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Missouri Senate Bill SB616

Missouri 2025 Regular Session

Missouri Senate Bill SB616 Compare Versions

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22 FIRST REGULAR SESSION
33 SENATE BILL NO. 616
44 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
55 INTRODUCED BY SENATOR WEBBER.
66 2363S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
77 AN ACT
88 To repeal section 301.142, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to disabled
99 license plates and placards, with penalty provisions.
1010
1111 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
1212 Section A. Section 301.142, RSMo, is repealed and one new 1
1313 section enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 301.142, 2
1414 to read as follows:3
1515 301.142. 1. As used in sections 301.141 to 301.143, 1
1616 the following terms mean: 2
1717 (1) "Department", the depart ment of revenue; 3
1818 (2) "Director", the director of the department of 4
1919 revenue; 5
2020 (3) "Other authorized health care practitioner" 6
2121 includes advanced practice registered nurses licensed 7
2222 pursuant to chapter 335, physician assistants licensed 8
2323 pursuant to chapter 334, chiropractors licensed pursuant to 9
2424 chapter 331, podiatrists licensed pursuant to chapter 330, 10
2525 assistant physicians, physical therapists licensed pursuant 11
2626 to chapter 334, occupational therapists licensed pursuant to 12
2727 chapter 324, and optometrists licensed pursuant to chapter 13
2828 336; 14
2929 (4) "Physically disabled", a natural person who is 15
3030 blind, as defined in section 8.700, or a natural person with 16
3131 medical disabilities which prohibits, limits, or severely 17
3232 impairs one's ability to ambula te or walk, as determined by 18 SB 616 2
3333 a licensed physician or other authorized health care 19
3434 practitioner as follows: 20
3535 (a) The person cannot ambulate or walk fifty or less 21
3636 feet without stopping to rest due to a severe and disabling 22
3737 arthritic, neurological, o rthopedic condition, or other 23
3838 severe and disabling condition; or 24
3939 (b) The person cannot ambulate or walk without the use 25
4040 of, or assistance from, a brace, cane, crutch, another 26
4141 person, prosthetic device, wheelchair, or other assistive 27
4242 device; or 28
4343 (c) Is restricted by a respiratory or other disease to 29
4444 such an extent that the person's forced respiratory 30
4545 expiratory volume for one second, when measured by 31
4646 spirometry, is less than one liter, or the arterial oxygen 32
4747 tension is less than sixty mm/h g on room air at rest; or 33
4848 (d) Uses portable oxygen; or 34
4949 (e) Has a cardiac condition to the extent that the 35
5050 person's functional limitations are classified in severity 36
5151 as class III or class IV according to standards set by the 37
5252 American Heart Association; or 38
5353 (f) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (3) of 39
5454 subsection 16 of this section, a person's age, in and of 40
5555 itself, shall not be a factor in determining whether such 41
5656 person is physically disabled or is otherwise entitled to 42
5757 disabled license plates and/or disabled windshield hanging 43
5858 placards within the meaning of sections 301.141 to 301.143; 44
5959 (5) "Physician", a person licensed to practice 45
6060 medicine pursuant to chapter 334; 46
6161 (6) "Physician's statement", a statement perso nally 47
6262 signed by a duly authorized person which certifies that a 48
6363 person is disabled as defined in this section; 49 SB 616 3
6464 (7) "Temporarily disabled person", a disabled person 50
6565 as defined in this section whose disability or incapacity is 51
6666 expected to last no m ore than one hundred eighty days; 52
6767 (8) "Temporary windshield placard", a placard to be 53
6868 issued to persons who are temporarily disabled persons as 54
6969 defined in this section, certification of which shall be 55
7070 indicated on the physician's statement; 56
7171 (9) "Windshield placard", a placard to be issued to 57
7272 persons who are physically disabled as defined in this 58
7373 section, certification of which shall be indicated on the 59
7474 physician's statement. 60
7575 2. Other authorized health care practitioners may 61
7676 furnish to a disabled or temporarily disabled person a 62
7777 physician's statement for only those physical health care 63
7878 conditions for which such health care practitioner is 64
7979 legally authorized to diagnose and treat. 65
8080 3. A physician's statement shall: 66
8181 (1) Be on a form prescribed by the director of revenue; 67
8282 (2) Set forth the specific diagnosis and medical 68
8383 condition which renders the person physically disabled or 69
8484 temporarily disabled as defined in this section; 70
8585 (3) Include the physician's or other authorized health 71
8686 care practitioner's license number; and 72
8787 (4) Be personally signed by the issuing physician or 73
8888 other authorized health care practitioner. 74
8989 4. If it is the professional opinion of the physician 75
9090 or other authorized health care practitioner issuing the 76
9191 statement that the physical disability of the applicant, 77
9292 user, or member of the applicant's household is permanent, 78
9393 it shall be noted on the statement. Otherwise, the 79
9494 physician or other authorized health care practitioner shal l 80
9595 note on the statement the anticipated length of the 81 SB 616 4
9696 disability, which shall determine the expiration date for 82
9797 the temporary windshield placard, and which period shall not 83
9898 exceed one hundred eighty days. If the physician or health 84
9999 care practitioner fails to record an expiration date on the 85
100100 physician's statement, the director shall issue a temporary 86
101101 windshield placard for a period of thirty days. 87
102102 5. A physician or other authorized health care 88
103103 practitioner who issues or signs a physician's sta tement so 89
104104 that disabled plates or a disabled windshield placard may be 90
105105 obtained shall maintain in such disabled person's medical 91
106106 chart documentation that such a certificate has been issued, 92
107107 the date the statement was signed, the diagnosis or 93
108108 condition which existed that qualified the person as 94
109109 disabled pursuant to this section and shall contain 95
110110 sufficient documentation so as to objectively confirm that 96
111111 such condition exists. 97
112112 6. The medical or other records of the physician or 98
113113 other authorized health care practitioner who issued a 99
114114 physician's statement shall be open to inspection and review 100
115115 by such practitioner's licensing board, in order to verify 101
116116 compliance with this section. Information contained within 102
117117 such records shall be confidentia l unless required for 103
118118 prosecution, disciplinary purposes, or otherwise required to 104
119119 be disclosed by law. 105
120120 7. Owners of motor vehicles who are residents of the 106
121121 state of Missouri, and who are physically disabled, owners 107
122122 of motor vehicles operated at least fifty percent of the 108
123123 time by a physically disabled person, or owners of motor 109
124124 vehicles used to primarily transport physically disabled 110
125125 members of the owner's household may obtain disabled person 111
126126 license plates. Such owners, upon application to t he 112
127127 director accompanied by the documents and fees provided for 113 SB 616 5
128128 in this section, a current physician's statement which has 114
129129 been issued within ninety days proceeding the date the 115
130130 application is made, and proof of compliance with the state 116
131131 motor vehicle laws relating to registration and licensing of 117
132132 motor vehicles, shall be issued motor vehicle license plates 118
133133 for vehicles, other than commercial vehicles with a gross 119
134134 weight in excess of twenty -four thousand pounds, upon which 120
135135 shall be inscribed the int ernational wheelchair 121
136136 accessibility symbol and the word "DISABLED" in addition to 122
137137 a combination of letters and numbers. Such license plates 123
138138 shall be made with fully reflective material with a common 124
139139 color scheme and design, shall be clearly visible at night, 125
140140 and shall be aesthetically attractive, as prescribed by 126
141141 section 301.130. If at any time an individual who obtained 127
142142 disabled license plates issued under this subsection no 128
143143 longer occupies a residence with a physically disabled 129
144144 person, or no longer owns a vehicle that is operated at 130
145145 least fifty percent of the time by a physically disabled 131
146146 person, such individual shall surrender the disabled license 132
147147 plates to the department within thirty days of becoming 133
148148 ineligible for their use. 134
149149 8. The director shall further issue, upon request, to 135
150150 such applicant one, and for good cause shown, as the 136
151151 director may define by rule and regulations, not more than 137
152152 two, removable disabled windshield hanging placards for use 138
153153 when the disabled person is occu pying a vehicle or when a 139
154154 vehicle not bearing the permanent handicap plate is being 140
155155 used to pick up, deliver, or collect the physically disabled 141
156156 person issued the disabled motor vehicle license plate or 142
157157 disabled windshield hanging placard. 143
158158 9. No additional fee shall be paid to the director for 144
159159 the issuance of the special license plates provided in this 145 SB 616 6
160160 section, except for special personalized license plates and 146
161161 other license plates described in this subsection. Priority 147
162162 for any specific set o f special license plates shall be 148
163163 given to the applicant who received the number in the 149
164164 immediately preceding license period subject to the 150
165165 applicant's compliance with the provisions of this section 151
166166 and any applicable rules or regulations issued by the 152
167167 director. If determined feasible by the advisory committee 153
168168 established in section 301.129, any special license plate 154
169169 issued pursuant to this section may be adapted to also 155
170170 include the international wheelchair accessibility symbol 156
171171 and the word "DISABLED" as prescribed in this section and 157
172172 such plate may be issued to any applicant who meets the 158
173173 requirements of this section and the other appropriate 159
174174 provision of this chapter, subject to the requirements and 160
175175 fees of the appropriate provision of this c hapter. 161
176176 10. Any physically disabled person, or the parent or 162
177177 guardian of any such person, or any not -for-profit group, 163
178178 organization, or other entity which transports more than one 164
179179 physically disabled person, may apply to the director of 165
180180 revenue for a removable windshield placard. The placard may 166
181181 be used in motor vehicles which do not bear the permanent 167
182182 handicap symbol on the license plate. Such placards must be 168
183183 hung from the front, middle rearview mirror of a parked 169
184184 motor vehicle and may not be hung from the mirror during 170
185185 operation. These placards may only be used during the 171
186186 period of time when the vehicle is being used by a disabled 172
187187 person, or when the vehicle is being used to pick up, 173
188188 deliver, or collect a disabled person, and shall be 174
189189 surrendered to the department, within thirty days, if a 175
190190 group, organization, or entity that obtained the removable 176
191191 windshield placard due to the transportation of more than 177 SB 616 7
192192 one physically disabled person no longer transports more 178
193193 than one disabled pe rson. When there is no rearview mirror, 179
194194 the placard shall be displayed on the dashboard on the 180
195195 driver's side. 181
196196 11. The removable windshield placard shall conform to 182
197197 the specifications, in respect to size, color, and content, 183
198198 as set forth in feder al regulations published by the 184
199199 Department of Transportation. The removable windshield 185
200200 placard shall be renewed every four years. The director may 186
201201 stagger the expiration dates to equalize workload. Only one 187
202202 removable placard may be issued to an appl icant who has been 188
203203 issued disabled person license plates. Upon request, one 189
204204 additional windshield placard may be issued to an applicant 190
205205 who has not been issued disabled person license plates. 191
206206 12. A temporary windshield placard shall be issued to 192
207207 any physically disabled person, or the parent or guardian of 193
208208 any such person who otherwise qualifies except that the 194
209209 physical disability, in the opinion of the physician, is not 195
210210 expected to exceed a period of one hundred eighty days. The 196
211211 temporary windshield placard shall conform to the 197
212212 specifications, in respect to size, color, and content, as 198
213213 set forth in federal regulations published by the Department 199
214214 of Transportation. The fee for the temporary windshield 200
215215 placard shall be two dollars. Upon request, and for good 201
216216 cause shown, one additional temporary windshield placard may 202
217217 be issued to an applicant. Temporary windshield placards 203
218218 shall be issued upon presentation of the physician's 204
219219 statement provided by this section and shall be displayed i n 205
220220 the same manner as removable windshield placards. A person 206
221221 or entity shall be qualified to possess and display a 207
222222 temporary removable windshield placard for six months and 208
223223 the placard may be renewed once for an additional six months 209 SB 616 8
224224 if a physician's statement pursuant to this section is 210
225225 supplied to the director of revenue at the time of renewal. 211
226226 13. A windshield placard shall be renewable only by 212
227227 the person or entity to which the placard was originally 213
228228 issued. Any placard issued pursuant to this section shall 214
229229 only be used when the physically disabled occupant for whom 215
230230 the disabled plate or placard was issued is in the motor 216
231231 vehicle at the time of parking or when a physically disabled 217
232232 person is being delivered or collected. A disabled license 218
233233 plate and/or a removable windshield hanging placard are not 219
234234 transferable and may not be used by any other person whether 220
235235 disabled or not. 221
236236 14. At the time the disabled plates or windshield 222
237237 hanging placards are issued, the director shall issu e a 223
238238 registration certificate which shall include the applicant's 224
239239 name, address, and other identifying information as 225
240240 prescribed by the director, or if issued to an agency, such 226
241241 agency's name and address. This certificate shall further 227
242242 contain the disabled license plate number or, for windshield 228
243243 hanging placards, the registration or identifying number 229
244244 stamped on the placard. The validated registration receipt 230
245245 given to the applicant shall serve as the registration 231
246246 certificate. 232
247247 15. The director shall, upon issuing any disabled 233
248248 registration certificate for license plates and/or 234
249249 windshield hanging placards, provide information which 235
250250 explains that such plates or windshield hanging placards are 236
251251 nontransferable, and the restrictions explaining w ho and 237
252252 when a person or vehicle which bears or has the disabled 238
253253 plates or windshield hanging placards may be used or be 239
254254 parked in a disabled reserved parking space, and the 240 SB 616 9
255255 penalties prescribed for violations of the provisions of 241
256256 this act. 242
257257 16. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this 243
258258 subsection, every applicant for issuance of a disabled 244
259259 license plate or placard shall be required to present a new 245
260260 physician's statement dated no more than ninety days prior 246
261261 to such application, and for renewal applications a 247
262262 physician's statement dated no more than ninety days prior 248
263263 to such application shall be required every eighth year. 249
264264 (2) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the 250
265265 contrary, if the applicant has presented proof of disability 251
266266 in the form of a statement from the United States Department 252
267267 of Veterans Affairs verifying that the person is permanently 253
268268 disabled, the applicant shall not be required to provide a 254
269269 physician's statement for the purpose of issuance or renewal 255
270270 of disabled person license plates or windshield placards. 256
271271 (3) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (f) of 257
272272 subdivision (4) of subsection 1 of this section, any person 258
273273 seventy-five years of age or older who provided a 259
274274 physician's statement with the original application shall 260
275275 not be required to provide a physician's statement for the 261
276276 purpose of renewal of disabled person license plates or 262
277277 windshield placards. 263
278278 17. The director of revenue upon receiving a 264
279279 physician's statement pursuant to this subsect ion shall 265
280280 check with the state board of registration for the healing 266
281281 arts created in section 334.120, or the Missouri state board 267
282282 of nursing established in section 335.021, with respect to 268
283283 physician's statements signed by advanced practice 269
284284 registered nurses, or the Missouri state board of 270
285285 chiropractic examiners established in section 331.090, with 271
286286 respect to physician's statements signed by licensed 272 SB 616 10
287287 chiropractors, or with the board of optometry established in 273
288288 section 336.130, with respect to physic ian's statements 274
289289 signed by licensed optometrists, or the state board of 275
290290 podiatric medicine created in section 330.100, with respect 276
291291 to physician's statements signed by physicians of the foot 277
292292 or podiatrists to determine whether the physician is duly 278
293293 licensed and registered pursuant to law. 279
294294 18. The boards shall cooperate with the director and 280
295295 shall supply information requested pursuant to this 281
296296 subsection. The director shall, in cooperation with the 282
297297 boards which shall assist the director, establ ish a list of 283
298298 all Missouri physicians and other authorized health care 284
299299 practitioners and of any other information necessary to 285
300300 administer this section. 286
301301 19. Where the owner's application is based on the fact 287
302302 that the vehicle is used at least fifty percent of the time 288
303303 by a physically disabled person, the applicant shall submit 289
304304 a statement stating this fact, in addition to the 290
305305 physician's statement. The statement shall be signed by 291
306306 both the owner of the vehicle and the physically disabled 292
307307 person. The applicant shall be required to submit this 293
308308 statement with each application for license plates. No 294
309309 person shall willingly or knowingly submit a false statement 295
310310 and any such false statement shall be considered perjury and 296
311311 may be punishable pursu ant to section 301.420. 297
312312 20. The director of revenue shall retain all 298
313313 physicians' statements and all other documents received in 299
314314 connection with a person's application for disabled license 300
315315 plates and/or disabled windshield placards. 301
316316 21. The director of revenue shall enter into 302
317317 reciprocity agreements with other states or the federal 303
318318 government for the purpose of recognizing disabled person 304 SB 616 11
319319 license plates or windshield placards issued to physically 305
320320 disabled persons. 306
321321 22. When a person to whom disabled person license 307
322322 plates or a removable or temporary windshield placard or 308
323323 both have been issued dies, the personal representative of 309
324324 the decedent or such other person who may come into or 310
325325 otherwise take possession of the disabled license plates or 311
326326 disabled windshield placard shall return the same to the 312
327327 director of revenue under penalty of law. Failure to return 313
328328 such plates or placards shall constitute a class B 314
329329 misdemeanor. 315
330330 23. The director of revenue may order any person 316
331331 issued disabled person license plates or windshield placards 317
332332 to submit to an examination by a chiropractor, osteopath, or 318
333333 physician, or to such other investigation as will determine 319
334334 whether such person qualifies for the special plates or 320
335335 placards. 321
336336 24. If such person refuses to submit or is found to no 322
337337 longer qualify for special plates or placards provided for 323
338338 in this section, the director of revenue shall collect the 324
339339 special plates or placards, and shall furnish license plates 325
340340 to replace the ones collected as provided by this chapter. 326
341341 25. In the event a removable or temporary windshield 327
342342 placard is lost, stolen, or mutilated, the lawful holder 328
343343 thereof shall, within five days, file with the director of 329
344344 revenue an application and an affidavit stating such fact, 330
345345 in order to purchase a new placard. The fee for the 331
346346 replacement windshield placard shall be four dollars. 332
347347 26. Fraudulent application, renewal, issuance, 333
348348 procurement or use of disabled person license plates or 334
349349 windshield placards shall be a class A misdemeanor. It is a 335
350350 class B misdemeanor for a physician, chiropractor, 336 SB 616 12
351351 podiatrist or optometrist to certify that an individual or 337
352352 family member is qualified for a license plate or windshield 338
353353 placard based on a disability, the d iagnosis of which is 339
354354 outside their scope of practice or if there is no basis for 340
355355 the diagnosis. 341
356356