see Boards and Commissions here
Elected Officials:
Constitutional Officers
First issue: 19??
19??-1975 Followed passenger colors
1976-1978 Bicentennial passenger design
1979-1989 followed non-passenger color scheme/design
1990-2009 - red letters/white background; has logo of State Seal on the left (screenprinted red); serial number on the right. Year embossed on bottom.
variation with no embossed border 1992,1993
year screenprinted 1997,2005
2010 - flat (fully screenprinted red) same design as 2000-2009
2013 - flat (fully screenprinted black) Governor's Office Seal on the left
1 - Governor
Former Governor; valid without serial number
2 - Lieutenant Governor
3 - Secretary of State
4 - Treasurer
5 - Attorney General
6 - Comptroller General
7 - Superintendent of Education
8 - Adjutant General
9 - Agriculture Commissioner
State Legislature
First issue: 19??
Number refers to member's seniority, not district number;
letters represent 2nd (or 3rd, etc) vehicle
1966
white/blue
"SC STATE/SENATOR 66" bottom
screenprinted text variation
1967
blue/white
"SC STATE/SENATOR 67" bottom
1968 unknown
1969
white/blue
"SOUTH CAROLINA/STATE SENATOR" top; "19 69" bottom corners
1970
white/green
"SOUTH CAROLINA/STATE SENATOR" top; "19 70" bottom corners
1971
white/brown
"SOUTH CAROLINA/STATE SENATOR" top; "19 71" bottom corners
1972
white/black
"SOUTH CAROLINA/STATE SENATOR" top; "19 72" bottom corners
1973
white/blue
"SOUTH CAROLINA/STATE SENATOR" top; "19 73" bottom corners
1974
white/green
"SOUTH CAROLINA/STATE SENATOR" top; "19 74" bottom corners
1975
white/red
"SOUTH CAROLINA/STATE SENATOR" top; "19 75" bottom corners
1976 -1978
Bicentennial design
"STATE SENATOR" in left serial field; serial right; passenger stickers 77, 78
"HOUSE MEMBER" and "STATE LEGISL'R" both used
1979
black letters/white base
"STATE SENATOR" left, "1979" bottom
1980
personalized State Outline design; embossed border
"STATE SENATOR" left; or, "19 LEGISLATOR 80" top
1981
red letters/white base, embossed border
"STATE SENATOR" left; or, "19 LEGISLATOR 80" bottom
1982-1984
red, embossed border
Legislator has logo of State Seal on the left (early: heat applied decal; later: screenprinted)
""STATE SENATOR" left; or "19 LEGISLATOR yy" alternated top/bottom by year. (yy=2-digit year)
1985
blue, embossed border
"STATE SENATOR" left; or, "19 LEGISLATOR 85" bottom
Senator had odd "EXP NOV. 30" on some plates. Unknown if mid-year replacement occurred.
1986-1990
red, embossed border
"STATE SENATOR" left; or, "19 LEGISLATOR yy", alternated by year top/bottom
Senator had odd "EXP NOV. 30" on some plates. Unknown if mid-year replacement occurred.
1991-1993
reddish brown, no border
Senator begins using State Seal, 1993
1994?-2007
red/white, embossed border
consistent "yy SENATOR yy", bottom
2006+, year screenprinted, prior embossed
2008-2009
red, same format as prior years
header and footer flat; only serial is embossed
2010-2014
red, same format as prior years
fully screenprinted flat.
"REPRESENTATIVE" used 2010-2013 "LEGISLATOR" used 2014
2015-present
black, standard specialty design
stickered for multi-year use only for 2015 (all politicial plates expire January 31); 2016+ screenprinted "20" "16" in bottom corners.
Speaker Pro-Tem of the Senate
first issue 19?? same design, marked "SPEAKER PRO-TEM"? serial "1"
Speaker of the House
first issue 19?? same design, marked "HOUSE SPEAKER"; serial "1"
U.S. House/U.S. Senate
19??-1981 - same colors and style as State Senator/Legislator
"U.S. SENATE" or "U.S. CONGRESS" used; "MEMBER U.S...." used 1970's
1982-current uses Personalized colors and designs (excluding 1989 yellow)
County Council Member; Municipal Council Member
Authorized by Legislature 7/8/1987 (HB2590)
First issue 19??
1989-2007 blue letters/white background
"SOUTH CAROLINA" embossed top
"xxx COUNCIL" embossed left; serial right (xxx = COUNTY or MUNICIPAL)
passenger month and year stickers used.
decal with name of County or City/Town applied bottom center (decal is white letters/blue decal)
hidden CC or MC prefix. numbering started at 1001
extra fee
2008-2015
blue letters/white background
same design/layout as above, but all flat/screenprinted. Seen without county or municipal name.
Full replacement complete by 4/30/2017 blue and red stripes, top
black letters/white background
2015-current Redesign effective 5/1/2015
Mayor
Authorized by Legislature 9/18/1995 (HB3362) black/white. "MY" prefix
Redesign effective 5/1/2015
Full replacement complete by 4/30/2017
Former Elected Officials
Authorized by Legislature ????
Revised by Legislature 2/7/2008 (HB3131)
First Issue 2006?
Former Legislator
"FL" stacked prefix; "FORMER MEMBER" bottom
design revised effective 5/1/2015
blue/red stripes at top, black/white
Former U.S. Congress
Authorized by Legislature ????
First Issue ????
"UC" stacked prefix; "U.S. Congress" left
Others:
First Lady (non-elected)
little information - same design as Constitutional Officers
possibly only made on request
Clerk of Court
first year: 19??
same design/style as Senator/Legislator; uses political stickers. annual issue.
serial number is county number. letters indicated 2nd vehicle (A=second; B=third; etc)
Redesign to 'standard desgin base' effective 5/1/2015
Full replacement complete by 4/30/2017
County Coroner
first issue: ?
serial number is county number. letters indicated 2nd vehicle (A=second; B=third; etc)
uses political stickers
Redesign seen in 2013, all white with green letters. Unknown when change occurred.
Plate shown has a frame around it. "SOUTH CAROLINA" at top
Redesign 'standard design base' effective 5/1/2015
Full replacement complete by 4/30/2017
Circuit Solicitor (known as District Attorney in other states)
first year: 19??
same design/style as Senator/Legislator; uses political stickers. annual issue.
serial number is District Number. letters indicated 2nd vehicle (A=second; B=third; etc)
