Matthew Simonton keeps a tidy mailbox. Bills go in one pile. Junk goes in another. So when an envelope from the Kansas Turnpike Authority landed in the mix, he couldn’t tell if it was a scam, or real. He opened it anyway. Inside sat a toll notice from Kansas, tied to a tag number he stopped using when we were all still listening to CDs.

Simonton lives in Oklahoma City. Last time he travelled into Kansas, he was a teen. He’s 55 years old now.

The bill listed a plate number that fell off his radar back in 2009, when he moved on to a newer car and let the old tag fade into the past.

At first, he figured the bill was either a scam or a bureaucratic fumble. He took the mystery to Service Oklahoma. That didn’t untangle things.

He said he talked with several employees but never got a clear answer. Someone eventually told him the number traces to a truck, not the vehicle he once owned.

Service Oklahoma later shared a statement confirming that the plate number now belongs to another Oklahoma driver

They explained that the state does not reissue standard plate numbers unless they go through a statewide reissue. The most recent one happened in 2017 and only used long-inactive numbers.

In this case, they said Simonton’s old number ended up reassigned by the state and improperly tied to him in Kansas’ tolling system.

The agency said they are working with the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority and the Kansas Turnpike Authority to clean up the record.

The Kansas Turnpike Authority waived the toll

Simonton appreciated that, but says he’s still worried about the bigger question. If one outdated plate number followed him home after 16 years, he wonders what might happen if the current owner racks up more charges. He said that risk bothers him more than the bill itself.

KFOR reached out to the Kansas Turnpike Authority for an explanation. The newsroom did not receive a response.

Simonton hopes the agencies involved get their databases sorted out.