§ 31-3-123. Special plate for Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
(a) The administrator of the division of motor vehicles is empowered to make available
special motor vehicle registration plates for the not-for-profit corporation Rhode
Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals ("RISPCA�). The plates shall
be designed to reference Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals,
commemorating its one hundred fifty (150) years of service.
(b) The special plate shall be displayed upon the same registration number assigned to
the vehicle for which it was issued, and shall be used in place of and in the same
manner as the registration plates issued to the vehicle. The original registration
plates for the vehicle shall be removed from the vehicle and returned to the division
of motor vehicles. The registration certificate for the plates shall be carried in
the vehicle, in accordance with § 31-3-9. The registration certificate shall be in effect for the special plate.
(c) The RISPCA motor vehicle plates shall be the same size as regular motor vehicle plates,
and shall be designed by the RISPCA in conjunction with the division of motor vehicles,
with the design approved by the Rhode Island state police.
(d) The RISPCA plates shall be subject to a minimum pre-paid order of at least six hundred
(600) sets of plates per plate type (i.e., passenger, commercial, etc.). The RISPCA
plates shall not be issued unless the minimum order(s) requirements are met. The initial
order will be handled by the RISPCA, and shall not be submitted to the division of
motor vehicles for production until the minimum order(s) have been met and the proper
paperwork submitted to the division.
(e) The administrator of the division of motor vehicles shall develop pre-payment procedures,
and any other procedures deemed necessary to carry out the purposes of this section.
(f) In addition to the regular prescribed motor vehicle registration fee, the RISPCA plates
shall be subject to a forty-dollar ($40.00) issuance surcharge.
(g) The forty-dollar ($40.00) issuance surcharge shall be allocated as follows:
Twenty dollars ($20.00) shall be allocated to the general fund and the remaining twenty
dollars ($20.00) shall be distributed annually to the RISPCA to assist in the furtherance
of its programs in the state of Rhode Island.
(h) A ten-dollar ($10.00) surcharge for subsequent registration renewals shall be allocated
to the RISPCA.
(i) In consideration of the receipt of funds from the registration of RISPCA plates, the
foundation must use any Rhode Island sourced funds in, and for the benefit of, Rhode
Island-based charitable organizations.
(j) The RISPCA will be required to submit an annual accounting report before such monies
are distributed.
(k) There shall be no refunds for early cancellation of RISPCA plates.