(A) The Department of Motor Vehicles may issue to owners of private passenger motor vehicles special motor vehicle license plates which may have imprinted on them an emblem, a seal, or other symbol the department considers appropriate of a public college or university or independent institution of higher learning, defined in Section 59-113-50, located in this State. A school may submit to the department for its approval the emblem, seal, or other symbol it desires to be used for its respective special license plate. A school also may request a change in the emblem, seal, or other symbol once the existing inventory of the license plate has been exhausted. The fee for this special license plate is seventy dollars every two years in addition to the regular motor vehicle registration fee set forth in Article 5, Chapter 3 of this title. This special license plate must be of the same size and general design of regular motor vehicle license plates. The special license plates must be issued or revalidated for a biennial period which expires twenty-four months from the month they are issued.

(B) The fees collected pursuant to this section must be distributed to a separate fund for each of the respective colleges, universities, or independent institutions of higher learning. Each fund must be administered by the school and may be used only for academic scholarships. Funds collected for state colleges and universities must be deposited with the State Treasurer. Funds collected for independent institutions must be deposited in an account designated by the respective school. The distribution of the fee is forty dollars to the school for each special license plate sold for the respective school and thirty 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.

The department shall receive one hundred or more applications requesting a special license plate for a school before a specialized license plate may be developed for that school.

HISTORY: 1986 Act No. 540, Part II, Section 11; 1987 Act No. 170, Part II, Section 16; 1990 Act No. 591, Section 4; 1993 Act No. 164, Part II, Section 22LL; 1993 Act No. 181, Section 1393; 1996 Act No. 459, Section 170; 1999 Act No. 63, Section 9; 2016 Act No. 275 (S.1258), Section 38, eff July 1, 2016.