| (a) Purpose. Transportation Code, Chapters 504 and
681, charge the department with the responsibility for issuing specially
designed license plates and disabled parking placards for disabled
persons. For the department to perform these duties efficiently and
effectively, this section prescribes the policies and procedures for
the application, issuance, and renewal of disabled person license
plates and disabled parking placards.
(b) Issuance.
(1) For purposes of this section, "disabled person"
means a person eligible for issuance of a license plate bearing the
International Symbol of Access under Transportation Code §504.201,
including a qualifying disabled veteran under §504.202(b-1).
(2) Disabled person license plates.
(A) Eligibility. In accordance with Transportation
Code §504.201 and §504.202(b-1) and (b-2), the department
will issue specially designed license plates displaying the International
Symbol of Access to permanently disabled persons or their transporters
instead of regular motor vehicle license plates. As satisfactory proof
of eligibility, an organization that transports disabled veterans
who would qualify for license plates issued under Transportation Code §504.202(b-1)
must provide a written statement from the veteran's county service
officer of the county in which a vehicle described by Transportation
Code §504.202(c) is registered or by the Department of Veterans
Affairs that:
(i) the vehicle is used exclusively to transport veterans
of the United States armed forces who have suffered, as a result of
military service, a service-connected disability;
(ii) the vehicle regularly transports veterans who
are eligible to receive license plates under Subsection (b-1); and
(iii) the veterans are not charged for the transportation.
(B) Specialty license plates. The department will issue
disabled person specialty license plates displaying the International
Symbol of Access that can accommodate the identifying insignia and
that are issued in accordance with §217.43 or §217.45 of
this title.
(C) License plate number. Disabled person license plates
will bear a license plate number assigned by the department or will
bear a personalized license plate number issued in accordance with §217.43
or §217.45 of this title.
(3) Windshield disabled parking placards.
(A) Issuance. The department will issue removable windshield
disabled parking placards to temporarily or permanently disabled persons
and to the transporters of permanently disabled persons, as provided
under Transportation Code §§504.201, 504.202, and 681.004.
(B) Display. A person who has been issued a windshield
disabled parking placard shall hang the placard from a vehicle's rearview
mirror when the vehicle is parked in a disabled person parking space
or shall display the placard on the center portion of the dashboard
if the vehicle does not have a rearview mirror.
(c) Renewal of disabled person license plates. Disabled
person license plates are valid for a period of 12 months from the
date of issuance and are renewable as specified in §§217.28,
217.43, and 217.45 of this title.
(d) Replacement.
(1) License plates. If a disabled person metal license
plate is lost, stolen, or mutilated, the owner may obtain a replacement
metal license plate by applying with a county tax assessor-collector.
(A) Accompanying documentation. To replace disabled
person metal license plates, the owner must present the current year's
registration receipt and personal identification acceptable to the
county tax assessor-collector.
(B) Absence of accompanying documentation. If the current
year's registration receipt is not available and the county tax assessor-collector
cannot verify that the disabled person metal license plates were issued
to the owner, the owner must reapply in accordance with this section.
(2) Disabled parking placards. If a disabled parking
placard becomes lost, stolen, or mutilated, the owner may obtain a
new disabled parking placard in accordance with this section.
(e) Transfer of disabled person license plates and
disabled parking placards.
(1) License plates.
(A) Transfer between persons. Disabled person license
plates may not be transferred between persons. An owner who sells
or trades a vehicle to which disabled person license plates have been
issued shall remove the disabled person license plates from the vehicle.
The owner shall return the license plates to the department and shall
obtain appropriate replacement license plates to place on the vehicle
prior to any transfer of ownership.
(B) Transfer between vehicles. Disabled person license
plates may be transferred between vehicles if the county tax assessor-collector
or the department can verify the plate ownership and the owner of
the vehicle is a disabled person or the vehicle is used to transport
a disabled person.
(i) Plate ownership verification may include:
(I) a Registration and Title System (RTS) inquiry;
(II) a copy of the department application for disabled
person license plates; or
(III) the owner's current registration receipt.
(ii) An owner who sells or trades a vehicle with disabled
person license plates must remove the plates from the vehicle.
(iii) The department will provide a form that persons
may use to facilitate a transfer of disabled person license plates
between vehicles.
(2) Disabled parking placards.
(A) Transfer between vehicles. Disabled parking placards
may be displayed in any vehicle driven by the disabled person or in
which the disabled person is a passenger.
(B) Transfer between persons. Disabled parking placards
may not be transferred between persons.
(f) Seizure and revocation of disabled parking placard.
(1) If a law enforcement officer seizes and destroys
a disabled parking placard under Transportation Code §681.012,
the officer shall notify the department by email.
(2) The person to whom the seized disabled parking
placard was issued may apply for a new disabled parking placard by
submitting an application to the county tax assessor-collector of
the county in which the person with the disability resides or in which
the applicant is seeking medical treatment.
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| Source Note: The provisions of this §217.41 adopted to be effective March 12, 2015, 40 TexReg 1096; amended to be effective March 1, 2018, 43 TexReg 1145; amended to be effective January 2, 2020, 44 TexReg 8338; amended to be effective July 12, 2020, 45 TexReg 4358; amended to be effective January 1, 2022, 46 TexReg 7807 |
