Title 56, Motor Vehicles

Officers and employees of the Department of Motor Vehicles engaged in the work of administering and enforcing the provisions of this chapter are, for the purpose of such work of administering and enforcing the provisions of this chapter, authorized to administer oaths and acknowl…

The Department of Motor Vehicles shall keep such records of all transactions relating to the enforcement and administration of this chapter as the Department shall determine to be necessary and appropriate for fiscal, statistical and administrative purposes. Suitable and appropri…

The Department of Motor Vehicles and such officers and employees of the Department as the Department may designate may prepare and deliver upon request a certified copy of any record of the Department relating to the registration and licensing of any vehicle, and every such certi…

In any case tried in any court of competent jurisdiction in this State in which the ownership of any motor vehicle is in issue an affidavit by a duly authorized officer or agent of the Department of Motor Vehicles showing what the registration records of the Department show or fa…

The Department of Motor Vehicles may compile and publish annually or at shorter intervals a list of all registered and licensed vehicles. The list shall show vehicles registered and licensed serially according to registration and license numbers and also may contain the names and…

The Department of Motor Vehicles may destroy any records accumulated by it in connection with the administration of this chapter which have been maintained on file for three years or more and which may be deemed by the Department to be obsolete and of no further service in connec…

Whoever knowingly conceals any motor vehicle from which the manufacturer's serial number or any other distinguishing number or identification mark has been removed, defaced, covered, altered or destroyed for the purpose of concealing or misrepresenting the identity of the motor v…

No vehicle shall be registered and licensed by the department unless a signed statement accompanies the application certifying that all county and municipal taxes legally due by the applicant on the vehicle concerned have been paid and if such vehicle is legally subject to being …

The Department of Motor Vehicles may assign a distinguishing number to a motor vehicle whenever the motor or serial number thereon is destroyed, replaced or obliterated and may issue or assign to the owner a special plate or number which shall be affixed to the vehicle or stamped…

It is a misdemeanor for any person to violate any of the provisions of this chapter unless such violation is by this chapter or other law of this State declared to be a felony. Unless another penalty is by the laws of this State provided every person convicted of a misdemeanor fo…

(A) Vehicles required by Chapter 3 of Title 56 to be registered biennially must be assigned registration periods as provided in this section. (1) Upon the first reregistration of the vehicles by the Department of Motor Vehicles after the effective date of the implementation of bi…

The Department of Motor Vehicles may issue special motor vehicle license plates to owners of private passenger motor vehicles as defined in Section 56-3-630 registered in their names which shall have imprinted on the plate "Conserve South Carolina" and which may have an emblem, a…

Of the fees collected pursuant to this section, the Comptroller General shall place sufficient funds into a special restricted account to be used by the Department of Motor Vehicles to defray the expenses of the Department of Motor Vehicles in producing and administering this spe…

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 1954 prior to issuing vehicle registration and plates for those vehicles for which the taxes are required.

The provisions of Section 56-3-8100 of the 1976 Code apply to the license plate authorized by this section.

The Department of Motor Vehicles shall issue special motor vehicle license plates to "volunteer firemen" who request them in the manner provided in this article and who are residents of the State for private passenger motor vehicles registered in their respective names. For the p…

The special license plates must be of the same size and general design of regular motor vehicle license plates and imprinted with the words "Volunteer Fireman" with numbers the Department of Motor Vehicles may determine. The plates are for biennial periods as provided by law.

A license plate issued pursuant to this article may be transferred to another vehicle of the same weight class owned by the same person upon application being made therefor, in a manner and upon forms which must be prescribed by the Department of Motor Vehicles, and upon approval…

The provisions of this article do not affect the registration and licensing of motor vehicles as required by other provisions of this chapter but are cumulative thereto. Any person violating the provisions of this article or any person who (a) fraudulently gives false or fictitio…

Upon request the Department of Motor Vehicles shall provide temporary license plates and registration cards designed by the department to manufacturers in South Carolina who produce trailers or semi-trailers and who apply for these plates and cards. The fee for each set of licens…

Each manufacturer must maintain a permanent record of all temporary license plates and registration cards either delivered to it, issued by it, or both. In addition, each manufacturer shall maintain a permanent record of any other information pertaining to the receipt or the issu…

A manufacturer who issues a temporary license plate shall also prepare a temporary registration card upon a form prescribed and furnished by the Department of Motor Vehicles and must deliver it with the temporary plate to the owner of the trailer or semi-trailer.

It is unlawful for a manufacturer to issue a temporary plate or registration card containing a misstatement of fact, to knowingly insert false information upon the face of it, or to intentionally leave blank any required information.

A manufacturer who issues temporary plates shall insert clearly and indelibly on the face of each temporary license plate the date of issuance, the date of expiration, the make, and the identification number of the trailer or semi-trailer for which it is issued and any other info…

A temporary license plate must be used only on the trailer or semi-trailer for which it is issued and must not be transferred, loaned, or assigned to any other trailer or semi-trailer.

The temporary license plate and registration card is valid for thirty days from the date of issuance to the owner of the trailer or semi-trailer.

(A) A person who violates the provisions of this article is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than two hundred dollars or imprisoned for not more than thirty days. Each temporary license plate and registration card issued in violation of this ar…

If temporary license plates and registration cards are issued for a trailer or semi-trailer pursuant to this article, no other provisions of law of this State relating to temporary licensing and registration shall apply.

(A) The Department of Motor Vehicles may issue special motor vehicle license plates to members of the National Wild Turkey Federation for private motor vehicles registered in their names. The fee for this special license plate is seventy dollars every two years in addition to the…

(A) Before the Department of Motor Vehicles produces and distributes a special license plate pursuant to this section, it must receive: (1) four hundred prepaid applications for the special license plate or a deposit of four thousand dollars from the individual or organization se…

The Department of Motor Vehicles shall refuse to register and license or transfer registration upon one or more of the following grounds: (1) The application contains a false or fraudulent statement or the applicant has not furnished required information or reasonable additional …

(A) The Department of Motor Vehicles may issue "Penn Center" 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 plate an emblem, a seal, or other symbol of the…

(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…

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.

(A) The Department of Motor Vehicles may issue South Carolina Nurses special license plates to owners of private passenger-carrying motor vehicles registered in their names. The fee for each special license plate is forty-six dollars every two years in addition to the regular mot…

(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 independ…

The license plate issued pursuant to this article may be transferred to another vehicle of the same weight class owned by the same person upon application being made and approved by the Department of Motor Vehicles. It is unlawful for any person to whom the special plate has been…

License plates issued pursuant to this article shall not contain a reference to a private or public college or university in this State or use symbols, designs, or logos of these institutions without the institution's written authorization.

The provisions of this article do not affect the registration and licensing of motor vehicles as required by other provisions of this chapter, but are cumulative to them. Any person violating the provisions of this article is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction must be pu…

(A) All vehicles except those vehicles designated in Section 56-3-780 are designated as distinct classifications and must be assigned an annual registration period as follows: (1) Classification (1). Vehicles for which the biennial registration fee is one hundred sixty dollars or…

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.

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 depar…

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, o…

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 su…

The Department of Motor Vehicles may issue a special commemorative motor vehicle license plate commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the introduction of the State Dance, the Shag, in 1988 for use by owners on their private passenger motor vehicles. The biennial fee for the co…

A special license plate issued pursuant to this article may be transferred to another vehicle of the same weight class owned by the same person upon application being made therefor and approved by the Department of Motor Vehicles. It is unlawful for any person to whom such a comm…