GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 1999

SESSION LAW 1999-220
HOUSE BILL 486

AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE THE DIVISION OF MOTOR VEHICLES TO ISSUE PERMANENT REGISTRATION PLATES TO TRAILERS OWNED BY CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS AND USED ONLY IN PARADES AND TO CONSOLIDATE AND MODERNIZE THE STATUTES PROVIDING FOR PERMANENT REGISTRATION PLATES AND TO PROVIDE FOR SPECIAL REGISTRATION PLATES FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE RETIRED FROM THE NORTH CAROLINA HIGHWAY PATROL.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1.  The caption of Part 6 of Article 3 of Chapter 20 of the General Statutes reads as rewritten:
"Part 6.  Vehicles of Nonresidents of State;
Permanent Plates; Highway Patrol."
Section 2.  G.S. 20-85 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
"(c)	The Division shall not collect a fee for a certificate of title for a motor vehicle entitled to a permanent registration plate under G.S. 20-84."
Section 3.  G.S. 20-84 reads as rewritten:
"§ 20-84.  Permanent registration plates; State Highway Patrol.
(a)	General. – The Division may issue a permanent registration plate for a motor vehicle owned by one of the persons authorized to have a permanent registration plate in this section.  To obtain a permanent registration plate, a person must provide proof of ownership, provide proof of financial responsibility as required by G.S. 20-309, and pay a fee of six dollars ($6.00).  A permanent plate issued under this section may be transferred as provided in G.S. 20-78 to a replacement vehicle of the same classification.  A permanent registration plate issued under this section must be a distinctive color and bear the word "permanent".  In addition, a permanent registration plate issued under subdivision (b)(1) of this section must have distinctive color and design that is readily distinguishable from all other permanent registration plates issued under this section.
(b)	Permanent Registration Plates. – The Division may issue permanent plates for the following motor vehicles:
(1)	A motor vehicle owned by the State or one of its agencies.
(2)	A motor vehicle owned by a county, city or town.
(3)	A motor vehicle owned by a board of education.
(4)	A motor vehicle owned by an orphanage.
(5)	A motor vehicle owned by the civil air patrol.
(6)	A motor vehicle owned by an incorporated emergency rescue squad.
(7)	A motor vehicle owned by an incorporated REACT ("Radio Emergency Association of Citizen Teams") Team.
(8)	A motor vehicle owned by a person and used exclusively in the support of a disaster relief effort.
(9)	A bus owned by a church and used exclusively for transporting individuals to Sunday school and church services.
(10)	A motor vehicle owned by a rural fire department, agency, or association.
(11)	A motor vehicle in the form of a mobile X-ray unit operated exclusively in this State for the purpose of diagnosis, treatment, and discovery of tuberculosis, and owned by the North Carolina Tuberculosis Association, Incorporated, or by a local chapter or association of the North Carolina Tuberculosis Association, Incorporated.
(12)	A motor vehicle owned by a local chapter of the American National Red Cross and used for emergency or disaster work.
(13)	A motor vehicle owned by a sheltered workshop recognized or approved by the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services.
(14)	A motor vehicle owned by a nonprofit agency or organization that provides transportation for or operates programs subject to and approved in accordance with standards adopted by the Commission for Mental Health and Human Services.
(15)	A bus or trackless trolley owned by a city and operated under a franchise authorizing the use of city streets.  This subdivision does not apply to a bus or trackless trolley operated under a franchise authorizing an intercity operation.
(16)	A trailer owned by a nationally chartered charitable organization and used exclusively for parade floats and for transporting vehicles and structures used only in parades.
(c)	State Highway Patrol. – In lieu of all other registration requirements, the Commissioner shall each year assign to the State Highway Patrol, upon payment of six dollars ($6.00) per registration plate, a sufficient number of regular registration plates of the same letter prefix and in numerical sequence beginning with number 100 to meet the requirements of the State Highway Patrol for use on Division vehicles assigned to the State Highway Patrol. The commander of the Patrol shall, when such plates are assigned, issue to each member of the State Highway Patrol a registration plate for use upon the Division vehicle assigned to the member pursuant to G.S. 20-190 and assign a registration plate to each Division service vehicle operated by the Patrol. An index of such assignments of registration plates shall be kept at each State Highway Patrol radio station and a copy of it shall be furnished to the registration division of the Division. Information as to the individual assignments of the registration plates shall be made available to the public upon request to the same extent and in the same manner as regular registration information. The commander, when necessary, may reassign registration plates provided that the reassignment shall appear upon the index required under this subsection within 20 days after the reassignment.
."
Section 3.1.  G.S. 20-79.4(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b)	Types.  –  The Division shall issue the following types of special registration plates:
…
(36a)	Retired Highway Patrol. - Issuable to an individual who has retired from the North Carolina Highway Patrol.  The plate shall bear the phrase 'SHP, Retired.' The Division may not issue the plate authorized by this subdivision unless it receives at least 300 applications for the plate."
Section 4.  G.S. 20-84.1 is repealed.
Section 5.  This act becomes effective July 1, 1999.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 16th day of June, 1999.

s/	Dennis A. Wicker
President of the Senate

s/	James B. Black
Speaker of the House of Representatives

s/	James B. Hunt, Jr.
Governor

Approved 11:29 a.m. this 25th day of June, 1999