Louisiana Free Driver License and Plates for Disabled Veterans

Louisiana's motor vehicle benefits step at 50 percent and again at 100 percent, and the fee waivers are easy to lose at the wrong counter. Any honorably discharged veteran can add a VETERAN designation to a Louisiana driver's license or ID at no fee, though fees apply on a renewal or duplicate issued to add the designation. Official documentation of the honorable discharge is required. At a service-connected rating of 50 percent or more the license or ID itself is free. At 100 percent the license is free and carries a Disabled American Veteran designation. Documentation from VA or the service branch showing the rating is required. This runs on R.S. 32:412 and the Office of Motor Vehicles policies. On plates, Louisiana offers about 50 distinctive designs for servicemembers, retirees, veterans, and eligible family members, generally at the same cost as a regular plate. The ones that matter most: A veteran at 50 percent or more qualifies for either a Disabled Veteran plate or a Military Honors plate free of charge, and the Disabled Veteran plate is not subject to renewal requirements. It carries mobility-impaired parking privileges, and a free hang tag is available for use in any vehicle, which is the part people miss: the parking privilege travels with the person rather than the car. A veteran rated 100 percent qualifies for the 100% DAV plate. Medal of Honor and Purple Heart plates carry no fees and are not subject to renewal requirements. An unremarried surviving spouse may transfer a Purple Heart plate into their own name. A Gold Star Family plate is available where a servicemember was killed in action, at normal charges, and the eligible family list is wide: surviving spouse whether or not remarried, parents, stepparents, adoptive and foster parents, grandparents, children, stepchildren and adopted children, and siblings and half-siblings. A copy of the death certificate is required. The qualifying conflicts run from World War I through armed conflict, international terrorist attack, or peacekeeping service after March 28, 1973. Other specialty plates such as Support Our Veterans and Support Our Troops are available to anyone for a one-time $25 fee, and part of that fee goes to the Military Family Assistance Fund. One administrative warning from the Department of Veterans Affairs that decides whether you actually get the waiver: the fee waiver may not apply at privatized offices that handle Office of Motor Vehicles business. Use a state OMV office for anything fee-waived. Order specialty plates through the OMV special plates system or at an OMV location, and reach the Specialized Vehicle Unit at (225) 925-6371 or (225) 925-6146. Separately, a servicemember or former servicemember who drove military vehicles of a similar class within the last two years may qualify for a commercial driver license skills test waiver under R.S. 32:408. Knowledge testing is still required and school bus and passenger endorsements are excluded, and the waiver requires a clean two-year record: no more than one license other than military, no suspension revocation or cancellation, no major offense convictions, no more than one serious traffic violation, and no motor vehicle law violations arising from a traffic accident other than parking.