49-4-301. Eligibility for special parking permit. (1) The department of justice shall issue a special parking permit to a person who has a disability that limits or impairs the person's mobility and who, as determined by a licensed physician or a licensed chiropractor, meets one of the following criteria:
     (a) cannot walk 200 feet without stopping to rest;
     (b) is severely limited in ability to walk because of an arthritic, neurological, or orthopedic condition;
     (c) is so severely disabled that the person cannot walk without the use of or assistance from a brace, cane, another person, prosthetic device, wheelchair, or other assistive device;
     (d) uses portable oxygen;
     (e) is restricted by lung disease to the extent that forced expiratory respiratory volume, when measured by spirometry, is less than 1 liter per second or the arterial oxygen tension is less than 60 mm/hg on room air at rest;
     (f) has impairment because of cardiovascular disease or a cardiac condition to the extent that the person's functional limitations are classified as class III or IV under standards accepted by the American heart association; or
     (g) has a disability resulting from an acute sensitivity to automobile emissions or from another disease or physical condition that limits or impairs the person's mobility and that is documented by the licensed physician or the licensed chiropractor as being comparable in severity to the other conditions listed in this subsection (1).
     (2) A person who has a condition expected to improve within 6 months may be issued a temporary placard for a period not to exceed 6 months but may not be issued a special license plate under 61-3-332(10)(g). If the condition exists after 6 months, a new temporary placard must be issued for the time period prescribed by the applicant's physician or chiropractor, not to exceed 24 months, upon receipt of a new certification from the disabled person's physician or chiropractor that the conditions specified in subsection (1) continue to exist and are expected to continue for the time specified.
     (3) The department of justice may issue special parking permits to an agency or business that provides transportation as a service for persons with a disability. The permits must be used only to load and unload persons with a disability in the special parking place provided for in 49-4-302. As used in this subsection, "disability" means a physical impairment that severely limits a person's ability to walk.
     (4) Except as provided in subsection (3), an applicant may not receive more than one permit.

     History: En. 53-106.12 by Sec. 1, Ch. 31, L. 1977; R.C.M. 1947, 53-106.12(1), (6); amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 614, L. 1983; amd. Sec. 24, Ch. 407, L. 1993; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 202, L. 1995; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 392, L. 1995; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 280, L. 1997.