In my county, I was unable to renew at Tom Thumb when my plates were seven years old--had to go to the county office and get new ones.You can't renew your registration if plates are outdated. I don't know how old they have to be.
Same with the wife's car a year later. The stated reason was that the plates fade from UV/sun.
If your car is parked outside facing North all the time...maybe. My bike is garaged at home and covered at work, so the plate looked brandy-new, so maybe they just need to give the prisoners something to do... (or do Texas counties buy our license plates from China these days?)
Different counties may be different.