Under a controversial new law the word "Arizona" must be completely visible on your license plate. The law is in place because Arizona has a slew of special license plates, supporting everything from the environment, to state universities, to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Lawmakers believe those factors, coupled with the popularity of license plate frames, have made it too difficult to determine whether a license plate is from Arizona. Still, there we found plenty of drivers are violating this law.

Since last Thursday, Jan. 1, 2009, anyone caught with a license plate cover that covers the state name of Arizona is subject to a fine of up to $200.

“Are you serious?” asked a stunned University of Arizona student Kylea Schmid.

She would be in violation if she had Arizona plates. Fortunately for her, her plates are from Indiana.

“Um yeah it's good to know because I was actually planning on going to the DMV or whatever tomorrow,” Schmid said. “So I guess I'll be taking my license plate cover, or whatever you call those things, off.”

There's a number of people around Tucson who should follow her lead.

Out of about a hundred cars parked in the parking lot of an East Side strip mall, 21 cars were in violation.

Mary Gibson owns one of those cars. So far, police haven't hassled her.

“Not yet,” Gibson said. “My family has said that we should take the plate off and show Arizona, so that's what we need to do,” she said with a chuckle.

Police in some parts of the state, (such as Glendale), will give warnings to violators through the end of January, although that's not necessarily the case in Tucson.

“Are officers giving warnings? Can they give warnings? Absolutely,” said Tucson Police Officer Chuck Rydzak. “Do they have to? No. Again, it's the officer's discretion.”

Discretion over a law that many still have yet to embrace.

“I think it's stupid,” U of A student Kylea Schmid added.

“Well, I appreciate the heads up,” said Gibson. “And that's a reminder when I get home.”

In the meantime, some state lawmakers say they want to draft legislation to appeal the new law.