Mississippi Code 1972 (2023) › Title 27 - TAXATION AND FINANCE (§§ 27-1-1 — 27-117-15) › Chapter 19 - MOTOR VEHICLE PRIVILEGE AND EXCISE TAXES (§§ 27-19-1 — 27-19-NEW) › Article 1 - MOTOR VEHICLE PRIVILEGE TAXES (§§ 27-19-1 — 27-19-179) › Section 27-19-56.22 - Special license tags or plates; members of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity

(1)
Any owner of a motor vehicle who is a resident of this state and who is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority or Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, upon payment of the road and bridge privilege taxes, ad valorem taxes and registration fees as prescribed by law for private carriers of passengers, pickup trucks and other noncommercial motor vehicles, and upon payment of an additional fee in the amount of Thirty Dollars ($30.00), shall be issued a distinctive license tag for each motor vehicle registered in his name identifying such person as a member or supporter of such organization. The distinctive license tags so issued shall display the Greek letters of the organization and shall be of such color and design as the Department of Revenue may prescribe; however, from and after July 1, 2014, there shall be two (2) special tag designs which may be issued under this section to a person who is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. One (1) shall be the design issued prior to July 1, 2014, and the other shall be a new design which shall be of such color and design as the Department of Revenue, with the advice of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, may prescribe. Tags issued pursuant to this section shall also consist of such letters or numbers, or both, as may be necessary to distinguish each license tag.
(2)
Application for the distinctive license tags authorized by this section shall be made to the county tax collector on forms prescribed by the Department of Revenue. Applicants for an Alpha Phi Alpha distinctive license tag must present either a current or past Alpha Phi Alpha membership card or documentation signed by the president of the local chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha in which the county is located verifying that the applicant is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. Upon applying for an Alpha Phi Alpha distinctive license tag, the applicant shall select which of the two (2) tag designs he desires to be issued. The application and the additional fee imposed under subsection (1) of this section, less Two Dollars ($2.00) to be retained by the tax collector, shall be remitted to the Department of Revenue on a monthly basis as prescribed by the department. The portion of the additional fee retained by the tax collector shall be deposited into the county general fund.
(3)
The distinctive license tag shall be issued for a one-year period. The additional annual fee shall be due and payable at the time of renewal registration.
(4)
The Department of Revenue shall deposit all fees into the State Treasury on the day collected. At the end of each month, the Department of Revenue shall certify the total fees collected under this section to the State Treasurer who shall distribute such collections as follows:
(a)
(i)
Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) of each additional fee collected on the distinctive license tags issued to members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority pursuant to this section shall be distributed to the Coleman, Alexander, Possner Foundation; however:
1.
Upon the request of the Eta Theta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, the Coleman, Alexander, Possner Foundation shall distribute to the Tea Rose Foundation of Eta Theta Omega Chapter an amount equal to the fees generated by the purchase, on or after the first day of the next month beginning after the date of such request, of the distinctive license tags purchased by members of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority in Issaquena, Sunflower and Washington Counties. The Department of Revenue shall furnish to the Coleman, Alexander, Possner Foundation such information as is necessary for the foundation to distribute the fees in such manner. The Coleman, Alexander, Possner Foundation may deduct an administrative fee in the amount of Two Dollars ($2.00) from the additional fee generated from the purchase of each distinctive license tag which is distributed to the Tea Rose Foundation of Eta Theta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.
2.
The Department of Revenue shall distribute Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) of each additional fee collected on the distinctive license tags issued to members and supporters of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority issued pursuant to this section in all counties except Hinds, Issaquena, Sunflower and Washington Counties, to the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Educational Advancement Fund (AKA-EAF) to establish a Mississippi scholarship fund. The presidents of the Rho Lambda Omega, Upsilon Upsilon Omega and Zeta Delta Omega Chapters of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, or their designees, shall set guidelines for the issuance of scholarships from the Mississippi scholarship fund.
(ii)
Except as otherwise provided in this subparagraph (ii), Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) of each additional fee collected on the distinctive license tags issued to members of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity pursuant to this section shall be distributed to Alpha Foundation, Inc., of Jackson, Mississippi. From and after July 1, 2017, Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) of each additional fee collected on the distinctive license tags issued to members of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity pursuant to this section shall be distributed to Mississippi Alpha Network Education and Leadership Foundation, Inc.
(iii)
It is the intent of the Legislature that fees paid to the Coleman, Alexander, Possner Foundation, which fees were collected on distinctive license tags issued to members of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity before July 1, 2003, shall be paid by the Coleman, Alexander, Possner Foundation to Alpha Foundation, Inc., of Jackson, Mississippi.
(b)
One Dollar ($1.00) of each additional fee collected on the distinctive license tags shall be deposited into the Mississippi Burn Care Fund created pursuant to Section
7-9-70
.
(c)
Two Dollars ($2.00) of each additional fee collected on distinctive license tags issued pursuant to this section shall be deposited to the credit of the State Highway Fund to be expended solely for the repair, maintenance, construction or reconstruction of highways.
(5)
A regular license tag must be properly displayed as required by law until replaced by a distinctive license tag under this section. The regular license tag must be surrendered to the tax collector upon issuance of the distinctive license tag under this section. The tax collector shall issue up to two (2) month and year license decals for each distinctive license tag issued under this section, which will expire the same month and year as the license tag.
(6)
In the case of loss or theft of a distinctive license tag issued under this section, the owner may make application and affidavit for a replacement distinctive license tag as provided by Section
27-19-37
. The fee for a replacement distinctive license tag shall be Ten Dollars ($10.00). The tax collector receiving such application and affidavit shall be entitled to retain and deposit into the county general fund five percent (5%) of the fee for such replacement license tag and the remainder shall be distributed in the same manner as funds from the sale of regular distinctive license tags issued under this section.
(7)
In order for a distinctive license tag displaying the new design authorized under this section to be issued under this section, the provisions of Section
27-19-44(3)
must be satisfied for the distinctive license tag displaying such emblem before July 1, 2017.
Laws, 2000, ch. 536, § 12; Laws, 2001, ch. 596, § 27; Laws, 2003, ch. 529, § 13, eff. 7/1/2003.
Amended by Laws, 2018, ch. 432, SB 2209,§ 24, eff. 7/1/2018.
Amended by Laws, 2017, ch. 432, HB 694, 16, eff. 7/1/2017.
Amended by Laws, 2014, ch. 483, SB 2472, 36, eff. 7/1/2014.
Amended by Laws, 2013, ch. 560, HB 276, 47, eff. 7/1/2013.