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 27-19-56.319 - Special license tags or plates; Shriners International

(1)
Any owner of a motor vehicle who is a resident of this state and is a member of the Wahabi Shrine Temple in Mississippi, Joppa Shrine Temple in Mississippi or Hamasa Shrine Temple in Mississippi, his wife, widow, mother, daughter or sister, upon complying with the motor vehicle laws relating to registration and licensing of motor vehicles, and 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 annual fee in the amount provided in subsection (3) of this section, shall be entitled to a special license tag which displays the Shriners International emblem. The distinctive license tag so issued shall be of such color and design as the Department of Revenue, with the advice of the Wahabi Shrine Temple in Mississippi, may prescribe and shall 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 such distinctive license tags shall present to the issuing official documentation as prescribed by the Department of Revenue evidencing eligibility for the distinctive license tag authorized by this section. The application and the additional fee imposed under subsection (3) of this section, less Two Dollars ($2.00) thereof 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)
Beginning with any registration year commencing on or after July 1, 2012, any person applying for a distinctive license tag under this section shall pay an additional fee in the amount of Thirty Dollars ($30.00) for each distinctive license tag applied for under this section, which shall be in addition to all other taxes and fees. The additional fee paid shall be for a period of time to run concurrently with the vehicle's established license tag year. The additional fee is due and payable at the time the original application is made for a distinctive license tag under this section and thereafter annually at the time of renewal registration as long as the owner retains the distinctive license tag. If the owner does not wish to retain the distinctive license tag, he must surrender it to the local county tax collector.
(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 to the State Treasurer the total fees collected under this section from the issuance of the distinctive license tags issued under this section. The State Treasurer shall distribute such collections as follows:
(a)
Twenty-four Dollars ($24.00) of each additional fee collected on distinctive license tags issued pursuant to this section shall be distributed to the Wahabi Shrine Temple in Mississippi. The Wahabi Shrine Temple in Mississippi shall distribute the fees so received to the Joppa Shrine Temple in Mississippi, Hamasa Shrine Temple in Mississippi and Wahabi Shrine Temple in Mississippi, with the fees to be distributed to each of those temples on the basis of the fees generated by the purchase of the distinctive license tags within the counties covered by the particular temple boundary. The Department of Revenue shall furnish to the Wahabi Shrine Temple in Mississippi such information as is necessary for the temple to distribute the fees in the manner herein provided. The Wahabi Shrine Temple in Mississippi is authorized to deduct an administrative fee from the fees distributed to the temples in such amount as is approved by the individual temples receiving the fees to be distributed.
(b)
One Dollar ($1.00) of each additional fee collected on distinctive license tags issued pursuant to this section 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.
(d)
One Dollar ($1.00) of each additional fee collected on distinctive license tags issued pursuant to this section shall be deposited to the credit of the special fund created in Section
27-19-44.2
.
(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) license decals for each distinctive license tag issued under this section, which will expire the same month and year as the regular 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.
Laws, 2012, ch. 534, § 34, eff. 7/1/2012.