(A) The department, licensed dealers, leasing companies, and other entities may issue temporary license plates to operate any item that will be registered in this State or vehicles used solely for corporate research and development. In the case of the need to move trailers and semi-trailers before they have been purchased, temporary license plates may be issued to those items for the sole purpose of being moved from the manufacturer to the dealer’s or purchaser’s place of business. Temporary license plates issued pursuant to this section must meet all standards specified in § 56-3-210.

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(B) A person who newly acquires a vehicle or an owner of a vehicle registered in a foreign jurisdiction that is being moved into this State, that is required to be registered under this title, and that is not properly registered and licensed, before operating the vehicle on the state’s highways during the forty-five-day period contained in this section, must:

(1) transfer a license plate from another vehicle pursuant to § 56-3-1290;

(2) purchase a new license plate and registration;

(3) purchase a temporary license plate from the department; or

(4) purchase a temporary license plate from the county auditor’s office in the county in which the person resides.

(C) The department, upon proper application, must issue a temporary license plate to a casual buyer of any item that will be registered in this State.

(D) If a person intends to transfer a license plate from one item to another item that is the same type and classification, then he may place the license plate to be transferred on the newly acquired item on the date of its purchase. The bill of sale and a copy of the registration which corresponds to the license plate must be maintained with the newly acquired item at all times to verify its date of purchase to a law enforcement officer. The purchaser must register the item with the department within forty-five days from its purchase date. A person who transfers a license plate or allows a license plate to be transferred in violation of this subsection is subject to the vehicle registration and licensing provisions of law.

(E) A person must replace a temporary license plate issued pursuant to this section with a permanent license plate and registration card as soon as he receives them, or by the end of the expiration period of the temporary license plate, whichever occurs first, unless the provisions of § 56-3-213 apply. A person who operates an item in violation of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than one hundred dollars. This subsection does not apply to vehicles used solely for corporate research and development or trailers and semi-trailers that have temporary license plates for the sole purpose of being moved from the manufacturer to the dealer’s or purchaser’s place of business.

(F) The owner of a foreign vehicle being moved into this State from a state in which the vehicle is properly licensed and registered has forty-five days to properly license and register the vehicle in South Carolina, unless his foreign registration is expired, in which case he must license and register the vehicle immediately.

(G) Nothing in this section may be construed to displace or effect the responsibility of a person to obtain insurance before operating a vehicle.