SB2001

Who qualifies and what is waived: a peace officer within the Code of Criminal Procedure’s definition must be disabled from an injury suffered in the course and scope of peace-officer employment. The vehicle must be owned by that person, for personal use, and weigh no more than 18,000 pounds gross or be a motor home. One vehicle may be registered for one year without registration-time fees other than the plate fee. The first plate set costs $3; additional sets have no plate fee, but that does not extend the registration-fee waiver to every vehicle. Unlike the existing disabled-veteran provision, this section does not specify a percentage disability rating or federal disability compensation. Final law, Section 504.2025(a)–(f); Existing veteran provision for comparison.

Access-symbol plates require more: an eligible officer who also qualifies under Section 504.201 may elect plates carrying the international symbol of access. The initial application must include the required statement certifying a mobility problem that substantially impairs walking, a statement from the chief law-enforcement officer of the employing agency certifying the work-related disabling injury, and other required application information. Do not assume every employment-related disability meets this separate test. Recipients of these symbol-bearing plates may receive a disabled-parking placard for each set; the permanent-disability placard provision expressly includes two placards for two qualifying sets. Final law, Sections 4–5; Existing disability-plate qualifications; Mobility definition.

Plate choices: the specialty design bears “Disabled Peace Officer,” and “DPO” except on motorcycles. DPO plates may be personalized with up to four characters. A qualified person may elect ordinary Chapter 502 plates under the same issuance conditions. The act also allows qualifying classic/exhibition vehicles to use approved embossed disabled-peace-officer plates matching the vehicle’s model-year design, with the access symbol only when separately qualified. This does not establish that historic DPO designs are actually available. Final law, Section 504.2025(e), (h)–(k); Classic/custom vehicle requirements; Exhibition vehicle requirements.

Parking is not a blanket exemption: symbol-bearing DPO plates allow disability-reserved parking when the vehicle is operated by or transports the person issued the plates. DPO plate vehicles also gain the specified nonfederal government parking-meter fee exemption when operated by or transporting the eligible registrant. The latter benefit does not require the access-symbol plate, but it does not make a symbol-free DPO plate sufficient for a reserved disability space. Existing law does not authorize parking where or when prohibited; extension to government garages/lots is a local option. Existing higher-education reserved-space provisions and their permit/location exceptions also remain. The act does not make all private parking, airport facilities or toll roads universally free. Final law, Sections 7–8; Parking conditions, campus rules and local options; Separate general disabled-parking provisions.

Tolls: a toll entity that establishes the specified electronic-customer discount program must include free or discounted use for an account tied to a vehicle registered under the new section. Establishing the program remains optional, and the act promises neither every toll road’s participation nor a uniform discount. Existing transponder-limit/hardship provisions remain. Final law, Sections 1–2; Existing program framework.

Misuse and application rules: the new plates are incorporated into disability-parking offenses. For parking in a reserved space with DPO plates lacking the access symbol and no placard, the existing special penalty/dismissal rules now apply: an initial covered offense carries a $25–$200 fine or up to 10 community-service hours, with higher repeat-offense consequences. A first-time defendant with no prior dismissal must receive dismissal if the specified symbol-plate application is submitted within six months of the charge. This is not permission to misuse a space. The act also adds Section 504.2025(d) applications/statements to the exceptions from Section 502.410’s particular falsification/forgery offense; it does not grant general permission to falsify documents. Final law, Sections 3 and 9; Existing special penalties and dismissal conditions; Specific application offense.

Version changes: the Senate substitute added explicit wording that the access-symbol application statement must certify a mobility problem substantially impairing walking. That clarification survived unchanged through the Senate-passed, House committee and enrolled texts. The amendment index lists no floor amendments; a committee substitute is a separate stage, not an indexed floor amendment. Introduced; Senate substitute; Senate-passed; House committee; Final law; Version index; Amendment index.

Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.

Qualifying officers may save registration and specified parking/toll costs; access to disability-reserved spaces remains tied to the separate credentials and transportation conditions. State and local governments may lose fee revenue. The April 15 and April 17 fiscal notes say the aggregate state/local effect is indeterminate because participation and parking use are unknown—not zero. For each qualifying registration, the notes estimate foregone base fees of $50.75 (95% allocated to the State Highway Fund, 5% to counties), plus processing/handling and optional county fees. The $3 plate fee goes to the DMV fund and partially offsets revenue loss; it is not a $3 reimbursement to every affected government. Introduced fiscal note; Substitute fiscal note.

The notes assume DMV and transportation implementation costs can be absorbed within existing resources and no significant correctional/enforcement-resource impact. Their discussion of unknown parking revenue includes private meters, but the enacted Section 681.008(b) exemption is specifically for meters charged by governmental authorities other than the federal government; that fiscal discussion should not be read as a new universal private-parking exemption. No actual plate issuance totals, toll enrollment, local parking policy or personal savings are verified here. Latest indexed fiscal note; Final law.