The Handicapped Plate Is Free If You Are Also a Disabled Veteran
The handicapped licence plate normally costs the regular motor vehicle licence fee. Subsection (I) removes it: a person who qualifies for the plate and also qualifies as a disabled veteran must be issued it free of charge. The hanging placard is a separate thing — it costs a dollar, needs a physician’s certificate, and only one is issued per person.
Verified August 23, 2026
What this benefit is
The handicapped licence plate normally costs the regular motor vehicle licence fee. Subsection (I) removes it: a person who qualifies for the plate and also qualifies as a disabled veteran must be issued it free of charge. The hanging placard is a separate thing — it costs a dollar, needs a physician’s certificate, and only one is issued per person.
What it's worth: The handicapped plate at no charge; the placard is $1 and needs a physician
- The handicapped definition in subsection (A) is a medical one with seven limbs, including inability to walk one hundred feet nonstop without aggravating an existing condition, dependence on a brace, cane, crutch, prosthesis, wheelchair or another person, portable oxygen, and blindness.
- The certification form must be completed by a physician licensed to practise in this state.
- A licence plate registration certificate is issued with the plate and must be carried in the vehicle; the plate only entitles the vehicle to a reserved space when it is driven by or transporting the named person.
- The placard under §56-3-1960 costs one dollar, requires a physician’s certificate, and only one may be issued to an applicant.
Who is entitled to it
- The plate is issued on your own certification.
- You hold a compensable service-connected disability.
- 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
- 1Get the standardised certification form completed by a physician licensed here — the department’s form asks which of the seven criteria you meet and whether the condition is permanent or temporary.
- 2Say at the counter that you are a disabled veteran. Subsection (I) is the whole basis of the waiver, and nothing on the certification form will surface it for you.
- 3Carry the plate registration certificate in the vehicle. The plate alone does not authorise a reserved space — the certificate naming you does, and law enforcement may ask for it.
- 4Decide plate or placard, or both. The placard travels between vehicles and costs a dollar; the plate stays on one car and, for you, costs nothing.
- 5Renew as permanently handicapped. Existing plate holders are issued a certificate on renewal and must be certified as permanently handicapped to keep the plate.
- Form
- Standardised handicapped certification form completed by a licensed physician
- File with
- Department of Motor Vehicles headquarters
- Documents you will need
- va benefit summary letter
- Periodic
- Re-confirmed from time to time.
Sources
This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.