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No City or County Vehicle Fee — and Two Extra Hours at the Meter

A city, county or other political subdivision may not require any licence or fee from a disabled veteran, a Medal of Honor recipient, or a recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross, Navy Cross or Air Force Cross who holds the matching special military plate, for the privilege of driving on its streets. The same plate buys two hours beyond the local parking limit.

Verified August 27, 2026

What this benefit is

A city, county or other political subdivision may not require any licence or fee from a disabled veteran, a Medal of Honor recipient, or a recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross, Navy Cross or Air Force Cross who holds the matching special military plate, for the privilege of driving on its streets. The same plate buys two hours beyond the local parking limit.

What it's worth: Local vehicle licence and fees barred statewide, plus two hours over the posted parking limit

  • No figure is claimed because the fee being barred is a LOCAL one and differs city by city — a wheel tax or vehicle licence in one jurisdiction, nothing at all in another.
  • The provision is a prohibition on local government rather than a rebate, so there is nothing to reclaim; it simply cannot be charged.
  • KRS 186.162(2)(a) gives the FREE plate to veterans with VA vehicle-purchase assistance, veterans rated 100% service-connected, and Medal of Honor recipients — $0 initial and $0 renewal.
  • A veteran rated 50 to 99% service-connected receives a disabled veteran plate under (2)(d) at the standard $23 initial and $23 renewal fee. The plate carries the same local-fee prohibition; it is the plate itself that is not free.
  • The free-plate threshold has NOT been lowered to 50%. 2023 HB 55 would have done that and died in House Appropriations and Revenue, its last action on 23 February 2023.

Who is entitled to it

  • The exemption follows the plate holder.
  • Your discharge is honorable or general under honorable conditions.
  • You are in this state.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

  1. 1The gate is the PLATE. The exemption reaches someone who "has been issued a special military-related license plate under KRS 186.041" as a disabled veteran, a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, or a recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross, Navy Cross or Air Force Cross.
  2. 2Get the plate first through the county clerk and the Transportation Cabinet; the local fee exemption then follows it without a separate application.
  3. 3The wording is deliberately broad — "any other provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding" — so a local ordinance that purports to charge you is overridden rather than merely inconsistent.
  4. 4The parking extension is a separate subsection and is worth knowing: two hours beyond the legal parking period local authorities allow, while the vehicle is operated by or for the benefit of the qualifying person.
  5. 5Three exceptions cancel the parking extension: a fire lane, a restriction accommodating heavy traffic at morning, afternoon or evening hours, and any parking that is clearly a traffic hazard.
Form
None — hold the qualifying special military-related plate
File with
Your city or county, which may not impose the fee
Documents you will need
va benefit summary letter
Automatic until something changes
Granted once and carried forward. You must report a change in ownership, occupancy or status.
CorrectionThis is not a state registration exemption and should not be read as one. It bars CITIES AND COUNTIES from charging a vehicle licence or fee; the state registration fee sits elsewhere and is untouched by this section.
Worth knowingThe parking extension applies while the vehicle is being operated "by or for the benefit of" the qualifying person — so a family member driving the veteran is inside it, and the same car parked alone on someone else’s errand is not.
Known gapThe disability threshold for the underlying plate is the open question. Secondary write-ups say KRS 186.162 was amended to lower it from 100% to 50% service-connected, but that section could not be read on the legislature’s server this session, so no threshold is asserted here. Confirm with the county clerk before relying on it.

Sources

Why only one source type: Only KRS 189.4595 could be read. KRS 186.041 and KRS 186.162, which set who receives the underlying plate and on what disability threshold, were not reached this session, and the veterans department’s site is edge-blocked from here.

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.