TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 56-3-705 SO AS TO ALLOW THE LICENSING AND REGISTRATION OF AN UNTITLED UTILITY TRAILER UPON SUBMISSION OF PROOF OF OWNERSHIP SATISFACTORY TO THE SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES AND PROVIDE THAT LICENSING AND REGISTRATION OF AN UNTITLED UTILITY TRAILER IS NOT EVIDENCE OF OWNERSHIP FOR ANY PURPOSE OTHER THAN LICENSING AND REGISTRATION REVENUE OF THE TRAILER REGISTRATION FEE MUST BE CREDITED TO THE STATE NON-FEDERAL HIGHWAY FUND; TO AMEND SECTION 56-3-130, RELATING TO TRAILERS EXEMPT FROM LICENSING AND REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS, SO AS TO DELETE THE EXEMPTION FOR NONFARM UTILITY TRAILERS; TO AMEND SECTION 56-3-700, RELATING TO THE BIENNIAL REGISTRATION FEE FOR TRAILERS, SO AS TO INCREASE THE FEE FROM TWENTY TO TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS AND REQUIRE ALL TRAILER REGISTRATION FEE REVENUE TO BE CREDITED TO THE STATE NON-FEDERAL AID HIGHWAY FUND, TO ALLOW THE DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES REGISTERING UTILITY TRAILERS PRESENTLY EXEMPT FROM REGISTRATION TO PRORATE THE INITIAL REGISTRATION FEE SO AS TO STAGGER THE EXPIRATION OF THE TRAILER REGISTRATION PERIOD, AND TO PROHIBIT ENFORCEMENT OF THE UTILITY TRAILER REGISTRATION REQUIREMENT BEFORE APRIL 1, 2016.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION    1.    Article 5, Chapter 3, Title 56 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 56-3-705.    A utility trailer may be licensed and registered without a title upon presentation with the registration application to the department of evidence of ownership satisfactory to the department. Licensing and registration of an untitled utility trailer is not evidence of ownership of the trailer for any other purpose except for licensing and registration."

SECTION    2.    Section 56-3-130 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-3-130.    Boat trailers under twenty-five hundred pounds, and farm trailers and other utility trailers which are privately owned and not for hire need not be licensed or registered."

SECTION    3.    Section 56-3-700 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 56-3-700.    For every trailer, semitrailer, or pole trailer, not exempted by Section 56-3-120(5), the biennial registration fee is twenty twenty-five dollars. The Department of Motor Vehicles must include in this classification every trailer, semitrailer, or pole trailer designed for carrying property, except house trailers, utility trailers, those trailers and semitrailers exempted by Section 56-3-120(5), and boat trailers as otherwise provided in this article. Semitrailers or pole trailers weighing less than five hundred pounds with load capacity of less than one thousand pounds and trailers and semitrailers with an actual unloaded weight of fifteen hundred pounds or less and carrying a load capacity not exceeding twenty-five hundred pounds and which are designed, adapted, and used exclusively for agriculture, horticulture, or livestock-raising operations or for lifting or carrying an implement of husbandry need not be registered or licensed. All revenue of the fee imposed pursuant to this section must be remitted to the State Treasurer and credited to the State Non-Federal Aid Highway Fund established pursuant to Section 57-11-20."

SECTION    4.    This act takes effect January 1, 2016, and applies for trailer registrations issued after December 31, 2015. The Department of Motor Vehicles, in the initial registration of utility trailers previously exempt from registration, may prorate the registration fee so as to stagger the expiration date of the registration period. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person may be charged with the violation of having an unregistered utility trailer before April 1, 2016.