2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-120. Exemptions from registration and licensing requirement.

The following vehicles are exempt from registration and licensing under this chapter:
(1) a vehicle driven, operated, or moved upon a highway pursuant to the provisions of this chapter relating to nonresidents or under temporary permits issued by the department as authorized;
(2) any implement of husbandry, including a knuckleboom loader mounted on a trailer or straight truck, whether of a type otherwise subject to registration and license which only incidentally is operated or moved upon a highway;
(3) a special mobile equipment vehicle which only occasionally is moved over a highway and special mobile equipment vehicle of the State or its departments, agencies, or political subdivisions;
(4) a vehicle owned and operated by the government of the United States; and
(5) a trailer or semitrailer commonly used in combination with a large commercial motor vehicle, as defined in Section 12-37-2810, for which trailer or semitrailer the fee imposed pursuant to Section 12-37-2860 is paid and applicable registration requirements provided pursuant to Article 23, Chapter 37, Title 12, are met, and a distinctive permanent plate has been issued pursuant to Section 12-37-2860.
(6) firefighting vehicles that are publicly owned by the state or a county, municipality, or special purpose district as follows:
(a) motorized firefighting vehicles that carry a pump or water tank in excess of three hundred gallons;
(b) motorized firefighting vehicles containing a hydraulically operated ladder; and
(c) specialized support vehicles that specifically transport equipment utilized for rescue operations, hazardous materials response, wildfire emergencies, breathing air refill support, and incident command.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 46-12; 1952 Code Section 46-12; 1949 (46) 342; 1996 Act No. 425, Section 2; 1997 Act No. 125, Section 1I; 2000 Act No. 375, Section 4; 2002 Act No. 348, Section 6; 2017 Act No. 40 (H.3516), Section 8.C, eff January 1, 2019.
Editor's Note
2017 Act No. 40, Sections 8.L, 8.M, provide as follows:
"L. (1) Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary within this SECTION, a person who registers a vehicle for use in this State pursuant to Article 23, Chapter 37, Title 12, as amended by this act, must register his vehicle during calendar year 2019 and is required to pay the road fees calculated based on the fair market value of the vehicle as specified in Sections 12-37-2820 and 12-37-2850 at the time the vehicle's registration fees are paid.
"(2) Notwithstanding the provisions in Section 12-37-2865(B) and (C), as contained in this SECTION, to the contrary, during calendar year 2019, the first four hundred thousand dollars of fee revenue collected pursuant to Section 12-37-2865 must be retained by the Department of Motor Vehicles to defray programming costs.
"(3) The initial millage required by Section 12-37-2850 must be calculated on or before June 1, 2018.
"M. This SECTION takes effect January 1, 2019, except that the Department of Revenue, in consultation with the Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office, shall calculate the millage to be used to calculate the road use fee provided in Section 12-37-2850 by July 1, 2018."
Effect of Amendment
2017 Act No. 40, Section 8.C, rewrote (5), relating to large commercial motor vehicles.