1965/66/67 session laws – Ch.413 Sec.1

Part 5 of Article 3 of Chapter 20, as same appears i. the 1965 Replacement Volume 1C of the General Statutes, is hereby amende by adding a new Section immediately following G. S. 20-81.2 to be numbered 81.3 and to read as follows: 20-81.3. Special Personalized Registration Plates. (a) The Commissioner may issue under such regulation as he shall deem appropriate a 431 special personalized registration plate to vhe owner of a private passenger motor vehicle in lieu of another number plate. Such personalized registration plate shall be of such design and shall bear such letter or letters and numerals as the Commissioner shall prescribe, but there shall be no duplication of a registration plate. The Commissioner shall in his discretion refuse the issue of such letter combinations which might carry connotations offensive to good taste and decency. (b) An owner who desires personalized registration plates shall make application for such plates on forms which shall be provided by the Department of Motor Vehicles and pay the sum of ten dollars ($10.00) annually, which shall be in addition to the regular motor vehicle registration fee. Once an owner has obtained personalized plates, he, where possible, will have first priority on those plates for the following years provided he makes timely and appropriate application; provided, however, that the Commissioner shall not issue a personalized license plate pursuant to this Section except upon written application therefor on a form furnished by the Commissioner in which the applicant certifies that his operators or chauffeurs license has not been revoked or suspended under Article 2 of Chapter 20 of the General Statutes within two years prior to the date of the application; and provided, further, that any personalized license plate issued pursuant to this Section shall be cancelled and recalled by the Commissioner and the application fee forfeited in the event that the Commissioner determines that a FALSE application has been submitted. (c) The revenue derived from the additional fee for such plates shall be placed in a separate fund designated the Personalized Registration Plate Fund. After deducting the cost of the plates, plus budgetary requirements for handling and issuance to be determined by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, any remaining moneys derived from the additional fee for such plates shall be periodically transferred as follows: (1) One-half to the account of the Department of Conservation and Development to aid in financing out-of-state advertising under the North Carolina program for the promotion of travel and industrial development in North Carolina. (2) One-half to the State Highway Commission to be used solely for the purpose of beautification of highways other than those designated as interstate. Such funds shall be administered by the State Highway Commission for beautification purposes not inconsistent with good landscaping and engineering principles. (d) The Governors Advisory Committee on Beautification shall act in an advisory capacity to the State Highway Commission and shall, from time to time, make such recommendations to the State Highway Commission concerning beautification of highways as it shall deem appropriate. (e) Special personalized registration plate shall mean any registration plate bearing any combination of letters or numerals, or both, other than that which the department determines would normally be issued sequentially to an applicant for original or renewal vehicle registration. (f) In the event a personalized registration plate is lost, stolen or mutilated, the owner may not obtain another such plate bearing the same letter, letters or numerals until the next registration year. He may, upon proper application and payment of a fee of one dollar ($1.00), 432 obtain a plate of the regular series. Provided, further, that a special personalized registration plate revoked for violation of the motor vehicle laws shall not be reissued, but in lieu thereof a plate of the regular series will be issued upon payment of the appropriate fee for the new registration plate.