reglab/statecodes huggingface dataset:
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-355. Suspension or revocation of commercial vehicle registration card and license plate; reinstatement; fees.

(A) The Department of Motor Vehicles must suspend, revoke, or not issue a registration card and license plate to a person for a commercial motor vehicle greater than twenty-six thousand pounds which operates with an apportioned license plate if the commercial motor carrier who is responsible for the safety of the vehicle has been prohibited from operating by a federal agency or if it is determined that the registrant has:
(1) made a material misrepresentation or false statement on the application or fails to disclose material information required pursuant to Section 56-3-240 or the International Registration Plan, if applicable;
(2) used or permitted the use of plates contrary to law;
(3) been found guilty of fraud, fraudulent practices, or subterfuge for the real party in interest who has been issued a federal out-of-service order;
(4) operated or owned a business managed, or otherwise controlled or affiliated, with a person who is ineligible for registration, including the registrant entity, a relative, family member, corporate officer, or shareholder; or
(5) failed to comply with any of the regulations of the department for the enforcement of this article.
(B) The registrant promptly must surrender to the department any item suspended or revoked under this section. If the registrant unlawfully refuses to surrender the suspended or revoked items as required under this section, the department, through its designated agents or by request to a county or municipal law enforcement agency, shall take possession of the suspended or revoked license plate and registration card. A registration card or license plate may not be reissued for that vehicle until the motor carrier has been allowed to operate by a federal agency or the vehicle is properly transferred to a motor carrier that is not prohibited from operating by a federal agency. Before a suspended vehicle registration card can be reinstated, the department shall receive a signed copy of any inspection report for each suspended registration card and a fee of fifty dollars for each registration card suspension which must be paid to the department. The fifty dollar fee must be placed in the State Highway Fund as established by Section 57-11-20, to be distributed as provided in Section 11-43-167 by the Comptroller General.
HISTORY: 2002 Act No. 301, Section 2; 2016 Act No. 275 (S.1258), Section 29, eff July 1, 2016; 2021 Act No. 37 (H.3689), Section 11.A, eff July 1, 2021.
Editor's Note
2021 Act No. 37, Section 11.B, provides as follows:
"[SECTION 11.]B. This SECTION takes effect at the start of the fiscal year immediately following approval by the Governor."
Effect of Amendment
2021 Act No. 37, Section 11.A, rewrote the section.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-360. Suspension of registration of vehicle reported stolen or converted.

The Department of Motor Vehicles may suspend the registration of a vehicle whose theft or conversion is reported to it pursuant to Section 56-19-810 or Section 56-19-820.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 46-18.1; 1957 (50) 595; 1993 Act No. 181, Section 1362; 1996 Act No. 459, Section 131.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-377. Vehicles to be assigned biennial registration period; expiration twenty-four months from issuance.

All vehicles described in Section 56-3-210 must be assigned a biennial registration period which expires twenty-four months from the month in which the registration first was issued.
HISTORY: 1978 Act No. 470 Section 2; 1993 Act No. 164, Part II, Section 22D.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-378. Establishment of system of registration of motor vehicles on monthly basis; issuance of registration and license plate for period of five years.

The Department of Motor Vehicles may issue at the request of the owner of a vehicle as defined in Section 56-3-700 of the 1976 Code a registration and license plate for a registration period of five years if the required five-year registration and license fee is paid to the department. The transfer of registration and license plates for vehicles in this classification shall be as provided in Sections 56-3-1260, 56-3-1270, 56-3-1280, 56-3-1290 and 56-3-1300. The department shall require the vehicle owner to remit any additional registration fee if an increase in the registration fee is subsequently enacted. The failure of an owner to pay such fee shall result in the cancellation of the registration and license plate.
HISTORY: 1978 Act No. 470 Section 2.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-385. Extension of deadline where last day for obtaining license plate or renewal sticker falls on Saturday, Sunday, or holiday.

When the last day of a month on which a person may obtain his biennial motor vehicle license plate or renewal sticker without penalty falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or state holiday, the person has until the end of the next working day immediately following that Saturday, Sunday, or state holiday to obtain his license plate or renewal sticker without penalty.
HISTORY: 1985 Act No. 201, Part II, Section 24; 1993 Act No. 164, Part II, Section 22E.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-390. Penalties for fraudulent applications and misrepresentation of facts.

Any person who (a) fraudulently uses or gives a false or fictitious name or address in any application required to be made under this chapter except for registration, (b) knowingly makes a false statement in any such application or (c) knowingly conceals a material fact in any such application shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall upon conviction be punished as herein provided. Any person who shall operate or any owner who shall permit the operation or movement of any vehicle registered and licensed under a violation of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished as herein provided.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 46-21; 1952 Code Section 46-21; 1949 (46) 342; 1957 (50) 595.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-400. Reciprocity in registration and licensing of automobile utility trailers; "automobile utility trailer" defined.

The term "automobile utility trailer" when used in Sections 56-3-400 to 56-3-420 shall mean and include any trailers suitable for towing by a private passenger automobile, the use of which is confined to the private hauling of personal property for intrastate or interstate use, or combined intrastate and interstate use. The term "automobile utility trailer" shall not include trailers or semitrailers rented or leased to any person for use by such lessee in the furtherance of or as an incident to any commercial or industrial enterprise in interstate commerce or for the use in connection with any business or occupation carried on in interstate commerce by the lessee.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 46-97; 1957 (50) 551.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-410. Reciprocity in registration and licensing of automobile utility trailers; procedures; extension of registration.

For the purpose of interstate and combined interstate and intrastate reciprocity provisions of Sections 56-3-400 to 56-3-420, automobile utility trailers shall be extended full reciprocity, provided that every person who owns automobile utility trailers within this State and who is engaged in the business of leasing such trailers for use in interstate, intrastate or combined interstate and intrastate commerce (a) registers and licenses all automobile utility trailers owned by him in the state wherein the owner actually resides and such state affords equal recognition, either in fact or in law, to such trailers licensed in this State or (b) registers and licenses in this State the average number of automobile utility trailers operated in and through this State during the licensing year. In such instances, the person shall register with the Department of Motor Vehicles the fact that he is engaged in such business and shall file data in such form and verified in such manner as shall be required by the Department, estimating the average number of automobile utility trailers he leases for operation in and through the State during the licensing year. The Department shall then determine the average number of such trailers operated in and through this State during the licensing year and such determination shall be final. Upon payment of the fee required by Section 56-3-130, the Department shall, subject to the provisions of Section 56-3-420, issue registration certificates and license plates for the average number of such automobile utility trailers as above determined and that number of trailers shall display the license plates. Thereafter, all trailers properly identified and licensed in any state, territory, province, country or the District of Columbia and belonging to such person shall be permitted to operate in this State on an interstate, intrastate or combined interstate and intrastate basis; provided, that such trailers are towed by private passenger cars duly registered and licensed in this State or in another state and legally operated in this State under the reciprocity laws of this State.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 46-98; 1957 (50) 551.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-430. Cities between 55,000 and 70,000 shall not require local licenses or charge inspection or registration fees.

It shall be unlawful for any city of this State having a population of fifty-five thousand or more but less than seventy thousand directly or indirectly to require any license, registration plate or other identification tag of or for motor-driven vehicles other than required by the laws of the State relating to motor vehicles or to charge or accept any fee or compensation for the inspection or registration of any motor-driven vehicle.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 46-131; 1952 Code Section 46-131; 1942 Code Section 5895; 1932 Code Section 5895; 1931 (37) 121.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-440. Cities of 70,000 or more may require local license.

Cities having a population of seventy thousand or more may require the annual registration with the city treasurer of all motor vehicles owned by residents of such cities and may issue annually a sticker, seal, card or a plate of metal or other material without fee or charge, as evidence of such registration, and require its attachment to, and its display upon, such vehicles. Such cities may also require as a condition precedent to such registration the payment of any city taxes then due and payable thereon and may provide by ordinance that the operation on the streets of such cities of any such motor vehicle without the attachment and display thereon of such sticker, seal, card or plate shall be unlawful and impose a penalty for the violation of such ordinance not exceeding a fine of one hundred dollars or imprisonment for not more than thirty days.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 46-132; 1952 Code Section 46-132; 1942 Code Section 5895; 1932 Code Section 5895; 1931 (37) 121; 1945 (44) 547; 1955 (49) 150.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-510. Forms.

Department of Motor Vehicles records relating to the registration and licensing of motor vehicles must be released only as provided in this article. A person who requests registration and licensing information must submit the request on a form provided by the department. A completed form must:
(1) contain the name and address of the person making the request, the date of the request, the reason for the request, and a statement certifying that the information requested will not be used for a purpose related to telephone marketing or telephone solicitation; and
(2) be signed by the person making the request.
HISTORY: 1996 Act No. 458, Part II, Section 31A.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-520. Retention of forms.

(A) The Department of Motor Vehicles must retain a request made pursuant to Section 56-3-510 for five years from the date of its submission.
(B) Upon a person's written request, the department must release a copy of all request forms relating to the person's records.
HISTORY: 1996 Act No. 458, Part II, Section 31A.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-530. Fees.

The Department of Motor Vehicles may charge a fee for releasing information pursuant to this article. The department must promulgate regulations:
(1) providing a procedure whereby persons making repetitive requests may maintain an account with the department for the payment of fees incurred in the production of requested records;
(2) providing a procedure for electronic processing of requests; and
(3) providing for appropriate security measures to ensure that records are released only to the person identified as making the request.
HISTORY: 1996 Act No. 458, Part II, Section 31A.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-540. Use of records; opt-out from surveys, marketing, and solicitations.

The Department of Motor Vehicles shall implement methods and procedures to ensure that:
(1) individuals are provided an opportunity, in a clear and conspicuous manner, to opt-out and prohibit the use of motor vehicle record information about them for distribution for surveys, marketing, and solicitations; and
(2) surveys, marketing, and solicitations will not be directed at those individuals who have requested in a timely fashion that they not be directed at them.
HISTORY: 1996 Act No. 458, Part II, Section 31A.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-545. Sale of Social Security number or driver's license photograph or signature prohibited.

The Department of Motor Vehicles may not sell, provide, or otherwise furnish to a private party Social Security numbers, copies of photographs, or signatures, whether digitized or not, taken for the purpose of a driver's license or personal identification card. A Social Security number, photograph, signature, or digitized image from a driver's license or personal identification card is not a public record.
HISTORY: 1999 Act No. 100, Part II, Section 54.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-610. Biennial payment of registration and license fees required.

(A) Except as provided in subsection (B), the owner of every motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, and special mobile equipment vehicle required to be registered and licensed under this chapter shall pay to the Department of Motor Vehicles at the time of registering and licensing the vehicle and biennially after that time registration and license fees as set forth in this article.
(B) A large commercial motor vehicle or bus on which is imposed the road use fee provided pursuant to Article 23, Chapter 37, Title 12 is required to be registered and licensed annually pursuant to this chapter and the scheduled fees adjusted as provided pursuant to Section 56-3-660(E).
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 46-31; 1952 Code Section 46-31; 1949 (46) 342; 1993 Act No. 164, Part II, Section 22G; 2017 Act No. 40 (H.3516), Section 8.D, 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.D, inserted the paragraph identifiers; in (A), substituted "Except as provided in subsection (B), the" for "The"; and added (B), relating to large commercial motor vehicles required to be registered.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-620. Fees for handicapped persons or persons of certain ages for private passenger motor vehicle and property-carrying vehicles weighing six thousand pounds or less.

(A) For persons sixty-five years of age or older or persons who are handicapped, as defined in Section 56-3-1950, the biennial registration fee for every private passenger motor vehicle, excluding trucks, is thirty-six dollars.
(B) For persons under the age of sixty-five years the biennial registration fee for every private passenger motor vehicle, excluding trucks, is forty dollars.
(C) For persons sixty-five years of age or older, the biennial registration fee for a property-carrying vehicle with a gross weight of six thousand pounds or less is forty-six dollars.
(D) For persons who are sixty-four years of age, the biennial registration fee for a private passenger motor vehicle, excluding trucks, is thirty-eight dollars.
(E) Applicable truck fees, established by Section 56-3-660, are not negated by this section.
(F) Annual license plate validation stickers which are issued for nonpermanent license plates on certified South Carolina public law enforcement vehicles must be issued without charge.
(G) From each biennial registration and license fee collected, sixteen dollars must be credited to the Infrastructure Maintenance Trust Fund.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 46-32; 1952 Code Section 46-32; 1949 (46) 342; 1980 Act No. 506, Section 12; 1986 Act No. 540, Part II, Section 42A; 1987 Act No. 197 Section 3; 1987 Act No. 203 Section 2; 1993 Act No. 164, Part II, Section 22H; 1994 Act No. 417, Section 4; 1996 Act No. 459, Section 133; 1999 Act No. 63, Section 5; 2008 Act No. 353, Section 2, Pt 13C, eff July 1, 2009; 2017 Act No. 40 (H.3516), Section 4.A, eff January 1, 2018.
Effect of Amendment
2017 Act No. 40, Section 4.A, in (A), substituted "thirty-six dollars" for "twenty dollars"; in (B), substituted "For" for "Beginning July 1, 1987, for" and "forty dollars" for "twenty-four dollars"; in (C), substituted "forty-six dollars" for "thirty dollars"; in (D), substituted "thirty-eight dollars" for "twenty-two dollars"; and added (G), relating to credits to the Infrastructure Maintenance Trust Fund.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-625. Expenditure of revenue derived from fee increases.

The amount of revenue derived from the fee increases established in Section 42, Part II, 1986 Act 540 which exceeds the revenue generated pursuant to Sections 56-3-620, 56-3-760, and 56-19-420 of the 1976 Code prior to July 1, 1986 shall be expended by the Department of Transportation to improve access routes to distressed and impacted areas of the State.
HISTORY: 1986 Act No. 540, Part II, Section 42D.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-630. Vehicles classified as passenger motor vehicles.

The Department of Motor Vehicles shall classify as a private passenger motor vehicle every motor vehicle which is designed, used, and maintained for the transportation of ten or fewer persons and trucks having an empty weight of nine thousand pounds or less and a gross weight of eleven thousand pounds or less, except a motorcycle, motorcycle three-wheel vehicle, or moped. The department shall classify a three-wheel vehicle by the manufacturer's certificate of origin for the vehicles initial registration. For subsequent registration, the department shall classify the three-wheel vehicle by its title document. This section does not relieve or negate any applicable fees required under Section 56-3-660.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 46-33; 1952 Code Section 46-33; 1949 (46) 342; 1959 (51) 391; 1996 Act No. 459, Section 134; 1999 Act No. 63, Section 6; 2000 Act No. 375, Section 5; 2001 Act No. 52, Section 1; 2006 Act No. 398, Section 1, eff September 7, 2006; 2017 Act No. 89 (H.3247), Section 15, eff November 19, 2018.
Effect of Amendment
2017 Act No. 89, Section 15, in the first sentence, substituted "moped" for "motor-driven cycle", and in the second sentence, substituted "manufacturer's certificate" for "manufacturers statement".
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-640. Fees for common carrier passenger vehicles; vehicles so classified; determining vehicle weight.

(A) For every common carrier passenger vehicle the biennial registration and license fee is according to weight:
(1) not over 2000 pounds: $18.00;
(2) 2001 to 2500 pounds: $24.00;
(3) 2501 to 3000 pounds: $30.00;
(4) 3001 to 3500 pounds: $36.00;
(5) 3501 to 4000 pounds: $42.00;
(6) 4001 to 4500 pounds: $48.00;
(7) 4501 to 5000 pounds: $54.00;
(8) over 5000 pounds: $54.00 plus $6.00 for each 500 pounds' weight or fraction over 5000 pounds.
(B) The Department of Motor Vehicles must include in this classification every motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer designed, used, or maintained for the transportation of persons for compensation as a regular business. This classification does not include a trackless trolley bus.
(C) The manufacturer's rating on the weight of a vehicle must be accepted as the weight of the vehicle for the purpose of fixing the license fee under this section.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 46-34; 1952 Code Section 46-34; 1949 (46) 342; 1993 Act No. 164, Part II, Section 22I.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-645. Road use fees for vehicles powered by electricity, hydrogen, and fuels other than motor fuel.

(A) In addition to the registration fees imposed by this chapter, the owner of motor vehicles that are powered:
(1) exclusively by electricity, hydrogen, or any fuel other than motor fuel, as defined in Section 12-28-110(39), that are not subject to motor fuel user fees imposed by Chapter 28, Title 12 shall pay a biennial road use fee of one hundred twenty dollars; and
(2) by a combination of motor fuel subject to motor fuel user fees imposed by Chapter 28, Title 12 and electricity, hydrogen, or any fuel other than motor fuel that is not subject to motor fuel user fees imposed by Chapter 28, Title 12 shall pay a biennial road use fee of sixty dollars.
(B) All of the fees collected pursuant to this section must be credited to the Infrastructure Maintenance Trust Fund.
(C) The Department of Motor Vehicles shall collect this fee at the same time as the vehicle subject to the fee is titled or registered.
HISTORY: 2017 Act No. 40 (H.3516), Section 6.A, eff January 1, 2018; 2021 Act No. 70 (H.3505), Section 2, eff May 17, 2021.
Effect of Amendment
2021 Act No. 70, Section 2, in (C), inserted "titled or" following "subject to the fee is".
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-650. Optional fees for bus companies operating in interstate and intrastate commerce; computation; retention of records; display of license plates.

In order for inter-city bus companies operating fleets both in inter and intra state commerce in South Carolina to more efficiently dispatch individual buses in such fleets from one state to another, any such inter-city bus company operating a fleet of ten or more buses of thirty or more passenger capacity each may comply with the license requirements of this chapter by paying an in lieu license fee to the Department of Motor Vehicles. Such fee shall be an amount equivalent to an annual fee of two hundred dollars per bus, with the number of buses or fractions thereof determined by dividing the company's total bus travel mileage in this State in any one license year by forty thousand miles. Such an inter-city bus company shall declare at the beginning of each license year prior to May first respectively of each year the mileage its fleet operated in this State during the preceding calendar year, and shall pay to the department a total annual license fee for all such buses computed in accordance with this section. Any bus company licensed pursuant to this section must retain and hold, subject to audit by the department, for a period of at least four years all records used in computing the total mileage operated in the State during each calendar year. Bus companies electing to license under this provision shall not be required to display license plates as otherwise required by this chapter on the buses operated in South Carolina, but they shall have the option of displaying license plates on buses where such license plates are specifically identified with specific buses.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 46-34.1; 1966 (54) 2339; 1993 Act No. 181, Section 1363.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-661. Certification requirements; insurance requirements.

No for-hire motor vehicle carrier of property, except carriers of household goods or hazardous waste for disposal, may operate in this State without having applied for and received a Class E Certificate of Compliance from the Department of Motor Vehicles. A one-time fee of twenty-five dollars may be charged each company for each certificate issued.
The applicant must provide evidence of meeting the financial responsibilities or insurance requirements, satisfy compliance requirements of the United States Department of Transportation motor carrier safety and hazardous materials regulations before issuance, and continually satisfy these requirements or certification may be suspended, revoked, or placed in a probationary status.
The Department of Motor Vehicles is authorized to promulgate regulations to implement these responsibilities.
The holder of a Class E Certificate may be eligible for exceptions provided by Sections 58-23-620 and 44-96-160(W)(1).
HISTORY: 2002 Act No. 301, Section 3.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-662. Identifier fees; administration and enforcement funding.

The Department of Motor Vehicles shall charge a fee of five dollars for each identifier. The five-dollar identifier fee must be remitted to the general fund. The Department of Motor Vehicles may promulgate regulations pursuant to this section. The five-dollar fee collected pursuant to this section must be placed in a special restricted account by the Comptroller General to be used by the Department of Public Safety for the administration and enforcement of the provisions contained in Articles 3 and 5 of Chapter 23, Title 58, and for the building or renovation of weigh stations. All unexpended funds from prior years collected under this section may be retained and carried forward by the Department of Public Safety and used for these purposes.
HISTORY: 2002 Act No. 301, Section 3.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-663. Reciprocal agreements.

The Department of Motor Vehicles is authorized to enter into reciprocal agreements with the regulatory agencies of other states having jurisdiction and authority over motor carriers to provide for base state agreements in which the registration of interstate carriers operating in participating states may be accomplished by registration in one base state. Carriers registering in this State under these agreements are subject to the jurisdiction and authority of the Department of Public Safety and the Department of Motor Vehicles for enforcement purposes. When the carrier's base state is South Carolina, the Department of Motor Vehicles may require further filings of certificates of insurance, surety bonds, and other documents to show the carrier's qualifications to operate. Participating carriers shall register their authority directly with the Department of Motor Vehicles and not with other state or local agencies.
HISTORY: 2002 Act No. 301, Section 3.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-665. Proof of payment of federal use tax.

The Department of Motor Vehicles shall require evidence of the payment of the use tax imposed by Section 4481 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for those vehicles to which the taxes are required.
HISTORY: 1986 Act No. 373, Section 6; 1996 Act No. 459, Section 136.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-670. Fees for farm truck licenses; violations; penalties.

(A) For the purpose of this section, "farm truck" is defined as a truck used exclusively by the owner for agricultural, horticultural, dairying, livestock, and poultry operations and includes transporting farm processed horticultural products, including soil amendments and mulches owned by the truck's owner or another person, including first market. However, farm trucks with an empty weight of less than seven thousand five hundred pounds may be used for ordinary domestic purposes and general transportation but must not be used to transport persons or property for hire. No part of this definition may be interpreted to exempt any commercial motor vehicle less than 26,001 pounds GVW/GVWR/GCW/GCWR from all or part of state laws or regulations applicable to intrastate commerce if the vehicle:
(1) transports hazardous materials requiring a placard; or
(2) is designed or used to transport sixteen or more people, including the driver.
(B) The Department of Motor Vehicles shall issue to bona fide farmers special farm vehicle licenses on an annual basis for farm trucks for a fee as follows according to the gross vehicle weight of the truck:
Gross Vehicle Weight Fee (1) Up to 26,499 pounds $ 12.00 (2) 26,500 to 32,499 pounds $ 15.00 (3) 32,500 to 42,500 pounds $ 30.00 (4) 42,501 to 52,500 pounds $ 60.00 (5) 52,501 to 62,500 pounds $ 80.00 (6) 62,501 to 72,500 pounds $ 100.00 (7) 72,501 to 80,000 pounds $ 120.00 .
Nothing in this section exempts farm vehicles from gross weight-axle requirements contained in Section 56-5-4140.
(C) A person who is issued a farm license plate for the purpose defined in this section and uses the license plate for purposes other than those defined is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than two hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days, or both.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 46-35.1; 1952 Code Section 46-35; 1949 (46) 342; 1959 (51) 391; 1960 (51) 1728; 1979 Act No. 83 Section 1; 1993 Act No. 164, Part II, Section 39A; 1993 Act No. 164, Part II, Section 22K; 1994 Act No. 417, Section 5; 1996 Act No. 392, Section 1; 1996 Act No. 459, Section 137; 2002 Act No. 340, Section 7; 2005 Act No. 62, Section 1, eff May 16, 2005; 2006 Act No. 398, Section 17, eff September 7, 2006; 2012 Act No. 180, Section 3, eff May 25, 2012.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-700. Fee for trailers, semitrailers, and pole trailers; exemptions.

For every trailer, semitrailer, or pole trailer, not exempted by Section 56-3-120(5), the biennial registration fee is twenty dollars. The Department of Motor Vehicles must include in this classification every trailer, semitrailer, or pole trailer designed for carrying property, except house trailers, utility trailers, those trailers and semitrailers exempted by Section 56-3-120(5), and boat trailers as otherwise provided in this article. Semitrailers or pole trailers weighing less than five hundred pounds with load capacity of less than one thousand pounds and trailers and semitrailers with an actual unloaded weight of fifteen hundred pounds or less and carrying a load capacity not exceeding twenty-five hundred pounds and which are designed, adapted, and used exclusively for agriculture, horticulture, or livestock-raising operations or for lifting or carrying an implement of husbandry need not be registered or licensed.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 46-35.2; 1952 Code Section 46-35; 1949 (46) 342; 1959 (51) 391; 1960 (51) 1962; 1993 Act No. 164, Part II, Section 22L; 1997 Act No. 125, Section 1J.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-710. Fees for house trailers.

For every house trailer the biennial fee is twelve dollars. The Department of Motor Vehicles shall classify as a "house trailer" every trailer or semitrailer which is designed, constructed, and equipped as a dwelling, living abode, or sleeping place, permanently or temporarily, and is equipped for use as a conveyance on streets or highways or a trailer or semitrailer of similar nature whose chassis and exterior shell is designed and constructed for use permanently or temporarily for advertising, sales, display, or promotion of merchandise or services or for another commercial purpose, except the transportation of property for hire or the transportation of property for distribution by a private carrier. The department may not license and register a house trailer which exceeds the permissible size limitations prescribed in Sections 56-5-4030, 56-5-4060, and 56-5-4070, but the house trailers permitted to be moved over the highways by the department under special permits issued pursuant to Sections 57-3-130 to 57-3-190 shall pay to the Department of Transportation a fee of five dollars a trip.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 46-35.3; 1952 Code Section 46-35; 1949 (46) 3 2; 1959 (51) 391; 1993 Act No. 164, Part II, Section 22M; 1996 Act No. 459, Section 138.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-720. Fees for camper or travel trailers; distinctive tag.

For every camper or travel trailer the biennial registration fee is ten dollars. The Department of Motor Vehicles must include in this classification every trailer not more than thirty-five feet long and eight feet wide primarily equipped, designed, converted, or used for private living quarters and towed by a motor vehicle. The department shall design a distinctive tag which must be displayed on the exterior of the rear of the trailer in a conspicuous place.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 46-35.6; 1968 (55) 2453; 1977 Act No. 63; 1993 Act No. 164, Part II, Section 22N; 1996 Act No. 459, Section 139.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-730. Owner shall select load capacity classification; changes.

The owner of a vehicle classified under Sections 56-3-130 and 56-3-660 to 56-3-710, may register and license such vehicle for the desired load capacity classification, and a previous registration and license for a particular load capacity classification for a particular vehicle shall not be deemed as fixing the load capacity classification on such vehicle for future registrations and licenses or renewals. Also the owner may have the privilege at any time during a then current registration and license period to raise the load classification for a vehicle by making application therefor to the Department of Motor Vehicles and paying the required increased differential in fee, but the owner may not have the privilege of reducing the load classification for a particular vehicle until the expiration of the then current registration and license period.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 46-36; 1952 Code Section 46-36; 1949 (46) 342.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-740. Fees for trackless trolley buses.

For every trackless trolley bus the biennial registration fee is four hundred dollars for each bus weighing not over fifteen thousand pounds, exclusive of passengers, and for each bus weighing more than fifteen thousand pounds, exclusive of passengers, an additional forty dollars for each additional one thousand pounds of weight or fraction. The Department of Motor Vehicles must include under this classification every bus propelled by electric power obtained from overhead trolley wires but not operated upon rails.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 46-37; 1952 Code Section 46-37; 1949 (46) 342; 1993 Act No. 164, Part II, Section 22O.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-750. Fees for special mobile equipment vehicles.

For every special mobile equipment vehicle not exempt from the payment of a biennial registration and license fee under Section 56-3-120 the biennial registration fee is ten dollars for each vehicle having a gross weight of not more than four thousand pounds, and for every vehicle having a gross weight of more than four thousand pounds, an additional eight dollars for each additional one thousand pounds of weight or fraction over four thousand pounds.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 46-38; 1952 Code Section 46-38; 1949 (46) 342; 1993 Act No. 164, Part II, Section 22P.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-760. Fees for motorcycles, motorcycle three-wheel vehicles, and motor-driven cycles.

For every motorcycle, motorcycle three-wheel vehicle, or moped the biennial registration fee is ten dollars.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 46-39; 1952 Code Section 46-39; 1949 (46) 342; 1986 Act No. 540, Part II, Section 42B; 1993 Act No. 164, Part II, Section 22Q; 2000 Act No. 375, Section 6; 2017 Act No. 89 (H.3247), Section 16, eff November 19, 2018.
Effect of Amendment
2017 Act No. 89, Section 16, substituted "moped " for "motor-driven cycle".
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-770. Fees for vehicles equipped with solid tires.

The biennial registration and license fee for every motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, pole trailer, or special mobile equipment vehicle equipped with solid tires is double the biennial fee otherwise specified in this article.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 46-40; 1952 Code Section 46-40; 1949 (46) 342; 1993 Act No. 164, Part II, Section 22R.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-780. Permanent license plates and fees for vehicles of State, political subdivisions, or Civil Air Patrol; transferability.

(A) Permanent license plates must be issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles for all motor vehicles operated by the State or its political subdivisions. The license fee, including registration, is two dollars. Permanent plates must bear the words "South Carolina", the number, and a prefix "SG", "RG", "CG", or "MG" to designate respectively state government, regional government, county government, or municipal government. The department may issue a permanent license plate to vehicles used by state or local law enforcement agencies. The fee for the permanent plate is two dollars. A decal may be issued to designate the law enforcement agency. The department may charge a reasonable fee to cover the cost of the decal.
(B) All other vehicles operated by the State or its subdivisions and the Civil Air Patrol must be registered and licensed for a biennial fee of two dollars and must be issued plates in accordance with Section 56-3-1710.
(C) Registration and licenses issued under this section are not transferable except to another agency or department of government.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 46-41; 1952 Code Section 46-41; 1949 (46) 342; 1957 (50) 253; 1967 (55) 588; 1978 Act No. 538; 1993 Act No. 164, Part II, Section 22S; 1996 Act No. 459, Section 140; 2000 Act No. 286, Section 2.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-785. Issuance of permanent license plates to certain owners of trailers and semi-trailers; fees; design.

(A) Upon proper application, the Department of Motor Vehicles may issue a registration and license plate on a permanent basis for semitrailers, regular trailers, and utility trailers.
(B) The fee for the license is seventy-five dollars for each semitrailer, regular trailer, and utility trailer, and is not transferable. The fee must be paid in one sum. After the initial issuance of the license the owner shall remit annually to the department on a form furnished by the department a report of the units still in use and units which must be deleted and return the licenses issued to the units no longer in use. Failure to furnish required forms by the due date established by the department results in a fine not to exceed fifty dollars. A permanent license may be purchased for chassis, specially constructed to transport international shipping containers, without being required to furnish a South Carolina address if the chassis is not for domicile.
(C) The license plate must be the same size of regular license plates and design as specified by the department.
HISTORY: 1985 Act No. 201, Part II, Section 71; 1989 Act No. 113, Section 1.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-790. Fees for certain motor vehicles used in rescue work.

The Department of Motor Vehicles shall issue a license upon the payment of a five dollar fee to any chartered volunteer rescue league in this State for any motor vehicle owned and operated by it solely for rescue work without charge.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 46-41.1; 1965 (54) 558; 1993 Act No. 181, Section 1364.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-830. Postage charge.

The Department of Motor Vehicles may charge an additional fee of fifteen cents postage for every license mailed to the owner.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 46-44; 1952 Code Section 46-44; 1949 (46) 342.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-840. Delinquent registration and license penalties.

The owner of every vehicle required to be registered and licensed under the provisions of this chapter who fails to register and license the vehicle and pay the specified fees or renewal, when and as required, upon registering the vehicle shall pay to the Department of Motor Vehicles a delinquency penalty fee of ten dollars, if the owner is delinquent less than fifteen days. If the owner is delinquent by fifteen days but less than thirty days, he shall pay a delinquency penalty of twenty-five dollars. If the owner is delinquent by more than thirty days but less than ninety days, he shall pay a delinquency penalty fee of fifty dollars to the department. If the owner is delinquent by more than ninety days, he shall pay a delinquency penalty fee of seventy-five dollars to the department. However, there is no delinquency penalty fee for campers and travel trailers subject to the registration fee under Section 56-3-720.
A person who drives, moves, or operates on a highway a vehicle for which a registration and license are required but have not been obtained within thirty days of the date when required is guilty of a misdemeanor.
All monies collected pursuant to this section, not to exceed the actual revenues collected in fiscal year 1999-2000, must be annually deposited to a separate account and held in reserve for the Department of Public Safety. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, these monies must be deposited to the credit of the department into a special fund in the office of the State Treasurer designated as the "Department of Public Safety Building Fund". The Department of Public Safety must use these monies and other unobligated monies for the purpose of issuing revenue bonds or for entering into a lease purchase agreement for a headquarters facility, including the renovation of existing facilities. The Department of Public Safety is authorized to initiate and direct a capital project to purchase or construct a new headquarters facility. Projects funded under this section other than for the construction or purchase of a new headquarters facility, including but not limited to, the expansion or renovation of an existing facility, must be approved by a joint resolution provided that if the Department of Public Safety employs a lease purchase agreement to build or purchase a new headquarters facility, the lease purchase agreement must be approved by the State Department of Administration or State Fiscal Accountability Authority, as appropriate. The cost of a headquarters facility must not exceed thirty million dollars unless a parking facility or garage is required.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 46-45; 1952 Code Section 46-45; 1949 (46) 342; 1984 Act No. 371, Section 2; 1990 Act No. 612, Part II, Section 61; 1999 Act No. 100, Part II, Section 88; 2000 Act No. 387, Part II, Section 89A; 2008 Act No. 353, Section 2, Pt 12E, eff July 1, 2009.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-860. Accepting uncertified checks for license fees.

The Department of Motor Vehicles may, in the discretion of the director of the department, accept uncertified checks of an applicant-owner in payment for license fees charged for the issuance of license plates for motor vehicles, trailers, semitrailers, pole trailers and motor vehicle dealers.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 46-47; 1952 Code Section 46-47; 1950 (46) 2203; 1951 (47) 533; 1993 Act No. 181, Section 1365.
2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-870. Procedure if uncertified check is returned unpaid.

If an uncertified check is accepted by the Department of Motor Vehicles as payment for the fees due on account of the issuance of license plates and such check is returned to the Department unpaid for any cause whatsoever, the Department may suspend or cancel the registration and license purchased by check and repossess the registration card, license plates or other documents issued by the Department, and the applicant-owner shall pay to the Department the amount of ten dollars to cover the cost of repossession and collection if the license and registration are suspended or cancelled.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 46-48; 1952 Code Section 46-48; 1950 (46) 2203; 1951 (47) 533.