vehicles 0.4.1 → 0.8.0

data/data/plates/us-mt.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,619 @@
+# plates/us-mt.yml — Montana (PRD-PLATES gate L2, northwest group).
+#
+# MONTANA IS THE BEST-SOURCED US STATE IN THIS GROUP, AND IT IS NOT CLOSE.
+# MCA 61-3-332 is a single section that legislates, in terms: the plate
+# material and finish, the state wordmark, the STATE-OUTLINE BORDER, two exact
+# plate sizes in inches, the serial grammar, the county-number prefix and its
+# separation mark, the replacement clock, the exempt-plate markings, and — in
+# subsection (7) — THE ENTIRE 56-ROW COUNTY CODE TABLE, verbatim, in the
+# statute itself. Florida's Chapter 320 is the pilot for statute-first
+# sourcing; Montana out-specifies it. Almost nothing in this file is observed.
+#
+# THE REGION-ENCODING PRIZE. MCA 61-3-332(7) assigns every Montana county a
+# number and the numbering is NOT alphabetical and NOT arbitrary: Silver Bow
+# is 1, Cascade 2, Yellowstone 3, Missoula 4 — the 1930s population order,
+# frozen in law ever since and now wildly out of date (Silver Bow/Butte was
+# Montana's largest county in 1930 and is nowhere near it today). A Montana
+# plate therefore encodes a NINETY-YEAR-OLD CENSUS RANKING, which is precisely
+# the kind of decode fact PRD-PLATES §2.4 exists to carry. The table below is
+# quoted from the statute, not from a collector site. NOTE THE FOLKLORE LINE
+# CAREFULLY: the statute states the ASSIGNMENT; it does not state the
+# RATIONALE. "Ordered by 1930 population" is commonly repeated and is recorded
+# here as COMMONLY REPEATED, NOT STATED IN LAW.
+#
+# THE ONE THING MONTANA DOES NOT HAVE: a "previous base". MCA
+# 61-3-332(3)(a)(i) provides that new plates "must be a standard license plate
+# design first issued in 1989 or later". Montana does not retire bases; it
+# accumulates them. Every standard design first issued from 1989 onward
+# remains orderable today, in parallel, forever. So the L2 "one series back"
+# requirement is INAPPLICABLE IN MONTANA'S OWN TERMS, and saying so with the
+# citation is more accurate than inventing a superseded series. See
+# `us-mt-standard.notes`.
+jurisdiction: us-mt
+authority:
+  name: Montana Motor Vehicle Division (MVD), Montana Department of Justice
+  url: "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0610/chapter_0030/part_0030/section_0320/0610-0030-0030-0320.html"
+binding: vehicle
+statute_edition: >-
+  Montana Code Annotated 2025, Title 61 (Motor Vehicles), Chapter 3, Parts 3
+  and 4, read 2026-08-02 from mca.legmt.gov. AUTHORITY URL CAVEAT: the MVD's
+  own estate (mvdmt.gov and dojmt.gov) returned HTTP 403 to every request from
+  this environment, so the `authority.url` above points at the STATUTE — which
+  is where Montana's plate facts actually live, and which is an edict of
+  government and therefore public domain. This is a deliberate choice, not an
+  oversight; see research_notes.
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# artwork_risk — required per jurisdiction by PRD-PLATES §4/§7.1.
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+artwork_risk:
+  posture: split-standard-unresearched-specialty-adverse
+  basis: >-
+    MONTANA SPLITS, AND THE SPLIT IS SOURCED FROM STATUTE RATHER THAN INFERRED.
+    (1) THE STANDARD BASE — UNRESEARCHED. Montana appears NOWHERE in the
+    standing per-state copyright survey PRD-PLATES §4 works from, no
+    {{PD-MTGov}} tag exists on Wikimedia Commons, and no copyright notice was
+    found anywhere on mt.gov as fetched. So the default applies: a US state's
+    works are copyrighted unless that state says otherwise, and Montana has
+    not said. Recorded as UNRESEARCHED for the standard base rather than
+    guessed in either direction. What IS clean is the SPEC: MCA 61-3-332 is an
+    edict of government and public domain at every level, so the wordmark
+    rule, the state-outline border, the dimensions and the county table below
+    are all freely usable even if the rendered artwork is not.
+    (2) THE SPECIALTY TIER — AFFIRMATIVELY ADVERSE, ON THE STATE'S OWN
+    ADMISSION. MCA 61-3-475(1)(e)(iv)(C) requires a sponsoring organisation to
+    prove that its name, identifying phrase or graphic does not "infringe or
+    otherwise violate a trademark, trade name, service mark, copyright, or
+    other proprietary or property right", and 61-3-475(2) lets the department
+    demand a sworn statement that the organisation "is authorized to use the
+    name, identifying phrase, and graphic ... and that no infringement or
+    violation of any property right exists, together with an agreement to
+    defend and hold harmless the state of Montana". Montana therefore states
+    in law that specialty plate GRAPHICS ARE THIRD-PARTY PROPERTY and
+    contracts out of liability for them. No clearer legislative admission that
+    plate artwork is privately owned was found in any state in this group.
+  emblem_rule: >-
+    PRD-PLATES §3's placeholder default applies. Two Montana-specific notes.
+    First, the STATE-OUTLINE BORDER required by MCA 61-3-332(4)(a) is a
+    geographic outline — a fact, not an authored work — and is the single most
+    likely emblem-slot upgrade candidate in this group, but it is not upgraded
+    here because the artwork_risk posture for the base is unresearched and the
+    §3 default is binding until BOTH artwork_risk and the ledger clear.
+    Second, the BUFFALO SKULL used as the group separator on the current base
+    is a design element, is NOT part of the serial, and must never be treated
+    as a separator character (see `format.separator_note`).
+  photograph_caution: "Standard: a Commons CC BY-SA tag on a photograph of a Montana plate is the photographer's licence on the photograph, not on the design. Our renders are generated from the statute, so the obligation never attaches."
+  sources:
+    - "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0610/chapter_0030/part_0040/section_0750/0610-0030-0040-0750.html  # MCA 61-3-475(1)(e)(iv)(C) and (2): the sponsor's non-infringement proof and the defend-and-hold-harmless agreement — Montana's own statement that specialty graphics are third-party property"
+    - "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0610/chapter_0030/part_0030/section_0320/0610-0030-0030-0320.html  # MCA 61-3-332 — the design spec itself, an edict of government and public domain"
+    - "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_status_of_works_by_subnational_governments_of_the_United_States  # LOCATOR ONLY: Montana is NOT MENTIONED — a measured absence, recorded as unresearched rather than favourable"
+    - "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Copyright_rules_by_territory/United_States  # LOCATOR ONLY: no Montana state PD template exists among those listed"
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# The US standards chain. Montana is the group's counter-example on the
+# replacement cycle: it legislated FIVE years, BELOW AAMVA's 7-10 band.
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+us_standards:
+  no_federal_mandate: true
+  chain: "SAE J686 -> AAMVA License Plate Standard Edition 3 (September 2025) -> voluntary state adoption."
+  aamva_edition_3:
+    dimensions_delegated: "AAMVA §3.1 delegates dimensions and bolt holes to SAE J686, whose text is paywalled and UNPINNED and is never quoted here. MONTANA DOES NOT NEED IT: MCA 61-3-332(4)(b)-(d) states both plate sizes in inches, in law."
+    character_layout: "AAMVA §2.2: characters at least 2.5 in high, spacing at least 0.25 in, stroke 0.2-0.4 in, 1.25 in clear of top and bottom. Montana legislates the RELATIVE rule instead: MCA 61-3-332(5), 'The dimensions of the numerals and letters must be determined by the department, and all county and registration numbers must be of equal height.'"
+    replacement_cycle: >-
+      AAMVA §1.1 recommends a cycle "not to exceed 7 to 10 years". MONTANA
+      LEGISLATED FIVE — below the bottom of the recommended band — and ten for
+      combat-disabled veterans. Set against Florida's legislated ten (the top
+      of the band) and Washington's no clock at all, the three states span the
+      entire space, which is the cleanest available proof that AAMVA's cycle
+      is recommendation and not requirement.
+    source: "https://www.aamva.org/getmedia/646bcc8a-219b-47d8-b5cd-726240473163/License-Plate-Standard-Edition-3_September-2025-Update.pdf"
+  folklore_caution: >-
+    The "1956 AMA standardization agreement" is COMMONLY REPEATED, UNSOURCED
+    (a `citation needed` since 2017, copied verbatim across articles). Montana
+    needs no part of it: MCA 61-3-332(4)(b) states 6 x 12 inches in law, and
+    (4)(c) states 4 x 7 inches for motorcycles and quadricycles.
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Display and issuance.
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+display_rules:
+  issuance: "MCA 61-3-331: 'The county treasurer or an authorized agent shall, at the time of issuing a registration receipt under 61-3-322, assign the motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, or pole trailer a distinctive license plate number and ... deliver to the applicant ... a set of two license plates or one license plate, each of which must bear the assigned distinctive number.' NOTE THE STRUCTURE: in Montana the COUNTY TREASURER assigns the number, not the state — which is why the county code is in the serial rather than on a sticker."
+  decal_placement: "MCA 61-3-332(2)(a): 'In years when standard license plates are not reissued for a vehicle, the department shall provide a registration decal that must be affixed to the rear license plate of the vehicle.' The decal is REAR-ONLY, which is a real asymmetry between the two plates of a Montana pair."
+  permanent_registration_marking: "MCA 61-3-332(2)(c): for a travel trailer, motorcycle, quadricycle, trailer, semitrailer or pole trailer permanently registered under 61-3-313(2), 'the department may use the word or an abbreviation for the word \"permanent\" on the plate in lieu of issuing a registration decal' — a legend that encodes registration status rather than identity."
+  mounting_gap: "NO MONTANA MOUNTING-POSITION STATUTE WAS LOCATED IN THIS PASS. MCA 61-3-331 and 61-3-332 govern assignment and design; the display-position rule (height, angle, obstruction) was not found in Part 3 and is a recorded gap."
+  sources:
+    - "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0610/chapter_0030/part_0030/section_0310/0610-0030-0030-0310.html  # MCA 61-3-331: county-treasurer assignment, two plates or one, each bearing the assigned distinctive number"
+    - "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0610/chapter_0030/part_0030/section_0320/0610-0030-0030-0320.html  # MCA 61-3-332(2): the rear-only registration decal, the permanent-registration decal, and the 'permanent' legend option"
+
+series:
+
+  # =========================================================================
+  # THE STANDARD-ISSUE SERIES. County-number-prefixed, statute-specified.
+  # =========================================================================
+  - id: us-mt-standard
+    class: standard
+    categories: [car, van, truck, bus]
+    period: { start: 1989 }
+    period_evidence: statutory-date
+    matching: strict
+    format:
+      pattern: "99-9999L"
+      regex: '\A\d{1,2}[- ]?\d{4,5}[A-Z]\z'
+      regex_strict: '\A(?:[1-9]|[1-4]\d|5[0-6])[- ]?\d{4,5}[A-Z]\z'
+      regex_statutory: '\A\d{1,2}[- ]?[A-Z0-9]{1,6}\z'
+      charset:
+        notes: >-
+          MCA 61-3-332(5), verbatim: "The distinctive registration numbers for
+          standard license plates must begin with a number one or with a
+          letter-number combination, such as 'A 1' or 'AA 1', or any other
+          similar combination of letters and numbers. Except for special
+          license plates, collegiate license plates, generic specialty license
+          plates, fleet license plates, and standard license plates that are 4
+          inches wide and 7 inches in length, the distinctive registration
+          number or letter-number combination assigned to the motor vehicle
+          must appear on the plate preceded by the number of the county and
+          appearing in horizontal order on the same horizontal baseline. The
+          county number must be separated from the distinctive registration
+          number by a separation mark unless a letter-number combination is
+          used." So Montana law fixes THREE things — the county number goes
+          first, a separation mark divides it from the serial, and everything
+          is on one baseline at equal height — and delegates the serial's own
+          shape to the department. No letter exclusions are stated anywhere in
+          MCA 61-3-332.
+        letter_exclusions: "NONE STATED IN LAW. No excluded-letter list appears in MCA 61-3-332; none is invented here."
+      separator_note: >-
+        MCA 61-3-332(5) requires "a separation mark" and DOES NOT NAME A
+        GLYPH. That is a genuine gap in the authority's own text, and
+        PRD-PLATES §2.8 sanctions exactly this case: the separator position is
+        spelled as the separator-only class `[- ]`, never as a bare literal,
+        so a consumer deriving a separator-free twin can detect the position
+        mechanically. `pattern` shows the canonical printed form with a
+        hyphen. SEPARATELY AND IMPORTANTLY: the current base is reported to
+        print a BUFFALO SKULL device in the separator position. A skull is not
+        punctuation. Per plates/_meta/separators.yml's never_separator note, a
+        device between serial groups is a DESIGN ELEMENT carried in
+        design.emblem and is never deleted or matched as a separator.
+      tier_note: >-
+        `regex_strict` bounds the leading group to the 56 county numbers MCA
+        61-3-332(7) actually assigns — the authority's own alphabet for that
+        position, which is what PRD-PLATES §2.7 reserves the strict twin for.
+        `regex` is the current issued arrangement (county number, separation
+        mark, four or five numerals, one trailing letter). `regex_statutory`
+        is the outer statutory bound: a county number, a separation mark, and
+        a department-determined combination of letters and numbers. Tier order
+        regex_strict subset-of regex subset-of regex_statutory holds by
+        construction.
+      progression: "MCA 61-3-332(6)(b) states the rule for EXEMPT plates explicitly — numbering 'must begin with number one and be numbered consecutively' within each county. For standard plates (5) states only that the number 'must begin with a number one or with a letter-number combination'; the department's actual progression was not sourced (recorded gap)."
+    design:
+      plate: { w: 12, h: 6, unit: in, w_mm: 304.8, h_mm: 152.4 }
+      plate_dimension_note: >-
+        STATUTORY, NOT CONVENTIONAL. MCA 61-3-332(4)(b), verbatim: "Plates for
+        semitrailers, travel trailers, pole trailers, trailers with a declared
+        weight of 6,000 pounds or more, and motor vehicles, other than
+        motorcycles and quadricycles, must be 6 inches wide and 12 inches in
+        length." Note the axis wording reads oddly, exactly as Florida's does
+        — "6 inches wide and 12 inches in length" describes the conventional
+        12-across-by-6-tall American plate, and is recorded that way here.
+      material: "MCA 61-3-332(4)(a): 'All license plates must be metal and treated with a reflectorized background material according to specifications prescribed by the department.'"
+      background: { finish: retroreflective }
+      colour_note: >-
+        NO COLOUR IS IN THE STATUTE. MCA 61-3-332(4)(a) mandates a
+        reflectorized background and names no hue. The current base is
+        reported as a white serial on reflective blue with a white
+        state-shaped border; that is LOCATOR-GRADE and no hex is invented
+        here. Contrast Wyoming, which legislates "a marked contrast" without a
+        value, and Florida, which legislates neither.
+      legend_top: "MONTANA"
+      legend_rule: "MCA 61-3-332(4)(a), verbatim: 'The word \"Montana\" must be placed on each license plate and, except for license plates that are 4 inches wide and 7 inches in length, the outline of the state of Montana must be used as a distinctive border on each standard license plate.'"
+      border:
+        shape: state-outline
+        rendered: placeholder
+        statutory: true
+        note: >-
+          THE MOST UNUSUAL SOURCED DESIGN FACT IN THE GROUP. Montana does not
+          merely permit a state-shaped motif; it REQUIRES the state outline as
+          the plate's BORDER, by statute, on every standard plate except the
+          4 x 7 inch sizes. This is a border constraint rather than a graphic
+          in a slot, and a render pipeline must model it as such: the outline
+          bounds the plate face, it does not sit inside it.
+      emblem: { present: true, rendered: placeholder, description: "buffalo skull device reported in the separator position on the current base — observed, not statutory, and NOT part of the serial" }
+      rear_differs: false
+      manufacture: "MCA 61-3-474(1)(b) has the department consult 'the department of corrections' on the most efficient plate-processing system — prison manufacture is contemplated in law for the generic specialty tier and by implication for the rest."
+    replacement_cycle:
+      years: 5
+      statutory_text: "MCA 61-3-332(3)(a)(ii)(A): 'Except as provided in subsection (3)(a)(ii)(B), license plates issued on or after January 1, 2010, must be replaced with new license plates if, upon renewal of registration under 61-3-312, the license plates are 5 or more years old or will become older than 5 years during the registration period. New license plates must be issued in accordance with the implementation schedule adopted by the department under 61-14-101.'"
+      veteran_exception: "MCA 61-3-332(3)(a)(ii)(B): 'License plates issued to a disabled veteran with a combat-related disability must be replaced with new license plates if, on renewal of registration under 61-3-312, the license plates are 10 or more years old or will become older than 10 years during the registration period.'"
+      number_retention: "MCA 61-3-332(3)(a)(iii): 'A vehicle owner may elect to keep the same license plate number from license plates issued before January 1, 2010, when replacement of those plates is required under this subsection.'"
+      exemptions: "MCA 61-3-332(3)(d): the replacement rule does NOT apply to a travel trailer, motorcycle, quadricycle, trailer, semitrailer or pole trailer at all. (3)(b): a vehicle registered for 13 to 24 months may display the design in effect at registration for the whole period. (3)(c): permanently registered light vehicles and motor homes may display the design in effect at registration for the whole permanent period — i.e. FOREVER."
+      note: >-
+        MONTANA LEGISLATED BELOW AAMVA'S FLOOR. AAMVA recommends a cycle not
+        exceeding 7 to 10 years; Montana chose 5. But read (3)(c) with it: a
+        permanently registered light vehicle keeps its design indefinitely, so
+        Montana simultaneously runs the group's shortest replacement clock and
+        an unbounded exemption from it. Any consumer inferring plate age from
+        the five-year rule will be wrong on every permanently registered
+        vehicle.
+    region_encoding:
+      mechanism: >-
+        THE COUNTY NUMBER IS THE FIRST GROUP OF THE SERIAL. MCA 61-3-332(5)
+        requires the distinctive registration number to "appear on the plate
+        preceded by the number of the county", separated by a separation mark.
+        The mapping is fixed in statute, not in a departmental list, and it
+        has not been renumbered since it was enacted — MCA 61-3-332(7) closes
+        with "Any new counties must be assigned numbers by the department as
+        they are formed, beginning with the number 57."
+      decode_evidence: statutory-verbatim
+      ordering_folklore: >-
+        COMMONLY REPEATED, NOT STATED IN LAW. The numbering is universally
+        explained as the counties' 1930 population rank (Silver Bow first,
+        Cascade second, Yellowstone third). MCA 61-3-332(7) states the
+        ASSIGNMENT and gives NO rationale, and its History line shows the
+        section originating in 1917 and being amended in 1933 — consistent
+        with the story but not evidence for it. Recorded as folklore pending a
+        Laws of Montana primary. THE STRUCTURAL POINT SURVIVES EITHER WAY: the
+        order is manifestly not alphabetical, so it encodes something
+        historical, and it is frozen — the ranking is roughly a century stale.
+      table:
+        1: Silver Bow
+        2: Cascade
+        3: Yellowstone
+        4: Missoula
+        5: Lewis and Clark
+        6: Gallatin
+        7: Flathead
+        8: Fergus
+        9: Powder River
+        10: Carbon
+        11: Phillips
+        12: Hill
+        13: Ravalli
+        14: Custer
+        15: Lake
+        16: Dawson
+        17: Roosevelt
+        18: Beaverhead
+        19: Chouteau
+        20: Valley
+        21: Toole
+        22: Big Horn
+        23: Musselshell
+        24: Blaine
+        25: Madison
+        26: Pondera
+        27: Richland
+        28: Powell
+        29: Rosebud
+        30: Deer Lodge
+        31: Teton
+        32: Stillwater
+        33: Treasure
+        34: Sheridan
+        35: Sanders
+        36: Judith Basin
+        37: Daniels
+        38: Glacier
+        39: Fallon
+        40: Sweet Grass
+        41: McCone
+        42: Carter
+        43: Broadwater
+        44: Wheatland
+        45: Prairie
+        46: Granite
+        47: Meagher
+        48: Liberty
+        49: Park
+        50: Garfield
+        51: Jefferson
+        52: Wibaux
+        53: Golden Valley
+        54: Mineral
+        55: Petroleum
+        56: Lincoln
+      table_note: "Quoted verbatim from MCA 61-3-332(7). 56 counties, numbers 1-56, no gaps, no reserved values. Kept inline rather than in plates/_decode/ because 56 rows is small enough to read in place and because the table's authority is the same statute as the rest of this series."
+      excluded_series: "MCA 61-3-332(5) exempts special, collegiate, generic specialty, fleet and 4 x 7 inch standard plates from the county-number rule; 61-3-332(8) confirms that for special plate series 'the county number must be replaced by a design that distinguishes each separate plate series'. So the ABSENCE of a county number on a Montana plate is itself information: it means the plate is not a full-size standard issue."
+    sources:
+      - "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0610/chapter_0030/part_0030/section_0320/0610-0030-0030-0320.html  # MCA 61-3-332: (1) separate standard series and the dealer-distinguishability rule; (3)(a)(i) the 1989-or-later design floor; (3)(a)(ii) the 5-year and 10-year replacement clocks; (3)(a)(iii) number retention; (3)(b)-(d) the replacement exemptions; (4)(a) metal, reflectorized, the MONTANA wordmark and the state-outline border; (4)(b)-(d) the two statutory plate sizes; (5) the serial grammar, county-number prefix, separation mark and equal-height rule; (6) the exempt-plate markings; (7) the 56-row county table; (8) special series replace the county number with a distinguishing design"
+      - "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0610/chapter_0030/part_0030/section_0310/0610-0030-0030-0310.html  # MCA 61-3-331: county-treasurer assignment of the distinctive number, and two plates or one"
+      - "https://www.aamva.org/getmedia/646bcc8a-219b-47d8-b5cd-726240473163/License-Plate-Standard-Edition-3_September-2025-Update.pdf  # AAMVA Ed.3 §1.1 — the 7-to-10-year recommendation Montana legislated BELOW"
+      - "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_Montana  # LOCATOR ONLY (PRD-PLATES §4): the reported current colourway, the buffalo-skull separator device, and the reported per-era serial arrangements. None is asserted as sourced here."
+    notes: >-
+      MONTANA STANDARD ISSUE. `period.start: 1989` IS A REAL STATUTORY CLAIM,
+      not an instrument-edition upper bound: MCA 61-3-332(3)(a)(i) provides
+      that new plates "must be a standard license plate design first issued in
+      1989 or later", so 1989 is the legislated floor of the currently
+      issuable standard design family. WHY THERE IS NO "ONE SERIES BACK" ENTRY
+      FOR MONTANA, and this is the file's most important structural finding:
+      Montana does not retire bases. Every standard design first issued from
+      1989 onward remains orderable in parallel, indefinitely, and 61-3-332(3)
+      extends the same rule to collegiate, generic specialty, commemorative
+      centennial and military/veteran plates. A "previous base" in the sense
+      the L2 brief means — a design that stopped — DOES NOT EXIST IN MONTANA
+      LAW. Recording that with the citation is more accurate than minting a
+      superseded series from a collector table, and it is a genuinely
+      different jurisdiction shape from Oregon (one frozen base) or Washington
+      (serial base changes with no legal marker). Distinct from
+      us-mt-motorcycle in carrying the county-number prefix, which the 4 x 7
+      inch sizes are statutorily exempt from.
+
+  # =========================================================================
+  # CORE DISTINCT CLASSES. Montana separately serializes these AND states the
+  # difference in law. Where the statute gives a bound but not a grammar, the
+  # series is `recall-only` and the regex is the STATUTORY bound — which is
+  # what recall-only means, not a hedge.
+  # =========================================================================
+  - id: us-mt-motorcycle
+    class: motorcycle
+    categories: [motorcycle]
+    period: { start: 1989 }
+    period_evidence: statutory-date
+    matching: recall-only
+    format:
+      pattern: "999999"
+      regex: '\A[A-Z0-9]+\z'
+      charset:
+        notes: >-
+          MCA 61-3-332(5) EXPRESSLY EXEMPTS 4 x 7 inch standard plates from
+          the county-number rule, so a Montana motorcycle plate carries NO
+          county prefix — the opposite of what a reader would infer from the
+          passenger plate, and the opposite of what secondary sources report.
+          MAJORITY IS NOT AUTHORITY (PRD-PLATES §5.3): the encyclopedia record
+          shows county-prefixed motorcycle serials, the statute exempts them,
+          and the statute governs. Beyond the exemption the statute states
+          only that a distinctive number "must begin with a number one or with
+          a letter-number combination", with NO WIDTH — hence the unbounded
+          quantifier, which makes no width claim at all.
+    design:
+      plate: { w: 7, h: 4, unit: in, w_mm: 177.8, h_mm: 101.6 }
+      plate_dimension_note: "STATUTORY. MCA 61-3-332(4)(c), verbatim: 'Plates for motorcycles and quadricycles must be 4 inches wide and 7 inches in length.'"
+      material: "MCA 61-3-332(4)(a): metal, reflectorized background per departmental specification"
+      background: { finish: retroreflective }
+      legend_top: "MONTANA"
+      legend_rule: "MCA 61-3-332(4)(a): the word 'Montana' is required on EVERY plate. The STATE-OUTLINE BORDER is NOT — it is expressly excepted for 4 x 7 inch plates. So Montana's smallest plates are the only standard plates without the outline."
+      border: { shape: none, statutory: true, note: "excepted by MCA 61-3-332(4)(a) for 4 x 7 inch plates" }
+      emblem: { present: true, rendered: placeholder }
+    region_encoding: "none — statutorily exempted by MCA 61-3-332(5). The ABSENCE of a county number is the class signal."
+    sources:
+      - "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0610/chapter_0030/part_0030/section_0320/0610-0030-0030-0320.html  # MCA 61-3-332(4)(a) the state-outline exception for 4 x 7 in plates; (4)(c) the 4 x 7 in motorcycle and quadricycle size; (5) the county-number exemption for 4 x 7 in standard plates; (3)(d) exemption from the 5-year replacement clock"
+    notes: >-
+      MOTORCYCLE (and QUADRICYCLE — Montana registers quadricycles as their
+      own vehicle kind throughout Title 61 and gives them the motorcycle
+      plate). `recall-only` is exact here rather than defensive: the regex is
+      the STATUTORY outer bound, because the statute states an alphabet and no
+      width, and a match therefore claims only that the string is a
+      well-formed Montana serial of unknown class. Distinct from
+      us-mt-standard in three sourced ways: size, no county prefix, no state
+      outline. Also exempt from the 5-year replacement clock by 61-3-332(3)(d).
+
+  - id: us-mt-trailer
+    class: trailer
+    categories: [trailer]
+    period: { start: 1989 }
+    period_evidence: statutory-date
+    matching: recall-only
+    format:
+      pattern: "999999"
+      regex: '\A[A-Z0-9]+\z'
+      charset: { notes: "as for the standard series: MCA 61-3-332(5) states an alphabet and no width. Whether a given Montana trailer plate carries the county prefix depends on its SIZE, not its class — see design." }
+    design:
+      plate_size_rule: >-
+        MONTANA SIZES TRAILER PLATES BY DECLARED WEIGHT, WHICH IS UNUSUAL AND
+        HAS A DIRECT FORMAT CONSEQUENCE. MCA 61-3-332(4)(b): semitrailers,
+        travel trailers, pole trailers and trailers with a declared weight of
+        6,000 pounds or more get the 6 x 12 inch plate. (4)(d): 'The
+        department shall issue plates that are 4 inches wide and 7 inches in
+        length for trailers with a declared weight of less than 6,000 pounds
+        unless a person registering a trailer with a declared weight of less
+        than 6,000 pounds requests plates that are 6 inches wide and 12 inches
+        in length. A person registering a trailer shall pay all applicable
+        fees for the plates chosen.' Because 61-3-332(5) exempts 4 x 7 inch
+        plates from the county-number rule, A LIGHT MONTANA TRAILER'S PLATE
+        FORMAT DEPENDS ON A SIZE THE OWNER MAY ELECT AND PAY FOR. That is a
+        real modelling wrinkle: the same trailer can lawfully carry a
+        county-prefixed serial or an unprefixed one depending on which plate
+        its owner bought.
+      plate: { w: 12, h: 6, unit: in }
+      plate_variant: { w: 7, h: 4, unit: in, applies_to: "trailers with declared weight under 6,000 lb, unless the 6 x 12 in plate is requested and paid for" }
+      material: "MCA 61-3-332(4)(a): metal, reflectorized"
+      legend_top: "MONTANA"
+      border: { shape: state-outline, statutory: true, note: "required on the 6 x 12 in plate; excepted on the 4 x 7 in plate" }
+      emblem: { present: true, rendered: placeholder }
+    region_encoding: "conditional — present on the 6 x 12 in plate, statutorily absent on the 4 x 7 in plate (MCA 61-3-332(5))"
+    sources:
+      - "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0610/chapter_0030/part_0030/section_0320/0610-0030-0030-0320.html  # MCA 61-3-332(4)(b) and (4)(d): the 6,000 lb declared-weight size split and the owner's paid election; (5) the county-number exemption that rides on the size; (2)(c) the 'permanent' legend option; (3)(d) exemption from the 5-year clock"
+    notes: >-
+      TRAILER. Kept as its own series because Montana gives it a size rule, a
+      county-prefix consequence and a permanent-registration legend that the
+      passenger plate does not have. The declared-weight size split is the
+      single best example in this group of a US state making the PLATE FORMAT
+      depend on a vehicle attribute plus an owner election.
+
+  - id: us-mt-government-exempt
+    class: government
+    categories: [car, van, truck, bus, trailer]
+    period: { start: 1989 }
+    period_evidence: statutory-date
+    matching: strict
+    format:
+      pattern: "999"
+      regex: '\A\d+\z'
+      charset:
+        notes: >-
+          MCA 61-3-332(6)(b), verbatim: 'Distinctive registration numbers for
+          plates assigned to motor vehicles, trailers, semitrailers, or pole
+          trailers of each of the counties in the state and those of the
+          municipalities and special districts that obtain plates within each
+          county must begin with number one and be numbered consecutively.' A
+          purely numeric series with a stated origin and NO STATED WIDTH —
+          hence the unbounded quantifier, which makes no width claim.
+      progression: "strictly sequential from 1, restarting within each county"
+    design:
+      plate: { w: 12, h: 6, unit: in }
+      material: "MCA 61-3-332(4)(a): metal, reflectorized"
+      legend_top: "MONTANA"
+      legend_marking: >-
+        TWO DIFFERENT MARKINGS FOR TWO DIFFERENT OWNERS, both statutory.
+        MCA 61-3-332(6)(a) for STATE-owned vehicles: 'the department may
+        designate the prefix number for the various state departments. All
+        numbered plates issued to state departments must bear the words "State
+        Owned", and a year number may not be indicated on the plates because
+        these numbered plates are of a permanent nature'. MCA 61-3-332(6)(b)
+        for COUNTY, MUNICIPAL and SPECIAL-DISTRICT vehicles (and for civil air
+        patrol vehicles on loan from the United States or the state): 'there
+        must be placed on the standard license plates assigned, in a position
+        that the department may designate, the letter "X" or the word
+        "EXEMPT"'.
+      border: { shape: state-outline, statutory: true }
+      emblem: { present: true, rendered: placeholder }
+      no_year: "MCA 61-3-332(6)(a) and (6)(b) both provide that a year number may not be displayed, because the plates are permanent and are replaced only when their physical condition requires it."
+    region_encoding: >-
+      A DIFFERENT MECHANISM FROM THE STANDARD SERIES, AND THE DISTINCTION
+      MATTERS. State-department plates carry a DEPARTMENT prefix number the
+      department designates (61-3-332(6)(a)) — an agency code, not a county
+      code. County/municipal/special-district plates are numbered
+      consecutively from 1 WITHIN EACH COUNTY (61-3-332(6)(b)) — so the county
+      is implied by the issuing county's sequence rather than encoded in the
+      serial. Neither is the 61-3-332(7) county-number prefix.
+    sources:
+      - "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0610/chapter_0030/part_0030/section_0320/0610-0030-0030-0320.html  # MCA 61-3-332(6)(a): the 'State Owned' legend, department prefix numbers, permanent nature and no year number; (6)(b): the 'X' or 'EXEMPT' marking, the per-county consecutive numbering from one, the civil air patrol case, and permanence"
+    notes: >-
+      GOVERNMENT / EXEMPT. Among the best-specified government plate rules
+      found in any US state at this gate: Montana legislates the legend, the
+      numbering origin, the numbering scope (per county), the prohibition on a
+      year number, and the replacement trigger (physical condition only).
+      Distinct from us-mt-standard in format, legend, region encoding and
+      replacement rule — four independent grounds under PRD-PLATES §2.3.
+
+  # =========================================================================
+  # SPECIALTY — THE PROGRAM INDEX, per PRD-PLATES §2.5.
+  # =========================================================================
+  - id: us-mt-specialty-index
+    class: specialty
+    categories: [car, van, truck, motorcycle, trailer]
+    period: { start: 1989 }
+    period_evidence: statutory-date
+    matching: recall-only
+    format:
+      pattern: "999999"
+      regex: '\A[A-Z0-9](?: ?[A-Z0-9]){0,6}\z'
+      charset:
+        notes: >-
+          MCA 61-3-474(1)(c) requires the department to 'use a numbering
+          system for generic specialty license plates that is distinctive from
+          the numbering system required under 61-3-332 or used for collegiate
+          license plates', and 61-3-332(8) requires that in each special
+          series 'the county number must be replaced by a design that
+          distinguishes each separate plate series'. So Montana specialty
+          serials are BY STATUTE unlike standard serials and unlike each
+          other. No per-programme grammar was sourced (individual specialty
+          specs are L4), so the index carries a deliberately wide union and is
+          `recall-only`.
+    design:
+      plate: { w: 12, h: 6, unit: in }
+      background: { finish: retroreflective }
+      design_authority: "MCA 61-3-474(1)(a): 'The department shall ... design the background and general format of generic specialty license plates, including ensuring the readability of a generic specialty license plate design.' The SPONSOR supplies the name, phrase and graphic; the DEPARTMENT owns the background and format."
+      approval_rule: "MCA 61-3-474(2): 'All sponsor names, identifying phrases, and graphics intended for use on generic specialty license plates must be approved by the department prior to the manufacture of the plates.'"
+      emblem: { present: true, rendered: placeholder }
+    program_index:
+      tiers: ["special license plates (legislatively approved, each its own numbered series)", "collegiate license plates (MCA 61-3-461 to 61-3-468)", "generic specialty license plates (the Montana Generic Specialty License Plate Act, MCA 61-3-472 to 61-3-481)", "fleet license plates (MCA 61-3-711 to 61-3-733)"]
+      count_official: unstated-and-request-only
+      count_official_note: >-
+        MONTANA PUBLISHES NO COUNT AND, BY STATUTE, PUBLISHES NO LIST EITHER —
+        it publishes a list ON REQUEST. MCA 61-3-474(4), verbatim: 'The
+        department shall maintain a list of the sponsors that have been
+        approved to promote the sale and issuance of generic specialty license
+        plates, the initial distribution date for sale of each sponsored
+        generic specialty license plate, and the donation fee established by
+        the sponsor for each sponsored generic specialty license plate. The
+        department shall, upon request, make copies of this list available to
+        interested members of the public.' That is a public-records duty, not
+        a publication duty. A count therefore requires a records request, and
+        the ONE INTERESTING CONSEQUENCE is that the statutory list carries the
+        INITIAL DISTRIBUTION DATE per programme — i.e. Montana's own list
+        would supply per-programme period data that no enthusiast source has.
+        Flagged as the highest-value follow-up in this file.
+      churn_rule: >-
+        MCA 61-3-474(5) obliges the department to REVOKE a sponsorship if
+        fewer than 400 sets have been sold or renewed within 3 years of
+        initial distribution, or if at any time after 3 years fewer than 400
+        sets carry a current registration, or if the sponsor stops qualifying.
+        61-3-474(6): on revocation, issuance and sale terminate, existing
+        holders may run their plates until the NEXT RENEWAL, and the
+        department may not issue replacements or duplicates. So Montana's
+        catalogue self-prunes at a numeric threshold — the exact figure
+        Florida's equivalent duty left unextracted in the L0 pass is HERE,
+        and it is 400.
+      sponsor_gates: >-
+        MCA 61-3-475(1): a sponsor must be a 501(c)(3) that has held the
+        status at least a year; its primary purpose must be community service
+        through programmes promoting public health, education or general
+        welfare (military veterans' organisations excepted); it must be a
+        Montana entity with a Montana address, a Montana bank account and a
+        listed Montana telephone number; and at least 75% of donation fees
+        must be spent in Montana. (4): an organisation may sponsor only ONE
+        design at a time, and may apply for a new one only after four years,
+        at which point the old design is discontinued from the initial
+        distribution date of the new one.
+      content_rules: "MCA 61-3-475(1)(e)(iv): the name, phrase or graphic must not invoke 'connotations offensive to good taste and decency', must not 'promote, advertise, or endorse a product, brand, or service provided for sale', must not infringe third-party rights (see artwork_risk), and must not obscure the plate letters or numbers."
+      generic_specialty_act_url: "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0610/chapter_0030/part_0040/section_0720/0610-0030-0040-0720.html"
+      collegiate_note: >-
+        MCA 61-3-461 through 61-3-468 are the collegiate plate sections. They
+        were CROSS-REFERENCED FROM 61-3-332 BUT NOT READ in this pass, so no
+        URL is pinned for them — the mca.legmt.gov section path is derivable
+        (61-3-4NN maps to part_0040/section_0<NN>0) but a derived URL is not a
+        fetched one and is not recorded as a source. Recorded gap.
+      repealed_section_note: >-
+        MCA 61-3-473 was fetched and returns "Repealed. Sec. 32, Ch. 395, L.
+        2025." The Generic Specialty License Plate Act was amended in the 2025
+        session; anyone re-reading 61-3-472 through 61-3-481 should expect
+        further 2025 movement and should not assume a stale secondary
+        description of the programme still holds.
+    region_encoding: "none — MCA 61-3-332(8) replaces the county number with a series-distinguishing design"
+    sources:
+      - "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0610/chapter_0030/part_0040/section_0740/0610-0030-0040-0740.html  # MCA 61-3-474: (1)(a) departmental design of background and general format; (1)(b) corrections-department consultation on manufacture; (1)(c) the distinctive numbering requirement; (2) prior approval of names, phrases and graphics; (4) the request-only sponsor list with initial distribution dates and donation fees; (5) the 400-set revocation thresholds; (6) the run-until-renewal grace and the replacement bar"
+      - "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0610/chapter_0030/part_0040/section_0750/0610-0030-0040-0750.html  # MCA 61-3-475: sponsor qualification gates, the content rules including the non-infringement requirement, the hold-harmless agreement, and the one-design-per-sponsor / four-year rule"
+      - "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0610/chapter_0030/part_0040/section_0720/0610-0030-0040-0720.html  # MCA 61-3-472: 'Sections 61-3-472 through 61-3-481 may be cited as the \"Montana Generic Specialty License Plate Act\"'"
+      - "https://mca.legmt.gov/bills/mca/title_0610/chapter_0030/part_0030/section_0320/0610-0030-0030-0320.html  # MCA 61-3-332(8): each special plate series is separately numbered and the county number is replaced by a series-distinguishing design"
+    notes: >-
+      THE MONTANA SPECIALTY INDEX — one entry standing for four statutory
+      tiers, which is what PRD-PLATES §2.5 asks for at this gate. Three things
+      worth carrying forward. First, the count is not merely unpublished; MCA
+      61-3-474(4) makes the list a RECORDS-REQUEST artefact by design, so the
+      honest index value is "unstated and request-only" with the statute
+      quoted. Second, that same statutory list carries INITIAL DISTRIBUTION
+      DATES per programme — Montana would hand over per-programme period data
+      on request, which no competitor has and which is worth a records
+      request before L4. Third, the churn threshold is a hard number, 400
+      sets, with a stated grace period, so this index is a moving target in a
+      precisely specified way.
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Classes Montana separately serializes but which are NOT given series here.
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+unspecified_classes:
+  dealer:
+    statutory_hook: "MCA 61-3-332(1): 'Standard license plates issued to licensed vehicle dealers must be readily distinguishable from license plates issued to vehicles owned by other persons.' The duty and the distinguishability requirement are sourced."
+    gap: "the department's actual dealer marking and serial grammar were not located (MVD estate 403-blocked)"
+  temporary:
+    statutory_hook: "MCA 61-3-479 is cross-referenced from 61-3-332(2)(a) as an exception to the standard-plate rule; the section itself was not read."
+    gap: "not obtained"
+  personalized:
+    statutory_hook: "Montana runs personalized plates through the MVD; no MCA section was read for them in this pass."
+    gap: "character cap, alphabet and content-refusal criteria all unobtained"
+  disability:
+    statutory_hook: "MCA 61-3-332(9): a resident eligible for a disability parking permit under 49-4-301 may, and a low-speed-restricted licensee operating a low-speed electric vehicle or golf cart under 61-5-122 must, be issued 'a disability license plate with a design or decal bearing a representation of a wheelchair'. Note 61-3-332(3)(a)(i) treats wheelchair-design plates as STANDARD plates for the design-vintage rule."
+    gap: "no serial grammar; also note _meta/classes.yml carries no `disability` value, so a vocabulary PR would be needed before this could become a series"
+
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Dead ends and open items.
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+research_notes:
+  reachability:
+    - "leg.mt.gov/bills/mca/... 301-redirects twice, to archive.legmt.gov and then to mca.legmt.gov. Pin the FINAL host: mca.legmt.gov. The pages carry a heavy anti-bot JavaScript preamble that must be stripped before parsing, but the statutory text is fully present in the HTML."
+    - "mvdmt.gov and dojmt.gov: HTTP 403 to every request from this environment, including with a browser user agent. No Wayback capture exists for mvdmt.gov at all. Montana's AGENCY estate is therefore entirely unread in this pass — which is survivable only because MCA 61-3-332 carries so much of the spec."
+    - "plates.mt.gov, app.mt.gov/plates, svc.mt.gov/dojmvd/platesearch: all dead (connection failure or 404)."
+  open_items:
+    - "MCA 61-3-474(4) records request for the generic specialty sponsor list — it carries per-programme INITIAL DISTRIBUTION DATES and donation fees. Highest-value follow-up in this file."
+    - "No Montana plate DISPLAY-POSITION statute was located; Part 3 covers assignment and design only."
+    - "The current base's colourway and the buffalo-skull separator device are locator-grade; an MVD instrument would upgrade them."
+    - "MCA 61-3-332(7)'s numbering rationale (the 1930-population story) needs a Laws of Montana primary before it can be stated as anything but folklore."