(625 ILCS 5/3-648)

Sec. 3-648. Education license plates.

(a) The Secretary, upon receipt of an application made in the form prescribed by the Secretary, may issue special registration plates designated as Education license plates. The special plates issued under this Section shall be affixed only to passenger vehicles of the first division and motor vehicles of the second division weighing not more than 8,000 pounds. Plates issued under this Section shall expire according to the multi-year procedure established by Section 3-414.1 of this Code.

(b) The design and color of the plates shall be determined by a contest that every elementary school pupil in the State of Illinois is eligible to enter. The designs submitted for the contest shall be judged on September 30, 2002, and the winning design shall be selected by a committee composed of the Secretary, the Director of State Police, 2 members of the Senate, one member chosen by the President of the Senate and one member chosen by the Senate Minority Leader, and 2 members of the House of Representatives, one member chosen by the Speaker of the House and one member chosen by the House Minority Leader. The Secretary may allow the plates to be issued as vanity or personalized plates under Section 3-405.1 of the Code. The Secretary shall prescribe stickers or decals as provided under Section 3-412 of this Code.

(c) An applicant for the special plate shall be charged a $40 fee for original issuance, in addition to the appropriate registration fee. Of this $40 additional original issuance fee, $15 shall be deposited into the Secretary of State Special License Plate Fund, to be used by the Secretary to help defray the administrative processing costs, and $25 shall be deposited into the Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois Fund. For each registration renewal period, a $40 fee, in addition to the appropriate registration fee, shall be charged. Of this $40 additional renewal fee, $2 shall be deposited into the Secretary of State Special License Plate Fund and $38 shall be deposited into the Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois Fund. Each fiscal year, once deposits from the additional original issuance and renewal fees into the Secretary of State Special License Plate Fund have reached $500,000, all the amounts received for the additional fees for the balance of the fiscal year shall be deposited into the Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois Fund.

(d) The Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois Fund is created as a special fund in the State treasury. All moneys in the Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois Fund shall be apportioned according to Section 52 of the Higher Education Student Assistance Act.

(Source: P.A. 98-533, eff. 8-23-13.)