(A) License plates must be at least six inches wide and not less than twelve inches in length and must show in bold characters the year of registration, the serial number, the full name or the abbreviation of the name of the state, and other distinctive markings the department may consider advisable to indicate the class of the weight of the vehicle for which the license plate was issued. The plate must be of a strength and quality to provide a minimum service of five years. A new license plate including personalized and special plates, but excluding license plates provided in Sections 56-3-660 and 56-3-670, must be provided by the department at intervals the department considers appropriate, but at least every ten years. A new license plate for vehicles contained in Sections 56-3-660 and 56-3-670, must be provided by the department at intervals the department considers appropriate. Beginning with the vehicle registration and license fees required by this title which are collected after July 1, 2002, except for the fees collected pursuant to Sections 56-3-660 and 56-3-670, two dollars of each biennial fee and one dollar of each annual fee collected from the vehicle owner must be placed by the Comptroller General in a special restricted account to be used solely by the Department of Motor Vehicles for the costs associated with the production and issuance of new license plates. The department is not authorized to use this set aside money for any other purpose. License plates issued for vehicles in excess of twenty-six thousand pounds must be issued biennially, and no revalidation sticker may be issued for the plates. License plates issued as permanent may be revalidated and replaced at intervals determined by the department. (B) The face of the license plate must be treated completely with a retroreflective material which increases the nighttime visibility and legibility of the plate. The department shall prepare the specifications for the retroreflective material. In those years in which a metal plate is not issued, a revalidation sticker with a distinctive serial number or other suitable means prescribed by the department must be issued and affixed in the space provided on the license plate assigned to the vehicle upon payment of the fee prescribed for registration and licensing, including fees for personalized or special license plates. (C) Notwithstanding another provision of law to the contrary, the regular license plate for private passenger vehicles and motorcycles issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles from January 1, 2026, until December 31, 2032, shall commemorate the two hundred fiftieth anniversary of the American Revolution. The South Carolina Revolutionary War Sestercentennial Commission shall submit to the department for approval the design, emblem, seal, logo, or other symbol it desires to be used on this license plate. The design, emblem, seal, logo, or other symbol submitted by the South Carolina Revolutionary War Sestercentennial Commission to the department must be imprinted with the words "Where the Revolutionary War Was Won" and shall include, at a minimum, a flag featuring the word LIBERTY in white against an indigo background together with a gorget in an upper corner of the flag, also known as the Moultrie Flag. (D) Fees for regular license plates shall not exceed the regular motor vehicle license fee set forth in Article 5, Chapter 3, Title 56. Effect of Amendment 2025 Act No. 39, SECTION 1, added (C) to (D).
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