Request By:
Sister Marlene Taylor
1516 Parrish Avenue
Owensboro, Kentucky 42301
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; Carl T. Miller, Jr., Assistant Attorney General
You have requested an opinion of the Attorney General regarding special license plates for the handicapped as provided by KRS 189.455. You state that because of an arthritic condition it is necessary for you to use canes for walking and you would like to obtain a special license plate. You refer to OAG 71-120 wherein it is stated that, "the mere fact that a person is suffering from an illness or diseased condition does not, per se, entitle that person to a special registration plate. " You want to know whether you are entitled to a handicapped license plate under the statute.
KRS 189.455 reads in part as follows:
"(1) On the application of any person who has lost the use of a leg or both legs, or an arm or both arms, or any combination thereof, or any person who is blind, the Department of Transportation shall issue the handicapped person special registration plates designating the vehicle license as belonging to a handicapped person. . . ."
This statute leaves the nature of handicapped open to reasonable interpretation. We think that it is required under the statute that the loss of use of an arm or a leg must be by other than a temporary disability. It is not required that there be an amputation but only the permanent loss of the normal use of a limb.
KRS 446.080 provides, inter alia: "All statutes of this state shall be liberally construed with a view to promote their object and carry out the intent of the legislature. . . ."
We think that if in reasonable medical certainty the loss of the normal use of a limb is permanent the person so handicapped is entitled to a special license plate. The officer issuing such a plate may reasonably request the statement of a physician as to the extent and permanency of the disability, but he need not do so if the disability is apparent to his satisfaction.
You also ask whether the car on which the special plate is to be used must be registered in the name of the handicapped person. You state that the car you drive is registered in the name of your organization, Sisters of the Lamb of God.
KRS 189.455 contains the following sentence, "The Department shall not issue registration plates so designated to any person other than a handicapped person. "
It is therefore our opinion that the vehicle will have to be registered in the name of the handicapped person.