SCplates.com - Political-related

see Boards and Commissions here

see Judicial-related 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)

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