A bureaucratic glitch in Michigan has led to the issuing of a number of 2011 license plate renewal tags in the wrong color, authorities said.

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A state police trooper assigned to the Rockford station reported encountering about 50 vehicles this year with yellow 2011 tabs -- tabs that are supposed to be orange, the Grand Rapids (Mich.) Press reported Saturday.

Color-coded tabs are meant to aid police in spotting vehicles with expired registrations.

Police stopping vehicles with the wrong color tabs can still determine through in-car computers that the tabs are valid, secretary of state spokeswoman Kelly Chesney said.

"This error sometimes occurs when we are transitioning to a new year -- hence a new color," she said.

The state police department has issued a memo to officers, she said.

"NOTE: Do not confiscate or destroy these license plates," the memo reads. "These are valid license plates, and the owner of the vehicle is not to blame for this error."

State police said in the memo a branch office "may have inadvertently used yellow tab stock when printing out some 2011 tabs."