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TO AMEND CHAPTER 3, TITLE 56, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLE REGISTRATION AND LICENSING, BY ADDING ARTICLE 46 SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY MAY ISSUE "LAW ENFORCEMENT SUPPORTER" SPECIAL LICENSE PLATES, AND TO PROVIDE FOR THE DISTRIBUTION OF FEES COLLECTED FROM THE ISSUANCE OF THESE SPECIAL LICENSE PLATES.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Chapter 3, Title 56 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
Section 56-3-4610. (A) The department may issue 'Law Enforcement Supporter' special license plates for use on private passenger-carrying motor vehicles or light pickups as defined in Section 56-3-630. The special license plates must be of the same size and general design of regular motor vehicle license plates upon which must be imprinted the words 'Law Enforcement Supporter' and numbers the department may determine. The Criminal Justice Academy may request a change in the emblem, seal, or other symbol not more than once every five years. The special license plate must be issued or revalidated for a biennial period which expires twenty-four months from the month it is issued. The fee for this special license plate is the regular motor vehicle license fee contained in Article 5, Chapter 3 of this title and a special motor vehicle license fee of thirty dollars.
(B) After production and administrative costs, the remaining funds collected from the special motor vehicle license fee must be placed into a special restricted account to be used by the department to defray the expenses of the Criminal Justice Academy in providing training for law enforcement officers in this State.
(C) Before the department produces and distributes a plate authorized under this section, it must receive:
(1) four hundred or more prepaid applications for the special license plate or a deposit of four thousand dollars from the individual or organization seeking issuance of the license plate. If a deposit of four thousand dollars is made by an individual or organization pursuant to this section, the department must refund the four thousand dollars once an equivalent amount of license plate fees is collected for that organization's license plate. If the equivalent amount is not collected within four years of the first issuance of the license plate, then the department must retain the deposit; and
(2) a plan to market the sale of the special license plate that must be approved by the department.
(D) If the department receives less than three hundred biennial applications and renewals for a particular special license plate authorized under this section, it shall not produce additional special license plates in that series. The department shall continue to issue special license plates of that series until the existing inventory is exhausted.
Section 56-3-4620. Applications for special license plates authorized under this article must be made on forms provided by the department.
Section 56-3-4630. A special license plate issued to a person pursuant to this article may be transferred to another vehicle of the same weight class owned by the person upon an application made to and approved by the department.
Section 56-3-4640. The provisions of this article shall not affect the registration and licensing of motor vehicles required by other provisions of this chapter but are cumulative to them."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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