TITLE 49

MOTOR VEHICLES

CHAPTER 4

MOTOR VEHICLE REGISTRATION

49-403A.  Purple heart recipient — License plates. (1) Purple heart recipient license plates are available to any applicant who is a veteran or an active or retired member of any of the armed forces of the United States, reserve forces, or Idaho national guard and who furnishes proof of entitlement by providing one (1) of the following documents:

(a)  A copy of form DD214 or equivalent document showing an award of the purple heart medal;

(b)  A copy of the certificate presented with the medal; or

(c)  A copy of the military order describing the award of the medal to the applicant.

(2)  The applicant shall be charged the regular registration fee but shall not be charged the plate fee required in section 49-450, Idaho Code. Whenever title or interest in a vehicle registered under the provisions of this section is transferred or assigned, the registration shall expire, but the purple heart recipient may transfer his plates to another vehicle upon payment of the required transfer fees. He may display the plates only after receipt of new registration from the department. A purple heart recipient may register multiple vehicles under the provisions of this section. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any vehicle with a registered maximum gross weight over twenty-six thousand (26,000) pounds, nor to any vehicle registered under section 49-434(5), Idaho Code.

(3)  Purple heart recipient license plates may be retained and displayed on vehicles owned by the surviving spouse of a deceased purple heart recipient. In addition, the surviving spouse of a deceased purple heart recipient is eligible to reapply for and shall be issued purple heart recipient license plates if the deceased purple heart recipient died on or after January 1 of the five (5) years preceding the date of reapplication for the plates. Such plates shall be used on a vehicle owned by the surviving spouse.

(4)  The purple heart recipient license plates shall be of a color and design acceptable to the military order of the purple heart association and approved by the department, utilizing a numbering system as determined by the department.

(5)  Effective January 1, 2015, for those purple heart recipients who are listed as an owner of the vehicle who also qualify as disabled pursuant to section 49-410, Idaho Code, the international accessible symbol will also appear on the purple heart license plates. Such requirements must be met upon application for the license plates. Those plates with the disability symbol shall be nontransferable to a surviving spouse, unless the requirements of section 49-410, Idaho Code, can be met by the spouse.

(6)  A purple heart recipient who qualifies for a disabled veteran fee exemption under section 49-403, Idaho Code, shall have a choice between a purple heart recipient license plate or a disabled veteran license plate and shall not be charged a plate fee or a fee for registration or reregistration of the motor vehicle. The provisions of this subsection shall apply to the vehicle originally purchased under this authorization and also to any vehicle subsequently purchased and owned by the same veteran. The privilege shall not extend to more than one (1) vehicle owned by the veteran at a time.

History:

[49-403A, added 1991, ch. 20, sec. 1, p. 43; am. 1992, ch. 26, sec. 1, p. 81; am. 1992, ch. 261, sec. 4, p. 760; am. 1998, ch. 329, sec. 1, p. 1061; am. 2000, ch. 37, sec. 1, p. 66; am. 2000, ch. 87, sec. 4, p. 193; am. 2014, ch. 51, sec. 1, p. 127; am. 2018, ch. 43, sec. 1, p. 107; am. 2021, ch. 148, sec. 1, p. 400; am. 2024, ch. 83, sec. 1, p. 379.]