(A) The Department of Motor Vehicles shall issue special motor vehicle license plates to active and retired South Carolina firefighters who request them in the manner provided in this article and who are residents of the State for private passenger motor vehicles owned by them. The special license plates, which must be of the same size and general design of regular motor vehicle license plates, must be imprinted with the words "SOUTH CAROLINA FIREFIGHTER" together with a fire service emblem and with numbers as the department may determine. The plates are for annual periods as provided by law. The fee for this special license plate is thirty-five dollars each year which is in addition to the regular motor vehicle registration fee as set forth in Article 5, Chapter 3 of this title.
(B) The fees collected pursuant to this section must be deposited in a separate fund for the South Carolina Fire Academy. The fund must be administered by the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation Division of State Fire Marshal and must be used only to train in-state public firefighters, paid and volunteer, to comply with state and federal mandated training standards. Funds collected must be deposited with the State Treasurer. The distribution of the funds is based on twenty dollars to the academy for each special license plate sold and fifteen dollars 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.
(C) The department must receive one hundred or more applications requesting a special license plate for the South Carolina Firefighters before a specialized license plate may be developed.
HISTORY: 1992 Act No. 438, Section 1; 1993 Act No. 181, Section 1396; 1996 Act No. 459, Section 176; 2016 Act No. 275 (S.1258), Section 46, eff July 1, 2016.