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TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING ARTICLE 42 TO CHAPTER 3, TITLE 56 SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR THE ISSUANCE OF CAROLINA PANTHERS 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 56-3-4200. (A) The Department of Motor Vehicles may issue special motor vehicle license plates to owners of private passenger carrying motor vehicles or light pickups having an empty weight of seven thousand pounds or less and a gross weight of nine thousand pounds or less registered in their names which may have imprinted on the plates an emblem, a seal, or other symbol the department considers appropriate for the National Football League's Carolina Panthers may submit to the department for approval of the emblem, seal, or other symbol it desires to be used for this special license plate. Before a design is approved, the Carolina Panthers must submit to the department written authorization for the use of a copyrighted or registered logo, trademark, or design. The Carolina Panthers also may request a change in its respective emblem, seal, or other symbol once the existing supply has been exhausted. The fee for each special license plate is seventy dollars every two years in addition to the regular motor vehicle license fee set forth in Article 5. Each special license plate must be of the same size and general design of regular motor vehicle license plates. Each special license plate must be issued or revalidated for a biennial period which expires twenty-four months from the month the special license plate is issued.
(B) The department may also provide, upon request, special Carolina Panthers collector license plates which shall not be displayed on any vehicle registered or required to be registered in this State. Any person displaying the special Carolina Panthers collector license plates on any vehicle registered or required to be registered in this State is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than one hundred dollars or be imprisoned for not more than thirty days. The special Carolina Panthers collector license plates shall be the same size and general design of the regular Carolina Panthers special motor vehicle license plates. The fee for issuance of the special Carolina Panthers collector license plates is twenty-five dollars. The words 'collector license plate' shall be imprinted on the special Carolina Panthers collector license plates.
(C) From the fees collected pursuant to this section, the Comptroller General shall place sufficient funds into a special restricted account to be used by the department to defray the expenses of producing the special license plates. The remaining funds must be distributed to the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism and be used by the State Park Service for recreational enhancements and improvements.
(D) Before the department produces and distributes Carolina Panthers special license plates pursuant to this section, it must receive four hundred prepaid applications for the Carolina Panthers special license plates 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 the license plate. If the equivalent amount is not collected within four years of the first issuance of the respective license plate, the department shall retain the deposit.
(E) If the department receives less than three hundred biennial applications and renewals for the Carolina Panthers special license plate, it may choose not to produce additional special license plates in that series. However, the department shall continue to issue special license plates of that series until the existing inventory is exhausted."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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