2013 Mississippi Code
Title 27 - TAXATION AND FINANCE
Chapter 19 - MOTOR VEHICLE PRIVILEGE AND EXCISE TAXES
Article 1 - MOTOR VEHICLE PRIVILEGE TAXES
§ 27-19-56.162 - Special license tags or plates; "Gold Star Family" license plate honoring service members killed in action or dying in combat zone while serving in U.S. Armed Forces

(1) There shall be issued beginning July 1, 2008, special motor vehicle license tags honoring the family members of service members who have been killed in action or died in a combat zone while serving in the Armed Forces of the United States. The license tag shall be officially designated as the Gold Star license plate.

(2) Except as otherwise provided in this section, any owner of a motor vehicle who is a resident of this state and a family member of a service member who has been killed in action or died in a combat zone while serving in the Armed Forces of the United States, upon payment of the road and bridge privilege taxes, ad valorem taxes and registration fees as prescribed by law for private carriers of passengers, pickup trucks and other noncommercial motor vehicles, and upon payment of an additional fee in the amount provided in subsection (5) of this section, shall be issued a Gold Star license tag for any motor vehicle registered in his name. The distinctive license tag shall be of such color and design as the State Tax Commission, with the advice of supporters of this license tag, may prescribe; however, the license tag shall bear in a conspicuous place a gold star with blue fringe on a white background with a red border that is the symbol for a fallen service member and shall have the words "Gold Star Family" and the branch of the United States Armed Forces in which the family member served displayed on it.

(3) One (1) Gold Star license tag issued to the mother of the service member who was killed in action or died in a combat zone after September 11, 2001, and one (1) Gold Star license tag issued to the unremarried spouse of the service member who was killed in action or died in a combat zone after September 11, 2001, shall be exempt from ad valorem taxes, privilege taxes and all other taxes and fees.

(4) Application for the distinctive license tags authorized by this section shall be made to the county tax collector on forms prescribed by the State Tax Commission. The application and the additional fee imposed under subsection (5) of this section, less Two Dollars ($ 2.00) thereof to be retained by the tax collector, shall be remitted to the State Tax Commission on a monthly basis as prescribed by the commission. The portion of the additional fee retained by the tax collector shall be deposited into the county general fund.

(5) Except as otherwise provided in this section, beginning with any registration year commencing on or after July 1, 2008, any person applying for a distinctive license tag under this section shall pay an additional fee in the amount of Thirty Dollars ($ 30.00) for each distinctive license tag applied for under this section, which shall be in addition to all other taxes and fees. The additional fee paid shall be for a period of time to run concurrent with the vehicle's established license tag year. The additional fee is due and payable at the time the original application is made for a distinctive license tag under this section and thereafter annually at the time of renewal registration as long as the owner retains the distinctive license tag. If the owner does not wish to retain the distinctive license tag, he must surrender it to the local county tax collector.

(6) The State Tax Commission shall deposit all fees into the State Treasury on the day collected. At the end of each month, the State Tax Commission shall certify to the State Treasurer the total fees collected under this section from the issuance of the distinctive license tags issued under this section. The State Treasurer shall distribute such collections as follows:

(a) Twenty-four Dollars ($ 24.00) of each additional fee collected on distinctive license tags issued pursuant to this section shall be deposited to the credit of a fund to be administered by the board overseeing the veterans nursing homes in this state for the benefit of indigent veterans who are residents of such nursing homes.

(b) One Dollar ($ 1.00) of each additional fee collected on distinctive license tags issued pursuant to this section shall be deposited into the Mississippi Burn Care Fund created pursuant to Section 7-9-70.

(c) Two Dollars ($ 2.00) of each additional fee collected on distinctive license tags issued pursuant to this section shall be deposited to the credit of the State Highway Fund to be expended solely for the repair, maintenance, construction or reconstruction of highways.

(d) One Dollar ($ 1.00) of each additional fee collected on distinctive license tags issued pursuant to this section shall be deposited to the credit of the special fund created in Section 27-19-44.2.

(7) A Gold Star license tag issued pursuant to this section may be personalized in the manner provided for in Section 27-19-48 upon payment of the additional fee prescribed in that section.

(8) (a) In order to qualify as a family member, the person must be directly related to the fallen service member as their unremarried spouse, child, stepchild, legal mother or father, sibling related by blood or legal adoption, step-sibling, grandparent, grandchild, aunt, uncle or stepparent who is currently married to the mother or father of the fallen service member.

(b) As used in this section, "combat zone" means any area the President of the United States designates by executive order as an area in which the United States Armed Forces are engaging or have engaged in combat.

(9) Whether a service member is deemed to have been killed in action or died in a combat zone shall be determined by the classification of death as listed by the United States Department of Defense and may be verified from documentation directly from the Department of Defense or from its subordinate agencies such as the Coast Guard, Reserve or National Guard. A classification of killed in action or died in a combat zone by the Department of Defense shall be prima facie evidence that the service member was killed in action. Documentation of the fact that the service member was killed in action or died in a combat zone and proof of relationship to the service member shall be required by the county tax collector before issuing a Gold Star license plate. The county tax collector may waive the documentation if he or she has actual knowledge of the family relationship and that the service member was killed in action or died in a combat zone.

(10) The Gold Star license plate shall be issued only to family members of service members that resided in Mississippi at the time of the death of the service member.

(11) A regular license tag must be properly displayed as required by law until replaced by a distinctive license tag under this section. The regular license tag must be surrendered to the tax collector upon issuance of the distinctive license tag under this section. The tax collector shall issue up to two (2) license decals for each distinctive license tag issued under this section, which will expire the same month and year as the regular license tag.

(12) In the case of loss or theft of a distinctive license tag issued under this section, the owner may make application and affidavit for a replacement distinctive license tag as provided by Section 27-19-37. The fee for a replacement distinctive license tag shall be Ten Dollars ($ 10.00). The tax collector receiving such application and affidavit shall be entitled to retain and deposit into the county general fund five percent (5%) of the fee for such replacement license tag and the remainder shall be distributed in the same manner as funds from the sale of regular distinctive license tags issued under this section.