ENROLLED
2019 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 115
BY REPRESENTATIVE WRIGHT AND SENATORS ALARIO, APPEL, BARROW,
BOUDREAUX, CARTER, DONAHUE, ERDEY, GATTI, HEWITT, JOHNS,
MARTINY, MILKOVICH, MIZELL, MORRISH, PEACOCK, GARY SMITH,
JOHN SMITH, TARVER, THOMPSON, WALSWORTH, WARD, AND WHITE
1 AN ACT
2 To enact R.S. 47:490.32, relative to motor vehicle license plates; to create a military honor
3 license plate for "Purple Heart" recipients that have a service-connected disability
4 of fifty percent or more; and to provide for related matters.
5 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
6 Section 1. R.S. 47:490.32 is hereby enacted to read as follows:
7 ยง490.32. Military honor license plates for "Purple Heart" disabled veterans
8 A. The provisions of this Section shall be applicable to "Purple Heart"
9 recipients that have a service-connected disability of fifty percent or more and who
10 are residents of this state.
11 B. Upon application of a "Purple Heart" recipient who is also a qualified
12 disabled veteran, the secretary shall issue a military honor license plate to be used
13 in lieu of a regular motor vehicle registration plate on passenger cars, trucks,
14 recreational vehicles, motorcycles, and vans. The license plate shall bear a number
15 prefixed by "DV". "Purple Heart Disabled Veteran" shall be printed under the
16 number.
17 C. The secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections shall
18 change the design of the military honor license plate for "Purple Heart" recipients
19 who are disabled veterans by enlarging the size of the "Purple Heart" medal on the
20 license plate.
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1 D. No fee shall be charged for the license plates authorized by this Section,
2 and such plates shall not be subject to the renewal requirements applicable to
3 standard plates.
4 E. The secretary shall adopt rules to implement the provisions of this
5 Section, including but not limited to rules governing the transfer of the license plates
6 from one vehicle to another and the disposition of such license plates.
7 F.(1) Any applicant who qualifies for the military honor license plate
8 authorized by this Section may be issued a plate for each vehicle registered in the
9 applicant's name.
10 (2) Except as otherwise provided in this Subsection, each military honor
11 license plate issued pursuant to this Section shall be returned to the secretary upon
12 the death of the person to whom the plate was issued. A surviving spouse of a
13 person to whom a license plate was issued pursuant to this Section may retain a
14 license plate issued pursuant to this Section, provided the surviving spouse has not
15 remarried and provided the surviving spouse applies to the secretary for a transfer
16 of the license plate to the surviving spouse. A military honor license plate
17 transferred pursuant to this Paragraph to a surviving spouse shall be returned to the
18 secretary upon the death or remarriage of the surviving spouse. In the event that a
19 "Purple Heart" disabled veteran holds more than one military honor license plate at
20 the time the "Purple Heart" disabled veteran dies, the surviving spouse may
21 determine which of the license plates the surviving spouse wishes to retain.
22 (3) The secretary shall also issue a hang tag as provided in R.S.
23 47:463.4(B)(1), which bears the international symbol of accessibility, to any disabled
24 veteran who has or is issued a "Purple Heart" disabled veteran special prestige plate
25 and who requests the hang tag. No fee shall be charged for the hang tag, and it shall
26 be exempt from renewal requirements applicable to hang tags issued pursuant to R.S.
27 47:463.4. However, any lost, destroyed, or mutilated hang tags shall be replaced
28 according to the provisions of R.S. 47:463.4(C), including payment of the reissuance
29 fee. A person using the hang tag in a vehicle with a disabled veteran license plate
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1 is not required to obtain or possess a mobility impairment driver's license or
2 identification card.
3 Section 2. The Department of Public Safety and Corrections, office of motor
4 vehicles, is hereby directed to create the special prestige license plate when the applicable
5 statutory provisions are met and its system is updated to accommodate the creation of new
6 plates.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
APPROVED:
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