(A) The Department of Motor Vehicles may issue "Carolina Panthers" special motor vehicle license plates to owners of private passenger motor vehicles as defined in Section 56-3-630 registered in their names which may have imprinted on the plates an emblem, seal, or symbol of the National Football League's Carolina Panthers. The National Football League's Carolina Panthers shall submit to the department for its approval the emblem, seal, or symbol it desires to be used for the plates. The National Football League's Carolina Panthers shall submit to the department written authorization for the use of any copyrighted or registered logos, trademarks, or designs. The National Football League may request a change in the emblem, seal, or symbol not more than once every five years. The plates must be issued or revalidated for a biennial period which expires twenty-four months from the month they are issued. The fee for the plate is the regular motor vehicle registration fee contained in Article 5, Chapter 3 of this title and a special motor vehicle license fee of seventy dollars.

(B) The department also may provide, upon request, special "Carolina Panthers" collector license plates which must not be displayed on a vehicle registered or required to be registered in this State. A person displaying the collector license plates on a vehicle registered or required to be registered in this State is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than one hundred dollars or be imprisoned for not more than thirty days. The collector license plates must be the same size and general design of the "Carolina Panthers" special motor vehicle license plates. The fee for issuance of the collector license plates is twenty-five dollars. The words "collector license plate" must be imprinted on the collector license plates.

(C) Notwithstanding another provision of law, from the fees collected pursuant to this section, the Comptroller General shall place into the State Highway Fund as established by Section 57-11-20, to be distributed as provided in Section 11-43-167, an amount equal to the expenses of the department in producing and administering the plates. The remaining funds collected from the special motor vehicle license fee must be distributed to the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism and used by the State Park Service for recreational enhancements and improvements.

(D) Before the department produces and distributes a plate authorized under this section, it must receive:

(1) four hundred prepaid applications for the plate or a deposit of four thousand dollars from the individual or organization seeking issuance of the license plate. If a deposit of four thousand dollars is made by an individual or organization pursuant to this section, the department shall refund the four thousand dollars once an equivalent amount of fees is collected for the plate. If the equivalent amount is not collected within four years of the first issuance of the plate, then the department shall retain the deposit; and

(2) a plan to market the sale of the plate which must be approved by the department.

(E) If the department receives less than three hundred biennial applications and renewals for the plate, it may not produce additional plates in that series. The department shall continue to issue plates of that series until the existing inventory is exhausted.

HISTORY: 2004 Act No. 309, Section 1; 2008 Act No. 347, Section 24, eff June 16, 2008; 2016 Act No. 275 (S.1258), Section 41, eff July 1, 2016.