkscreened in gold with black trim. # 677 is the OSHP's contact number via the cellular phone network. Despite this telephone number replacing 1-800-GRAB-DUI and 1-877-7-PATROL on the license plates, it is stated as of this writing in 2014, both of those numbers are still in service.
Early versions of this #677 license plate have a "reflection" of the Call #677 characters mirroring downwards and to the right of the plate as the colors fade towards the bottom. This reflection feature was dropped around 2012 as it posed an unnecessary distraction from the legibility of the message.

In mid-2016, and for the first time since 1942, the Ohio State Highway Patrol began to run numbered license plates on the marked OSHP fleet. The new plate is an entirely silkscreened license plate with a reflective white background. The plate has a thin gold stripe outline that covers the embossed perimeter of the plate. IMPAIRED DRIVERS/DRUG ACTIVITY is silkscreened in black between the upper mounting holes. The OSHP color emblem occupies the left center field of the plate follwed by the trooper's assignment number in black silkscreened numerals. CALL #677 is silkscreened in black in the bottom center of the plate. The number is associated to the Trooper's radio number and is not the actual car number.

2023 marked the 90th Anniversary of the Ohio State Highway Patrol. To nobody's surprise, the OSHP created and deployed an attractive new license plate to commemmorate the occasion.
The BMV-made silkscreened steel license plate on first glance is predominantly gray with a white border on the perimeter of the plate. The gray background is divided horizontally by a black line in the center of a wider white band. A roundel in the center of the plate has its top half in black with SERVICE WITH in white and the bottom half in gray with A PURPOSE in black.
The center of the roundel features the full color OSHP emblem with Est. 1933 dividing the roundel at the center.
A pale orange scroll unfurls below the lower half of the roundel with 90th ANNIVERSARY inscribed in black.
There is a black UPC barcode in the far bottom right corner.
These 90th Anniversary plates were run rear only on the marked OSHP fleet including motorcycles for 2023.

License Plates of the Ohio SHP Vehicle Larceny Program
(ACE and Blue Max)

The Ohio State Highway Patrol's ACE/Blue Max program is an incentive recognition system which rewards troopers who recover stolen vehicles with on-the-spot suspect apprehension by presenting lightning bolt decals for display on their patrol cars, much as ACE World War I and II air force pilots marked their aircraft's fuselage with the symbol of each downed enemy aircraft.

Five stolen vehicle recoveries with on- the-spot suspect apprehensions in one calendar year earn the ACE Award, with the officer recovering the most stolen vehicles and on-the-spot arrests within the year, designated as the Blue Max winner. Each ACE Award winner receives a certificate, special ACE license plates for display on the patrol car, and a uniform ribbon.

The Blue Max winner (Ace of ACEs) receives a certificate, the Blue Max medal, Blue Max license plates, a uniform ribbon, a Superintendent's Citation of Merit, and exclusive use of a patrol car for a year.

Since its inception in 1972 as the Vehicle Larceny Enforcement Program, the ACE/Blue Max program has produced over 550 ACEs. To date, there have been over 40 OSHP Blue Max plates issued. There have been many variations on the style and format of OSHP ACE and Blue Max license plates.

This successful program has been emulated by many law enforcement agencies throughout the United States. Since the program began, it has played an important role in helping Ohio maintain a vehicle theft rate well below the national average. From program inception through the end of 2001, a total of 598 Ohio Highway Patrol officers earned ACE status. In that time, troopers recovered 37,631 stolen vehicles valued at $177,773,032.

These ACE and Blue Max license plates were the ONLY license plates run on Ohio State Highway Patrol vehicles between 1972 to 1976 as "regular" OSHP vehicles ran no license plates at all during that time.

Since 1978, the plates had red lightning bolts for even years and blue lightning bolts for odd years. The practice of alternating red and blue ended sometime in the 2000's it is believed. All current ACE license plates display blue lightning bolts.

A great deal of thanks goes to the late George McDuffie who had the good sense to place dates on the backs of these license plates in order to differentiate one issue from the next when they made up part of his collection.

ACE License Plates of the Ohio State Highway Patrol

In January of 2016, the Ohio State Highway Patrol unveiled the first ACE motorcycle license plate for ACE Award recipients. The 7" x 4" step-bordered reflective white aluminum plate features the state name silkscreened in red at the top center of the plate. Five lightning bolts followed by ACE occupy the center span of the plate and silkscreened in dark blue.

Blue Max License Plates of the Ohio State Highway Patrol

Motorcycle License plates of the Ohio State Highway Patrol

Since the inception of the Ohio State Highway Patrol in 1933, motorcycles were part of its deployed fleet, however no photos from 1933 exist so far of any motorcycles used by the OSHP.
1934, however proved not only the usage of motorcycles for patrol, but clear examples of the license plates used on these cycles at that time.
These early motorcycles mirrored the same color and formatting of the car versions of these plates used by OSHP. They were issued as singles and run on the rear of the bike only.
The 1934 OSHP motorcycle plate was made of embossed steel and measured approximately 4 3/8" x 9 3/8". It was colored white over maroon and had one small circular mounting hole on the far left center of the plate just inside the border embossing, and one on the opposite right side of the plate in the same position. HIGHWAY over PATROL was embossed on the left side of the plate and the assignment number up to two digits was embossed to the right.
OHIO-1934 was embossed along the bottom center of the plate.
This was the first and last time that the title HIGHWAY PATROL was run on OSHP license plates.

After a hiatus of over 60 years with none in the OSHP fleet, the motorcycle for patrol made a re-appearance on Ohio highways in 2006. With some planning and training help from the OSHP's northern partners, the Ontario Provincial Police, a fleet of fully-equipped Harley Davidson motorcycles and a group of freshly-trained OSHP Troopers took to the highways and biways of the Buckeye State on two wheels.
The newly reformed motorcycle unit had special license plates made for their rides. The plates were the standard 4" x 7" embossed aluminum plate with a reflective white background. The state name OHIO was embossed at the bottom center of the plate in black. The prefix OSP was embossed in black followed by a number up to 2 digits also embossed in black.

In early 2017, the Ohio State Highway Patrol issued a new graphic license plate for fleet motorcycles.
The reflective white aluminum plate is all silk-screened with black characters with a step border. The words IMPAIRED DRIVERS / DRUG ACTIVITY occupies the top center of the plate. The full color emblem of the OSHP occupies the far left center of the plate. The assignment number occupies the center of the plate. CALL #677 occupies the bottom center of the plate.
There is also a small black bar code on the bottom right corner of the plate.

Ohio SHP Motor Carrier Enforcement

The Ohio State Highway Patrol's Motor Carrier Enforcement Unit's primary function is to ensure the safe operation of commercial motor vehicles within the state of Ohio. This goal is achieved through education and enforcement of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations and PUCO (Public Utility Commission of Ohio) Safety Rules. Commercial motor vehicle troopers and motor carrier enforcement inspectors conduct these inspections.

The unit is also responsible for enforcement of size and weight laws relating to commercial vehicles. The Unit has 10 portable scale teams located throughout the state. A scale team consists of a load limit inspector trooper and two load limit inspectors. There are also 16 fixed scale facilities located throughout the state. All interstate scale facilities are equipped with an electronic clearance system known as "PrePass." Commercial motor vehicles equipped with Prepass will receive an electronic in-cab signal informing the driver whether to pull into the scale or permit the driver to bypass the scale facility. The PrePass signal overrides the posted signs for all trucks including hazardous material placarded vehicles.

Education of law enforcement agencies and trucking companies is a proactive function of the Motor Carrier Enforcement Unit. The unit presents commercial vehicle safety and familiarization education classes. This no cost training is for law enforcement agencies desiring to become more involved in commercial vehicle enforcement.

The Motor Carrier Enforcement Unit partners with several trucking companies to staff static displays around the state. These displays promote highway safety and sharing the road safely with commercial vehicles.

The Motor Carrier Enforcement Unit consists of a Licensing & Commercial Standards Unit Commander, a Commercial Enforcement Coordinator Sergeant and a Motor Carrier Enforcement Supervisor in each district. Commercial Motor Vehicle Troopers and Motor Carrier Enforcement Inspectors are assigned at the district level. The Motor Carrier Enforcement Unit also includes General Headquarters Staff.

License plates displayed on OSHP MCE vehicles are red over reflective white Ohio State Vehicle license plates with a five digit number usually seen in the 46 7## series.

Ohio State Highway Patrol Test/ Prototypes

Some time in the 1990's, the Ohio State Highway Patrol was experimenting with a number of different license plate styles in conjunction with the state's Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) in charge of production.
The plates seen below are test samples that were made, some of which appeared to have been used to one degree or another. Most were made on inverted blanks with the validation decal recesses on the top of the plate rather than the bottom. The number 1078 was used on many of them which is a police radio ten code indicating an officer emergency.
The plates you see below are not fakes, they are merely experiments that never made the final cut.

Specialty Issues

License plate issues not for official use and OSHP license plate frames are shown below: