South Carolina / State / 124th General Assembly, 2021-2022
2021 Act No. 38 (H.3805), as amended by 2022 Act No. 216 (S.1237) Repealed every separate veteran license plate section and rebuilt them as Article 149
Repealed Sections 56-3-1110 to 56-3-1130 (wartime disabled veteran plates and free registration), Section 56-3-1150 (former prisoners of war), Section 56-3-1750 (military reserve), Sections 56-3-1850 and 56-3-1855 (Medal of Honor plates and parking), Section 56-3-3310 (Purple Heart), the World War II veterans section and the Gold Star Family section, and created Article 149 of Chapter 3, Title 56 at Sections 56-3-14910 to 56-3-15000 in their place. The new article sorts plates into six tiers and the tier decides the money and the parking: valorous awards, distinguished service awards and exemplary service awards are exempt from the registration fee and carry an exemption from metered and timed parking fees and fines, while the service-connected disability section at 56-3-14940 is exempt from the fee but has no parking subsection at all. Campaign plates pay the ordinary registration fee except the Korean War plate. 2022 Act No. 216 converted the disabled veteran plates from fee-bearing to fee-exempt retroactive to May 6, 2022 and ordered the Department of Motor Vehicles to refund fees collected in the interim, added US Space Force, added the Meritorious Service Medal and Support Our Troops, and corrected the section numbers in the surviving spouse provision. 2024 Act No. 178 added the Navy and Marine Corps Medal and extended the surviving spouse right to the three National Guard designations. Flagged because two live statutes still point at the repealed sections: Section 12-37-220(B)(3) conditions the vehicle property tax exemption on plates issued under Sections 56-3-1110 to 56-3-1130, and Section 56-3-1910(I) defines who gets a free handicapped plate by reference to a disabled veteran under Section 56-3-1110. Also flagged because the free municipal parking that published guides attach to a disabled veteran plate is not in Section 56-3-14940; it came from the older Section 56-5-2585, which 2026 Act No. 115 repeals from October 6, 2026.
Progress
Path to law: Bill in a two-chamber legislature
- Introduced Done,
- In committee Done, House Education and Public Works
- Passed one chamber Done, House
- Passed both chambers Done, Senate passed it amended on 2021-04-21; final concurrence by the House
- Signed by the governor Done, Act No. 38
- In effect Done,
Sponsors
- B. Cox
- Erickson
- Davis
- Allison
- Wooten
- McGarry
- Hill
- Pope
- Caskey
- McCabe
- Oremus
- T. Moore
- W. Newton
- Ligon
- Blackwell
- R. Williams
- Jefferson
- Hixon
- Taylor
- S. Williams
- Matthews
What it touches
- S.C. Code Ann. §§ 56-3-1110 to 56-3-1130 [repealed]
- S.C. Code Ann. § 56-3-1150 [repealed]
- S.C. Code Ann. §§ 56-3-14910 to 56-3-15000
- S.C. Code Ann. § 12-37-220(B)(3)
- S.C. Code Ann. § 56-3-1910(I)
Catalog entries (3)