Under a law passed in 2013 that goes into effect Saturday, Pennsylvania drivers will no longer have to put registration stickers on their license plates.

The elimination came to pass after a Penn State research study concluded that the stickers had no impact on registration compliance. Drivers, however, will still need to have their vehicles registered.

According to Dmv.pa.gov, the sticker elimination will amount to more than $3 million per year in savings.

While drivers may find the change convenient, local law enforcement officials say it will make their jobs harder.

“Now you're going to have to run every single plate if you want to see if the registration is expired,” said Butler Police Chief Ron Brown. “It will make more work.”

Some police departments will use plate-reader technology that automatically detects unregistered vehicles or vehicles with an expired registration.

These departments will have vehicles equipped with cameras that read the license plate and automatically transfer registration information to a laptop inside the vehicle.

However, neither the Butler City Police Department nor the Butler Township Police Department has this technology.

Butler Township Police Chief John Hayes said it is too expensive for his department.

“I know it's not in the budget for next year,” he said. “I don't foresee us getting it any time soon.”

Both Brown and Hayes said that in the past, pulling over drivers for expired stickers has led to officers discovering more serious offenses.

“It could lead into DUIs, drugs or paraphernalia,” Hayes said. “It's going to make it more difficult to pick up those kinds of arrests.”

Hayes also said that his officers will maintain their usual level of awareness.

“That's just every day vigilance and observance of the way people are driving,” he said. “It's nothing new. It was just a lot easier when you saw a sticker expired.”

Carol King, owner of A Notary on Cunningham Street, said the absence of stickers may create problems for drivers, as well.

“People are going to lose their visual reminder,” she said. “I think it's going to be harder for people to remember to renew.”

Because of that, King said, people should renew as soon as they get their form in the mail.

“I wouldn't dilly dally around anymore, because you know two months is going to come and you're going to forget it, and the next person that's going to remind you is the police officer,” she said.

However, King did note one positive.

“It's going to stop plates from being stolen and stickers being ripped off the back,” she said.

King also said that people who register their vehicles likely will still do so. Those who don't, King said, may have incentive to break the law.

“Those who don't have the money to do it now more than likely are going to (stay unregistered) even more,” she said.

Drivers are permitted to either remove or leave the stickers they have on their plates.