(a) Any veteran who has been honorably discharged from any of the armed services of the United States and who has a service-connected disability equivalent to the disabilities as prescribed in § 1 of Public Law 187 of the eighty-second congress, first session, and any person with a physical disability who possesses material incapacity for ambulation, shall be entitled to receive, and the department is authorized to issue, under such rules and upon such application as the department shall prescribe, a serially numbered certificate of identification for the personal use of the veteran or person with a physical disability.

Attorney's Note

Under the Tennessee Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
class A misdemeanorup to 11 monthsup to $2,500
For details, see Tenn. Code § 40-35-111

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 55-21-106

  • Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
  • Department: means the department of revenue. See Tennessee Code 55-21-102
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Highway: means the entire width between the boundary lines of every way when any part thereto is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Person: means a natural person, firm, copartnership, association, corporation, or an engaged ADS. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Street: means the entire width between boundary lines of every way when any part thereof is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • Traffic: means pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars and other conveyances either singly or together while using any highway for purposes of travel. See Tennessee Code 55-8-101
  • United States: includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b) The veteran or person with a physical disability shall be entitled to courtesy in the parking of the automobile which shall relieve the veteran or person with a physical disability from liability for any violations with respect to parking, other than in violation of this section or § 55-8-160(a)(15).
(c) Any local authority may, by ordinance, prohibit parking on any street or highway for the purpose of creating a fire lane or to provide for the accommodation of heavy traffic during morning and afternoon rush hours, and the privileges extending to veterans and persons with physical disabilities in this section shall not apply on streets or highways where and at the times the parking is so prohibited.
(d) Any certificate issued as provided in this section shall be displayed prominently upon the automobile while being parked by or under the direction of the veteran or person with a physical disability pursuant to this section.
(e) Upon conviction of any offense involving a violation of the special privileges conferred upon holders of these special certificates, a magistrate or judge trying the case shall be authorized, as a part of any penalty imposed therein, to confiscate the serially numbered certificate provided for in this section and to return the certificate to the secretary of state, together with a certified copy of the sentence so imposed.
(f) Any person, other than the veteran or person with a physical disability to whom it was issued, who uses any certificate of identification for the purpose of parking an automobile as permitted by this section, commits a Class A misdemeanor.
(g) As to any application for a certificate, any official finding or rating as to disability within the requirements of this section by the United States veterans’ administration shall be sufficient evidence of the qualifications of the applicant.
(h) As used in this section, “certificate” includes registration and license plates issued free to disabled veterans under the authority of § 55-4-256.