Miscellaneous

Nevada Disabled Veteran and Ex-Prisoner of War Plates

Both plates exempt the vehicle from every parking fee charged by the State or any political subdivision, including meters. The qualifying disability is defined additively: separate ratings that add up to 100 percent count, and any rating at all counts if it includes a permanent walking disability.

Also called: NRS 482.377, NRS 482.0962, NRS 482.384, DISABLED VETERAN, DISABLED FEMALE VETERAN, VETERAN WHO IS DISABLED, EX PRISONER OF WAR, international symbol of access, free parking, two sets.

For: Veteran or service member.

Where it applies

Written for the jurisdictions listed here.

NevadaState

Nevada gives free parking on both of these plates, which is the opposite of the arrangement in two other states in this catalog, and it defines the qualifying disability in a way that reaches further than a 100 percent rating. The plates, NRS 482.377, subsection 1. A veteran who as a result of service: "(a) Has suffered a qualifying service-connected disability and who receives compensation from the United States for the disability is entitled to specially designed license plates" inscribed with the words "DISABLED VETERAN", "DISABLED FEMALE VETERAN" or "VETERAN WHO IS DISABLED" at the veteran's option, the international symbol of access in white on a blue background, and a number of characters the Director determines. "(b) Has been captured and held prisoner by a military force of a foreign nation is entitled to specially designed license plates inscribed with the words 'EX PRISONER OF WAR'". Subsection 2 lets a former prisoner of war who also has a qualifying service-connected disability and receives compensation for it have the international symbol of access added to the ex-prisoner of war plate. Note the choice of wording on the disability plate. Three inscriptions, at the veteran's option, including a female-specific one and a person-first one. That is a small thing that matters to the people it matters to. Now the definition, and it is the reason this entry is worth reading closely. NRS 482.0962 defines "qualifying service-connected disability" as: "1. A service-connected disability rated at 100 percent; 2. More than one service-connected disability, the combined ratings of which add up to at least 100 percent; or 3. A service-connected disability of any rating that constitutes or includes a permanent disability that qualifies a person for a special license plate pursuant to NRS 482.384." Subsection 2 is additive on its face: "the combined ratings of which add up to at least 100 percent". VA's combined rating formula never reaches 100 percent by adding, because it applies each successive disability to the remaining unimpaired portion of the person. Nevada asks whether the ratings add up. A veteran with a 60, a 30 and a 20 has a VA combined rating in the 70s and an arithmetic total of 110, and on the words of subsection 2 that veteran has a qualifying service-connected disability. This is the same drafting idiom as NRS 361.091, subsection 7 in the property tax exemption, and the two provisions support each other as a deliberate Nevada approach rather than a drafting slip. Subsection 3 is the widest route of all and it has nothing to do with percentages. A service-connected disability "of any rating" qualifies if it constitutes or includes a permanent disability that would qualify the person for a special plate under NRS 482.384, which is the walking-disability plate and placard section. A veteran rated at 30 percent whose service-connected condition permanently limits or impairs the ability to walk, certified as irreversible by a licensed physician, physician assistant, advanced practice registered nurse, occupational therapist or physical therapist, has a qualifying service-connected disability for these plates. Subsection 1(a) adds one further condition that the definition does not: the veteran must "receive compensation from the United States for the disability". A zero percent rating produces no compensation, so it does not carry the plate. The parking exemption, subsection 5, and this is the provision to quote: "A vehicle on which license plates issued by the Department pursuant to this section are displayed is exempt from the payment of any parking fees, including those collected through parking meters, charged by the State or any political subdivision or other public body within the State, other than the United States." Read the breadth. Any parking fees, not only meters. Charged by the State, any political subdivision, or any other public body. The only carve-out is federal property. And because the exemption attaches to plates "issued pursuant to this section", it covers the ex-prisoner of war plate as well as the disability plate. New Hampshire expressly denies the privilege to its prisoner of war plate, and South Carolina's disabled veteran plate loses its only parking privilege, a municipal meter exemption, when 2026 Act No. 115 repeals S.C. Code § 56-5-2585 on October 6, 2026; Nevada gives it to both. Practical limits. Subsection 3: a qualifying person may apply for not more than two sets of plates, and a second set for an additional vehicle must carry a different number from the first. The plates may be used "only on a private passenger vehicle, a noncommercial truck or a motor home", so a commercial vehicle is out. Proof, subsection 4: the Department issues the plates on an application on a Department form and, "subject to the provisions of NRS 417.0187, evidence of disability, former imprisonment or both, as applicable". That cross-reference means a VA or Department of Defense certificate showing the disability and its total percentage or compensation is sufficient evidence, and the veteran is deemed disabled to the extent the Federal Government determined. Subsection 6 handles disposal of the vehicle during a registration year: the holder must either move the plates to another qualifying vehicle and report the change like any other transfer, or return them to the Department within 30 days of removal. Subsection 7 allows personalised prestige plates under NRS 482.3667 to be combined with these plates on payment of the personalised plate fees. Nevada runs a large number of other military plates in the same run of sections, including a Pearl Harbor survivor plate at NRS 482.3765, a Purple Heart plate at NRS 482.3775, a Congressional Medal of Honor plate at NRS 482.378, and a plate for a veteran who received certain awards at NRS 482.3783, along with veterans' home support decals at NRS 482.37635 and veteran outreach plates at NRS 482.3763 and NRS 482.3764. Those carry their own fees and, unlike the plates in NRS 482.377, do not carry the parking exemption in subsection 5.

Thresholds

Thresholds for Nevada Disabled Veteran and Ex-Prisoner of War Plates
Gate	Rule
A service-connected disability rated at 100 percent	NRS 482.0962, subsection 1, read with NRS 482.377, subsection 1(a), which also requires that the veteran receive compensation from the United States for the disability.
Or separate ratings that add up to at least 100 percent	NRS 482.0962, subsection 2 asks whether the combined ratings of more than one service-connected disability "add up to at least 100 percent", which is arithmetic addition rather than the VA combined rating formula.
Or any rating at all where the disability includes a permanent walking disability	NRS 482.0962, subsection 3 reaches a service-connected disability of any rating that constitutes or includes a permanent disability qualifying the person for a plate under NRS 482.384, which requires certification that a walking impairment is irreversible.
Or capture and imprisonment by a military force of a foreign nation	NRS 482.377, subsection 1(b) entitles a former prisoner of war to an EX PRISONER OF WAR plate with no disability requirement, and subsection 2 adds the accessibility symbol where the person also has a qualifying disability.
Both plates exempt the vehicle from every state and local parking fee	NRS 482.377, subsection 5. The exemption covers any parking fees including meters, charged by the State or any political subdivision or other public body within the State, other than the United States, and applies to plates issued under either paragraph of subsection 1.

Sources

Legislation

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Nev. Rev. Stat. § 417.0187 (added to NRS by 2017) Made the federal disability determination control every state and local veteran benefit

Needs reviewEnactedScope changed

Signed 2017-05-29

Introduced Done, 2017-02-13, step 1 of 6
In committee Done, 2017-02-13, step 2 of 6
Passed one chamber Done, 2017-04-18, step 3 of 6
Passed both chambers Done, 2017-05-22, step 4 of 6
Signed by the governor Done, 2017-05-29, step 5 of 6
In effect Done, 2017-05-29, step 6 of 6

Expands benefits Makes the federal disability determination, shown by a VA or DoD certificate, sufficient for every state and local veteran benefit.

Added NRS 417.0187. Notwithstanding any provision of state law to the contrary, for the purpose of determining eligibility for any benefit, program or assistance provided by the State or a local government to a veteran, or a business owned or operated by a veteran, with a service-connected disability, the veteran is deemed to be a veteran with a service-connected disability to the extent determined by the Federal Government, and a certificate from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense indicating the service-connected disability and its total percentage or compensation is sufficient evidence both of the disability and of its extent. The section is cross-referenced expressly by NRS 502.072 for hunting and fishing licences, by NRS 482.377 for disabled veteran licence plates, and by the chapter 284 definition of a veteran with a service-connected disability used in the state employment interview quota. Tracked because it binds county assessors and the Department of Motor Vehicles as well as state agencies, because the phrase "or compensation" is the only route by which individual unemployability reaches any Nevada veteran benefit given that no benefit section mentions it, and because it sits in unresolved tension with NRS 361.091, subsection 7, which directs that a property tax exemption be based on "the total of those combined percentages" where more than one permanent service-connected disability is documented. One provision points at the VA combined rating and the other reads as arithmetic addition, and the difference is a whole exemption tier.

Nev. Rev. Stat. § 482.0962 (added to NRS by 2017) Defined a qualifying service-connected disability additively rather than by the VA combined rating

Needs reviewEnactedScope changed

Signed 2017-05-29

Introduced Done, 2017-02-13, step 1 of 6
In committee Done, 2017-02-13, step 2 of 6
Passed one chamber Done, 2017-04-17, step 3 of 6
Passed both chambers Done, 2017-05-18, step 4 of 6
Signed by the governor Done, 2017-05-29, step 5 of 6
In effect Done, 2017-05-29, step 6 of 6

Added NRS 482.0962, which defines "qualifying service-connected disability" for licence plate purposes as a service-connected disability rated at 100 percent; more than one service-connected disability "the combined ratings of which add up to at least 100 percent"; or a service-connected disability of any rating that constitutes or includes a permanent disability qualifying the person for a special plate under NRS 482.384, the walking disability section. The second limb is arithmetic addition, which the VA combined rating formula never performs because it applies each successive disability to the remaining unimpaired portion of the person. The third limb dispenses with percentages altogether. Tracked because the same drafting idiom appears in NRS 361.091, subsection 7 for the property tax exemption, which bases the exemption on "the total of those combined percentages, not to exceed 100 percent", and the two provisions together suggest a deliberate Nevada approach rather than a drafting slip. A veteran whose VA letter shows a combined rating below the threshold may still qualify once the separate percentages are added, and neither the Department of Motor Vehicles nor any county assessor publishes guidance resolving the point against NRS 417.0187, which deems the disability to be as the Federal Government determined it.

Sponsor

Touches Nev. Rev. Stat. § 482.0962 · Nev. Rev. Stat. § 482.377 · Nev. Rev. Stat. § 361.091, subsection 7

Also touches

Nevada Disabled Veteran’s Property Tax Exemption

Official record

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Last updated 2026-09-30.

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VetTOC is not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense. Information is for reference only and is not an eligibility determination. Verify with VA, the relevant state or territory, or an accredited VSO.