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The "DV" Plate Is a Parking Permit — No Doctor’s Certificate Needed

A plate displaying the letters "DV" entitles the holder to the parking privileges of a medically certified disability permit. The route in is a Purple Heart plus a 50% or higher rating, or a 100% rating or payment at the 100% rate — a VA determination, not a physician’s form. A city, town or county may also exempt that plate from on-street time limits.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

What it's worth: Accessible parking entitlement carried by the plate itself, plus a local option to exempt it from on-street time limits

Section 61-3-458(4)(b) states that a veteran may be issued special license plates displaying the letters "DV", "which entitles the veteran to the parking privileges allowed to a person with a special parking permit issued under Title 49, chapter 4, part 3".
Two routes qualify under (4)(b): a Purple Heart award together with a federal rating of 50% or more for a service-connected injury, or a current 100% rating or payment at the 100% disabled rate for a service-connected disability.
Subsection (4)(i) creates a combination plate displaying "DV" together with the purple heart decal and the words "combat wounded", and gives it the same parking privileges.
Section 49-4-302(2)(a)(i) lists an inscribed plate displaying "DV" issued under 61-3-458(4)(b) or (4)(i) alongside the disability parking permit as lawful authority to occupy an accessible space.
Section 49-4-302(2)(a)(ii) conditions that on the person for whom the plate was issued using the space to enter or exit the vehicle.
Section 49-4-302(5) lets the governing body of a city, town or county exempt vehicles displaying the "DV" plate from any parking time limitation on public streets — except where all stopping is prohibited, where only special vehicles may park, or where parking is barred at specific times to accommodate heavy traffic.
Section 49-4-302(3) bars any vehicle from an access aisle regardless of plate or permit.
The ordinary disability parking permit route in 49-4-301 requires a licensed physician, chiropractor or advanced practice registered nurse to certify one of seven listed mobility criteria; the DV plate route requires none of that.
Section 49-4-301(4) limits an individual to one disability parking permit; the DV plate sits outside that limit because it is a plate, not a permit.
Section 49-4-304(3) allows the department to issue up to two placards to an eligible individual, and more by rule.
Applying for the plate under 61-3-458(4)(a) needs proper identification and a DD-214 or successor showing an other-than-dishonorable discharge, payment of the veterans’ cemetery fee in 61-3-459, and all applicable registration fees.

Who is entitled to it

You are the veteran.
Your discharge characterisation qualifies.
Your rating reaches the band the DV plate uses.
Your home is 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

1Check which of the two DV routes you are on. Purple Heart plus a 50% or higher rating is one; a 100% rating, or being paid at the 100% rate, is the other. They are alternatives, not cumulative requirements.
2If you hold both the Purple Heart and the 100% qualification, ask for the combination plate under subsection (4)(i) — it shows "DV" and the combat wounded decal and carries the same parking entitlement.
3Do not chase a doctor’s certificate for this. The plate carries the parking privilege on the strength of the federal rating; the physician-certified route in 49-4-301 is a separate door for people who do not have a qualifying rating.
4Bring the DD-214 or a successor document showing an other-than-dishonorable discharge, and expect to pay the veterans’ cemetery fee along with the ordinary registration fees.
5Ask your city, town or county whether it has adopted the time-limit exemption in 49-4-302(5). It is a local option, so the answer genuinely differs from one town to the next, and it is worth a phone call before you rely on it.
6Learn the one absolute rule: the access aisle beside a marked space is off limits to everyone, plate or no plate. That is written into 49-4-302(3) without exception.
7If you also need a placard for a vehicle you are not driving, apply separately under 49-4-301 — the placard route allows up to two placards, and it is what covers you when someone else is driving.

Form: Special plate application under Mont. Code Ann. §61-3-458(4)
File with: County treasurer, on behalf of the Motor Vehicle Division
Documents you will need: dd214
Annual: Claimed once a year.

CorrectionA rating alone is not enough. Section 61-3-458(4)(b) sets two specific doors — Purple Heart with 50% or more, or 100% rated or paid at the 100% rate. A veteran at 60% without a Purple Heart does not reach the DV plate, and should use the medically certified permit route in 49-4-301 instead.

Worth knowingThe parking entitlement follows the person, not the vehicle. Section 49-4-302(2)(a)(ii) requires the person for whom the plate was issued to be using the space to enter or exit the vehicle — a family member borrowing the car does not inherit the space.

Known gapSection 49-4-302 says nothing about parking meters or paid garages. The time-limit exemption in subsection (5) is about time limits on public streets, and it is optional for each local governing body. Nothing read here waives a parking charge.

Sources

authority · statuteMont. Code Ann. §49-4-302 — privileges of permitholder, privilege for disabled veteran, exemptions from time limits
authority · statuteMont. Code Ann. §61-3-458(4) — DV plates and the parking privilege they carry
operating · statuteMont. Code Ann. §49-4-301 — eligibility for disability parking permit, and §49-4-304 on placards

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