(a) The Secretary of State shall issue only special plates that have been authorized by the General Assembly. Except as provided in subsection (a-5), the Secretary of State shall not issue a series of special plates, or Universal special plates associated with an organization authorized to issue decals for Universal special plates, unless applications, as prescribed by the Secretary, have been received for 2,000 plates of that series. Where a special plate is authorized by law to raise funds for a specific civic group, charitable entity, or other identified organization, or when the civic group, charitable entity, or organization is authorized to issue decals for Universal special license plates, and where the Secretary of State has not received the required number of applications to issue that special plate within 2 years of the effective date of the Public Act authorizing the special plate or decal, the Secretary of State’s authority to issue the special plate or a Universal special plate associated with that decal is nullified. All applications for special plates shall be on a form designated by the Secretary and shall be accompanied by any civic group’s, charitable entity’s, or other identified fundraising organization’s portion of the additional fee associated with that plate or decal. All fees collected under this Section are non-refundable and shall be deposited in the special fund as designated in the enabling legislation, regardless of whether the plate or decal is produced. Upon the adoption of this amendatory Act of the 99th General Assembly, no further special license plates shall be authorized by the General Assembly unless that special license plate is authorized under subsection (a-5) of this Section.
     (a-5) If the General Assembly authorizes the issuance of a special plate that recognizes the applicant’s military service or receipt of a military medal or award, the Secretary may immediately begin issuing that special plate.
     (b) The Secretary of State, upon issuing a new series of special license plates, shall notify all law enforcement officials of the design, color and other special features of the special license plate series.
     (c) This Section shall not apply to the Secretary of State’s discretion as established in Section 3-611.
     (d) If a law authorizing a special license plate provides that the sponsoring organization is to designate a charitable entity as the recipient of the funds from the sale of that license plate, the designated charitable entity must be in compliance with the registration and reporting requirements of the Charitable Trust Act and the Solicitation for Charity Act. In addition, the charitable entity must annually provide the Secretary of State’s office a letter of compliance issued by the Illinois Attorney General’s office verifying the entity is in compliance with the Acts.
     In the case of a law in effect before the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly, the name of the charitable entity which is to receive the funds shall be provided to the Secretary of State within one year after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly. In the case of a law that takes effect on or after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 97th General Assembly, the name of the charitable entity which is to receive the funds shall be provided to the Secretary of State within one year after the law takes effect. If the organization fails to designate an appropriate charitable entity within the one-year period, or if the designated charitable entity fails to annually provide the Secretary of State a letter of compliance issued by the Illinois Attorney General’s office, any funds collected from the sale of plates authorized for that organization and not previously disbursed shall be transferred to the General Revenue Fund, and the special plates shall be discontinued.
     (e) If fewer than 1,000 sets of any special license plate authorized by law and issued by the Secretary of State are actively registered for 2 consecutive calendar years, the Secretary of State may discontinue the issuance of that special license plate or require that special license plate to be exchanged for Universal special plates with appropriate decals.
     (f) Where special license plates have been discontinued pursuant to subsection (d) or (e) of this Section, or when the special license plates are required to be exchanged for Universal special plates under subsection (e) of this Section, all previously issued plates of that type shall be recalled. Owners of vehicles which were registered with recalled plates shall not be charged a reclassification or registration sticker replacement plate fee upon the issuance of new plates for those vehicles.
     (g) Any special plate that is authorized to be issued for motorcycles may also be issued for autocycles.
     (h) The Secretary may use alternating numeric and alphabetical characters when issuing a special registration plate authorized under this Chapter.
     (i) The Secretary of State may issue digital registration plates and stickers in accordance with this Section and Section 3-401.5.