(1) In lieu of the license plates provided for by section 60-3,100, the department shall issue personalized message license plates for motor vehicles, trailers, or semitrailers, except for motor vehicles and trailers registered under section 60-3,198, to all applicants who meet the requirements of sections 60-3,119 to 60-3,121. Personalized message license plates shall be the same size and of the same basic design as regular license plates issued pursuant to section 60-3,100. The characters used shall consist only of letters and numerals of the same size and design and shall comply with the requirements of subdivision (1)(a) of section 60-3,100. A maximum of seven characters may be used, except that for an autocycle or a motorcycle, a maximum of six characters may be used.

(2) The following conditions apply to all personalized message license plates:

(a) County prefixes shall not be allowed except in counties using the alphanumeric system for motor vehicle registration. The numerals in the county prefix shall be the numerals assigned to the county, pursuant to subsection (2) of section 60-370, in which the motor vehicle or trailer is registered. Renewal of a personalized message license plate containing a county prefix shall be conditioned upon the motor vehicle or trailer being registered in such county. The numerals in the county prefix, including the hyphen or any other unique design for an existing license plate style, count against the maximum number of characters allowed under this section;

(b) The characters in the order used shall not conflict with or duplicate any number used or to be used on the regular license plates or any number or license plate already approved pursuant to sections 60-3,118 to 60-3,121;

(c) The characters in the order used shall not express, connote, or imply any obscene or objectionable words or abbreviations; and

(d) An applicant receiving a personalized message license plate for a farm truck with a gross weight of over sixteen tons or a commercial truck or truck-tractor with a gross weight of five tons or over shall affix the appropriate tonnage decal to such license plate.

(3) The department shall have sole authority to determine if the conditions prescribed in subsection (2) of this section have been met.