Guides · Disabled parking

Texas handicap placard application (VTR-214): the doctor’s part

By Kevin Lease, MD · Internal medicine · Published October 1, 2026

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A patient hands you the Texas VTR-214 and asks you to fill out the doctor’s part. It is short, but it has one step that surprises people, which is the notary. The blank is on the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles website (PDF), and the TxDMV explains the process on its disabled parking placards and plates page. The version I am describing is Rev. 09/24.

Who may sign

The form defines who it calls a licensed medical professional, in these words.

A Licensed Medical Professional is defined as a physician, podiatrist, optometrist, or qualifying physician’s assistant or advanced practice nurse as defined in Chapter 301, Occupations Code. The form adds that the professional must be licensed in Texas or one of the four states that border it, which the form names, or practice at a U.S. military installation in Texas, or practice in a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital or health facility.

The statute behind the form, Texas Transportation Code section 681.003, is narrower in two places. A podiatrist may sign for a mobility problem caused by a disorder of the foot, and an optometrist for a vision impairment. And the statute allows someone acting under a physician’s delegation, or a physician assistant acting as a physician’s agent, to sign the first application only. If you are a podiatrist, optometrist or physician assistant, I would read section 681.003 before signing.

What you are certifying

The form prints the definitions from Transportation Code section 681.001. A disability means a person has one of these, in the form’s words.

• (a) mobility problems that substantially impair the person’s ability to ambulate;
• (b) visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with correcting lenses; or
• (c) visual acuity of more than 20/200 but with a limited field of vision in which the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angle of 20 degrees or less.

And a mobility problem is one that substantially impairs a person’s ability to ambulate, where the person:

• (a) cannot walk 200 feet without stopping to rest;
• (b) cannot walk without the use of or assistance from an assistance device, including a brace, cane, crutch, another person or a prosthetic device;
• (c) cannot ambulate without a wheelchair or similar device;
• (d) is restricted by lung disease to the extent that the person’s forced respiratory expiratory volume for one second, measured by spirometry, is less than one liter, or the arterial oxygen tension is less than 60 millimeters of mercury on room air at rest;
• (e) uses portable oxygen;
• (f) has a cardiac condition to the extent that the person’s functional limitations are classified in severity as Class III or Class IV according to standards set by the American Heart Association;
• (g) is severely limited in the ability to walk because of an arthritic, neurological, or orthopedic condition;
• (h) has a disorder of the foot that, in the opinion of a physician licensed to practice medicine in this state or in a state adjacent to this state, limits or impairs the person’s ability to walk; or
• (i) has another debilitating condition that, in the opinion of a physician licensed to practice medicine in this state or a state adjacent to this state, or authorized by applicable law to practice medicine in a hospital or other health facility of the Veterans Administration, limits or impairs the person’s ability to walk.

For (h), the form says the opinion is a physician’s, while the current statute says it is a podiatrist’s, which is one more reason to read section 681.001 if a foot problem is the reason.

You don’t check a condition on the VTR-214. You certify, in one sentence, that the patient has a permanent or a temporary disability as defined above. So what I do is make sure my note says which part of the definition the patient meets.

Permanent or temporary

The TxDMV page explains the difference by color. A red placard is for a temporary disability and expires in six months or less. A blue placard is for a permanent disability and is renewable every four years. The form says there is no fee for a permanent placard and a $5 fee for each temporary placard, and that disabled person license plates are for a permanent disability only.

If a temporary disability lasts longer than six months, the TxDMV page says the patient applies again with a new application, and that means a new disability statement from you. A permanent placard is renewed without a new statement.

Your section, field by field

The Disability Statement on page 2 is short.

• The certifying sentence. The patient’s printed name, and a check for permanent or temporary.
• Your details. Your printed name, professional license number, mailing address, the date, and your signature.
• The notary. Under your section is a notary block. The form says The signature of a licensed medical professional must be notarized on page 2 if an original prescription is not submitted. An original prescription has to include the patient’s name, your signature, and a statement of whether the disability is permanent or temporary. So you have two choices. Either sign the VTR-214 in front of a notary, or give the patient an original prescription that says those things. The notary block is only for placards.

Everything on page 1 is the patient’s to complete, including the vehicle information.

Where the patient takes it

The patient, not your office, submits it. The form says to take the completed application, any payment and the proof of eligibility to the county tax assessor-collector’s office where they live, or where they are getting medical treatment, and to contact that office about applying by mail.

For the other states, see disabled parking placard forms, state by state.

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