(1) The department shall design license plates to be known as Military Honor Plates.

(2) The department shall create designs honoring persons who have served or are serving in the United States Army, United States Army Reserve, United States Navy, United States Navy Reserve, United States Marine Corps, United States Marine Corps Reserve, United States Coast Guard, United States Coast Guard Reserve, United States Air Force, United States Air Force Reserve, Air National Guard, or Army National Guard.

(3) There shall be twelve such designs, one for each of such armed forces reflecting its official emblem, official seal, or other official image. The issuance of plates for each of such armed forces shall be conditioned on the approval of the armed forces owning the copyright to the official emblem, official seal, or other official image.

(4) The department shall create five additional designs honoring persons who are serving or have served in the armed forces of the United States and who have been awarded the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Southwest Asia Service Medal, or Vietnam Service Medal.

(5) A person may qualify for a Military Honor Plate by registering with the Department of Veterans' Affairs pursuant to section 80-414. The Department of Motor Vehicles shall verify the applicant's eligibility for a plate created pursuant to this section by consulting the registry established by the Department of Veterans' Affairs.

(6) The design shall be selected on the basis of limiting the manufacturing cost of each plate to an amount less than or equal to the amount charged for license plates pursuant to section 60-3,102. The Department of Motor Vehicles shall make applications available for each type of plate when it is designed. The department may adopt and promulgate rules and regulations to carry out this section and section 60-3,122.04.

(7) One type of Military Honor Plates shall be alphanumeric plates. The department shall:

(a) Assign a designation up to five characters; and

(b) Not use a county designation.

(8) One type of Military Honor Plates shall be personalized message plates. Such plates shall be issued subject to the same conditions specified for personalized message license plates in section 60-3,118, except that a maximum of five characters may be used.

(9) The department shall cease to issue Military Honor Plates beginning with the next license plate issuance cycle after the license plate issuance cycle that begins in 2023 pursuant to section 60-3,101 if the total number of registered vehicles that obtained such plates is less than five hundred per year within any prior consecutive two-year period.