Expectant Mother Parking Placards

2025-2026 Bill 4768: Expectant Mother Parking Placards - South Carolina Legislature Online

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
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H. 4768
STATUS INFORMATION
General Bill
Sponsors: Reps. Caskey, C. Mitchell, B. Newton, Pope, Clyburn and Edgerton
Companion/Similar bill(s): 749
Document Path: LC-0410CM26.docx
Introduced in the House on January 13, 2026
Currently residing in the House Committee on
Education and Public Works
Summary: Expectant Mother Parking Placards
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

Date

Body

Action Description with journal page number

12/16/2025

House

Prefiled

12/16/2025

House

Referred to Committee on
Education and Public Works

1/13/2026

House

Introduced and read first time (
House Journal-page 85
)

1/13/2026

House

Referred to Committee on
Education and Public Works
(
House Journal-page 85
)

View the latest
legislative information
at the website
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
12/17/2025

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING
SECTION
56-3-1960
, RELATING TO the issuance of TEMPORARY AND PERMANENT PARKING
PLACARDS, so as to provide that placards may be issued to expectant mothers.

B
e it enacted by the
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

S
ECTION 1.
S
ection
56-3-1960
of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

S
ection
56-3-1960
.
(
A)
(
1)
A person who is "handicapped" as defined in Section
56-3-1910
may apply to the department for issuance of a temporary or permanent
placard. A person may be issued a temporary placard if the condition causing
his handicap is expected to last for at least four months.

(
2)

An
expectant mother, defined as a woman who is pregnant as certified by a licensed
healthcare physician, may apply to the department for issuance of a temporary
placard. The placard shall automatically expire three hundred sixty-five days
after the date of issuance for an expectant mother. At the time of issuance,
the expectant mother must be a minimum of fourteen weeks pregnant. The placard
shall remain valid for a full three hundred sixty-five days regardless of
changes in the applicant's pregnancy status including, but not limited to, bed
rest, miscarriage, or premature birth. Expectant mother applicants are not
required to notify the department of any changes in pregnancy status after
issuance. Placards may be issued to an applicant for subsequent pregnancies without
restriction.

(
3)
No applicant may be denied
a placard if the applicant follows the procedures established by the department
and if the application is accompanied by
either
a
certificate from a licensed physician that certifies that the individual is
handicapped and whether the handicap is temporary or permanent
or a certificate from a licensed physician that certifies that
the individual is at least fourteen weeks pregnant
. The placards must
indicate that the person is qualified to use reserved handicapped parking spaces.
Applications for placards must be processed through and issued by the
department's headquarters. Only one placard may be issued to an applicant. The
certification procedure shall adhere to the requirements set forth in Section
56-3-1910
. In conjunction with the issuance of a placard, applicants also must
be issued a placard registration certificate that must be carried at all times
in the vehicle driven by or transporting the handicapped
or
pregnant
individual. The certificate will display the name of the
individual to which the placard was issued. A placard only can be displayed on
a vehicle driven by or transporting the disabled
or
pregnant
individual whose name appears on the placard registration
certificate. The department shall charge a fee of one dollar for a placard. An
agency, organization, or facility that transports a disabled
,
or
handicapped
, or pregnant
person may receive a placard for each
vehicle registered upon proper application and the payment of the appropriate
fees.

(
B)
The placards authorized by this section also may be issued for a vehicle of
special design and equipment designed to transport a disabled
or pregnant
person who is certified as meeting the
requirements of this section for a vehicle used by an agency, organization, or
facility that is designed to transport a handicapped
,

or
disabled
, or pregnant

person if the vehicle is titled in the name of the agency, organization, or
facility. Proof that the agency, organization, or facility transports a
handicapped
,

or

disabled
, or pregnant
person must be in a manner
prescribed by the department. A certificate from a licensed physician is not
required to apply for placards issued to an agency, organization, or facility.
At the time of qualification, applicants qualifying for a placard under this
section also must be issued a placard registration certificate that must be
carried at all times in the vehicle transporting handicapped
,

or
disabled
, or pregnant
individuals. The certificate will display
the name of the agency, organization, or facility to which the placard was
issued.

(
C)
The placards shall conform to specifications set forth in the standards
established for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The design
must incorporate a means for hanging the placard from a vehicle windshield
rearview mirror, and:

(
1)
contain the International Symbol of Access;

(
2)
be color coded to reflect user status in the following manner:

(
a)
dark blue-permanently disabled; and

(
b)
red-temporarily disabled
or pregnant
.

(
D)
Blue and red placards shall contain the qualified user's photograph. The
photograph must be taken from the qualified user's driver's license or
identification card on file with the department or any other photograph
approved by the department. However, a photograph is not required for a
placard issued to an agency, organization, or facility.

(
E)
Each placard shall contain the placard's expiration date.

(
F)
When qualified users park in designated spaces, the placard must be displayed
in the windshield of the vehicle by hanging it from the rearview mirror. In
vehicles in which hanging may not be feasible, the placard must be placed on
the side of the dashboard so that it is clearly visible through the windshield.
When more than one placard holder is transported in the same vehicle, only one
placard needs to be displayed.

(
G)
Placards used for parking in designated handicapped spaces must be displayed on
vehicles driven by or transporting the handicapped
,
disabled, or pregnant
individual whose name appears on the placard
registration certificate. When parked in designated spaces, the driver of the
vehicle displaying the placard must present the placard registration
certificate when requested by law enforcement entities or their duly authorized
agents.

(
H)
Placards and placard registration certificates for permanently disabled persons
may be issued and renewed for a maximum period of four years and are renewable
on the owner's birth date. Placards issued to an agency, organization, or
facility must be renewed every four years.

(
I)
A vehicle displaying a valid out-of-state handicapped license plate or placard
or other evidence of handicap issued by the appropriate authority as determined
by the department is entitled to the parking privileges provided in this
section. Handicapped individuals from other states seeking permanent residence
in South Carolina have forty-five days after becoming a resident to obtain
South Carolina certification.

(
J)
Placards issued prior to the effective date of this section must be renewed by
the expiration date on the placard or by January 1, 2013, whichever is sooner.
To renew the placard and receive the certificate, the person must be certified
as permanently handicapped as provided in Section
56-3-1910
. Upon renewal, the
department will issue a certificate as required by this section. Failure to
carry a certificate as required by this section by a person using a placard
issued prior to the effective date of this section is not a violation of the
provisions of this section until after the placard is renewed or January 1,
2013, whichever is sooner.

(
K)
(
1) Except as provided in item (2), a
person that violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor
and, upon conviction, must be fined not less than five hundred dollars nor more
than one thousand dollars or imprisoned for not more than thirty days, or both,
for each offense.

(
2)
A person who illegally duplicates, forges, or sells a handicapped placard or a
person who falsifies information on an application form for a handicapped
placard is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned for
thirty days and fined not less than five hundred dollars and not more than one
thousand dollars.

S
ECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval
by the Governor.

----XX----

This web page was last updated on January 13, 2026 at 2:40 PM