FRANKFORT, Ky. — Senate Transportation Chair Jimmy Higdon, R-Lebanon, shared plans Wednesday for a new specialty license plate aimed to spread awareness of fentanyl's dangers. 

What You Need To Know

  • New specialty license plates spreading awareness of fentanyl's dangers will soon be available to Kentucky drivers  

  • They were made possible through the work of Angela Parkerson and Tami Bolitt, both of whom had sons die due to fentanyl use

  • The plates will cost $44, with $10 going to the Never Alone Nick Rucker Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to fentanyl education and prevention 

  • They are expected to be available this spring 

The plates, which will be available in early spring, were made possible by the efforts of Angela Parkerson and Tami Bolitt, both of whom had sons die due to fentanyl use. They will cost $44, $10 of which will go to the Never Alone Nick Rucker Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit advocacy group dedicated to fentanyl education and prevention.

"We began our nonprofit organization after our children, Nick Rucker, forever 24, and Chase Linton, forever 30, were killed by illicit fentanyl after unknowingly ingesting it, believing the pills they consumed were pharmaceutical products, in 2021," Parkerson and Bolitt said in a shared statement.

According to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, the plates will follow an update to the Kentucky Automated Vehicle Information System (KAVIS), as the cabinet works to modernize the state's vehicle information database. The plate will include the nonprofit's logo.

"Stories like the loss of Nick and Chase are heartbreaking, and they're all too common across Kentucky," Higdon said in a release. "This is an issue that connects many people. It doesn't matter what region because we're losing our children and members of our law enforcement community because fentanyl has such as high toxicity and is almost invisible in many cases.

"I'm grateful for advocates like Angela and Tami because they are the ones who get things like this done. I would encourage anyone who feels compelled to consider one of the fentanyl awareness plates for their vehicle because the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) requires 500 yearly registrations to keep the plate in active production. I'd also ask people—especially those who've felt the same loss as Angela and Tami—to get involved with the organization."

The cabinet encourages any Kentuckian who has lost a loved one to contact Parkerson and Bolitt at the Never Alone Nick Rucker Foundation's website. The foundation will also host a Kentucky Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness event Aug. 17 at My Old Kentucky Home State Park in Bardstown.

Current available license plate options can be found on Drive KY. 

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