AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 55, Chapter 4, to authorize the issuance of special license plates for United Daughters of the Confederacy.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:

SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 55-4-202(c)(3), is amended by adding a new subdivision thereto, as follows:

( ) United Daughters of the Confederacy;

SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 55-4-203, is amended by adding a new item thereto, as follows:

( ) United Daughters of the Confederacy - twenty-five dollars ($25.00);

SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 55, Chapter 4, Part 2Error! Bookmark not defined., is amended by adding the following as a new, appropriately designated section:

(a) Owners or lessees of motor vehicles who are residents of the State of Tennessee, upon complying with state motor vehicle laws relating to registration and licensing of motor vehicles, and paying the regular fee applicable to the motor vehicle and the fee provided for in § 55-4-203, shall be issued a United Daughters of the Confederacy special license plate, either for an automobile, recreational vehicle, or a truck of one-half (1/2) or three-quarter (3/4) ton rating.

(b) The special plates provided for in this section shall be issued in conformity with the provisions of § 55-4-202, shall be of the colors and contain the logo of United Daughters of the Confederacy, and shall be designed in consultation with the President of the Tennessee Chapter of United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Department of Safety. The special plates shall include a unique identifying number, whereby the total characters do not exceed the sum of seven (7); provided, that no two (2) recipients shall receive identical plates.

(c)

(1) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to mean that any eligible person shall be prevented from exchanging a regular type plate for one of special design; provided that the fees prescribed under § 55-4-203 are paid.

(2) The whole or parts of the fee for a special registration plate shall not be refunded for the exchange of a regular plate.

(d) Additional special license plates may be obtained by any eligible person upon payment of the regular license fee for plates, as prescribed under § 55-4-111, plus the payment of the fee prescribed in § 55-4-203.

(e)

(1) Special plates issued pursuant to this section may be transferred to another vehicle of the same weight class owned or leased by the same person upon proper application being made therefor and approved by the Department of Safety.

(2) It is unlawful for any person to whom such plates have been issued to knowingly permit them to be displayed on any vehicle, except such as authorized by the department.

(f) The funds derived from the sale of such United Daughters of the Confederacy special plates, less the expense the state has incurred in designing and manufacturing such plates, shall be remitted by the department to the Tennessee chapter of United Daughters of the Confederacy.

(g) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, for the first fiscal year in which such license plates are issued and after deducting the expense the State has incurred in designing and manufacturing such plates, funds derived from the sale of license plates of the first one thousand (1,000) such plates pursuant to this section shall be distributed to the general fund, and funds derived from the sale of such license plates in excess of one thousand (1,000) shall be distributed as otherwise provided in this section. For succeeding fiscal years, all funds derived from the renewal of the plates described in this section or from any new issues of such plates, less any expense the state has incurred in designing and manufacturing such plates, shall be distributed as earmarked in this section with no further payments going to the general fund from such plates.

SECTION 4. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 55-4-201(b)(1)(B), the special license plates authorized by this section shall be issued subject to the following requirements:

(1) A minimum order of at least five hundred (500) plates.

(2) If the plates authorized by this section have not qualified for initial issuance by July 1, 2000, such plates shall not be issued and the Commissioner of Safety shall notify the Tennessee Code Commission that this section of Tennessee Code Annotated authorizing the issuance of such plates is, on the basis of such inactivity, to be deemed obsolete and invalid.

SECTION 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 1998, the public welfare requiring it.

PASSED: May 1, 1998

Pursuant to Article III, Section 18, of the Constitution of the State of Tennessee, the Governor had House Bill No. 2606 in his possession longer than ten (10) days, so therefore the bill becomes law without the Governor's signature.