2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 10 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Financial Security › Section 56-10-260. False certificate or false evidence of insurance; penalties; special restricted driver's licenses.

(A) Any person who knowingly makes a false certificate as to whether a motor vehicle is an insured motor vehicle or presents to the Department of Motor Vehicles false evidence that any motor vehicle sought to be registered is insured is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than two hundred dollars or imprisoned for thirty days and, upon conviction of a second offense, be fined two hundred dollars or imprisoned for thirty days, or both, and for a third or subsequent offense must be imprisoned for not less than forty-five days nor more than six months. Only convictions which occurred within five years including and immediately preceding the date of the last conviction constitute prior convictions within the meaning of this section. The department shall deny, for a period of six months, registration of any motor vehicle for which a false certificate or false evidence is presented that the vehicle is insured and shall revoke, and may not thereafter reissue for a period of six months, the driver's license of any person making a false certificate or offering false evidence, and then only when all other provisions of law have been complied with by that person.
(B)(1) If a person is employed or enrolled in a college or university at any time while his driver's license is suspended pursuant to this section, he may apply for a special restricted driver's license permitting him to drive only to and from work or his place of education and in the course of his employment or education during the period of suspension. The department may issue the special restricted driver's license only upon a showing by the person that he is employed or enrolled in a college or university, and that he lives further than one mile from his place of employment or place of education. The department may not issue the special restricted driver's license until proof of financial responsibility has been filed.
(2) If the department issues a special restricted driver's license, it shall designate reasonable restrictions on the times during which and routes on which the person may operate a motor vehicle. A change in the employment hours, place of employment, status as a student, or residence must be reported immediately to the department by the licensee.
(3) The fee for each special restricted driver's license is one hundred dollars, but no additional fee is due because of changes in the place and hours of employment, education, or residence. Of this fee, twenty dollars must be distributed to the general fund and eighty dollars must be placed by the Comptroller General into the State Highway Fund as established by Section 57-11-20, to be distributed as provided in Section 11-43-167.
(4) The operation of a motor vehicle outside the time limits and route imposed by a special restricted license by the person issued that license is a violation of Section 56-1-460.
HISTORY: Former 1976 Code Section 56-11-760 [1962 Code Section 46-750.151; 1974 (58) 2718] repealed by 1987 Act No. 155, Section 25, and recodified as Section 56-10-260 by 1987 Act No. 155, Section 9; Am, 1988 Act No. 532, Section 22; 1999 Act No. 115, Section 10; 2001 Act No. 79, Section 2.K; 2016 Act No. 275 (S.1258), Section 80, eff July 1, 2016.