§ 56-3-7300 — Saltwater Fishing special license plates.

(A) The Department of Motor Vehicles may issue "Saltwater Fishing" special motor vehicle license plates to owners of private passenger motor vehicles as defined in Section 56-3-630 registered in their names. 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 seventy-five dollars. (B) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, from the fees collected pursuant to this section, the Comptroller General shall place into the State Highway Fund as established by Section 57-11-20, to be distributed as provided in Section 11-43-167, an amount equal to the expenses of the Department of Motor Vehicles in producing and administering the special license plates. The remaining funds collected from the special motor vehicle license fee must be deposited in a special account, separate and apart from the general fund, established within and administered by the Department of Natural Resources to manage and conserve the marine resources of the 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.

Legislative History

HISTORY: 2002 Act No. 352, SECTION 1; 2003 Act No. 44, SECTION 1; 2008 Act No. 347, SECTION 27, eff June 16, 2008; 2016 Act No. 275 (S.1258), SECTION 50, eff July 1, 2016. ARTICLE 63 Support Our Troops Special License Plates [Repealed]