How to Fill Out and Submit Ohio BMV Form 4826 for a Disability Placard

Ohio BMV Form 4826 is the Application for Removable Windshield Placards, the one-page form you use to request a disability parking placard from the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles. To get a placard, you attach an original prescription from your healthcare provider to the completed form and submit both, with payment, to any deputy registrar office or by mail. The fee is $8 for a temporary or standard placard and $15 for a permanent one.

Start With the Prescription

Nothing else matters until you have the prescription in hand. The BMV rejects applications without one, and a copy will not do. It has to be the original.¹

Ask your provider to write it on office letterhead or a prescription pad. The BMV does not supply a separate medical certification form. The prescription must include:

Your full name as the person with the disability.
A statement that you are applying for a removable windshield placard.
The provider’s signature and the date.
How long the disability is expected to last, either as a specific end date or as a statement that it is permanent. Whatever the provider writes here sets the placard’s expiration.

A physician (M.D. or D.O.), physician assistant, advanced practice registered nurse, or chiropractor can write the prescription. An optometrist can as well, but only for vision-related disabilities.²

The provider is the one who decides whether you qualify. Ohio law defines a qualifying disability as one that limits or impairs the ability to walk, and the statute lists specific conditions such as being unable to walk 200 feet without resting, needing a brace, cane, wheelchair, or another person to walk, using portable oxygen, having a Class III or IV cardiac limitation under American Heart Association standards, having a severe arthritic, neurological, or orthopedic condition, meeting the statutory lung-function thresholds, or being blind, legally blind, or severely visually impaired.² You only need to meet one.

How to Fill Out Form 4826

Download the form from the Ohio BMV website or pick one up at any deputy registrar office. The current version is dated 3/26. The applicant section is short:

Your full legal name.
Street address, city, state, ZIP code, and county.
Your Ohio driver’s license number, state ID number, or Social Security number.
A phone number where you can be reached.
The placard type you are requesting: temporary, standard, permanent, renewal, replacement, or additional.
Your signature and the date. If you cannot sign, a next of kin or care provider may sign for you.

There is an optional donation line for Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities. It is voluntary and has no effect on your application.¹

Which Placard You Get and What It Costs

The type follows from what your provider wrote on the prescription:

A temporary placard, $8, covers a disability expected to last six months or less.
A standard placard, $8, covers a disability expected to last longer than six months but not permanently. It is valid up to ten years from issuance, or until the end date the provider specified, whichever comes first.
A permanent placard, $15, covers a permanent disability and does not expire.

Replacements for lost or damaged placards cost the same as the original type. You can also request one additional placard so you have two, at the same fees. Replacement and additional placards expire on the same date as the original, no matter when you get them. For replacements and additional placards, you do not need a new prescription; you fill out only the top portion of the form.¹

Where to Submit It

You have two options. Bring the completed form, your original prescription, and payment to any Ohio deputy registrar office. They process it on the spot.

Or mail everything to:

Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles
Registration Support Services
P.O. Box 16521
Columbus, Ohio 43216-6521¹

Mail takes longer, and you are sending an original prescription that cannot be replaced if it is lost in transit. In person is faster and safer.

Renewing a Standard Placard

Permanent placards never expire. Temporary and standard placards expire on the earlier of the end date your provider wrote or ten years after issuance. No placard is valid for fewer than 60 days, even if the prescription specified a shorter period.²

For standard placards, the BMV mails a renewal notice to your address on file about 30 days before expiration. To renew, submit a new prescription, a new Form 4826, and the $8 fee. If a new prescription does not reach the BMV by the expiration date, the placard becomes invalid. Start the renewal within 90 days of the expiration date, and not earlier.¹

Organizations That Transport People With Disabilities

An organization that regularly transports people with disabilities in a vehicle that has not been specially altered can apply on the same form. An authorized agent or officer completes the organization section with the organization’s name, federal tax ID or charter number, address, and a description of the transportation services provided. Organizations are limited to the standard placard at $8, up to two per application, and no medical prescription is required.¹

Active-Duty Military

Active-duty members of the U.S. armed forces, including reserve components and the National Guard, with an illness or injury that limits walking can apply for a temporary placard at no cost. Along with the application, the service member presents proof of active-duty status and of the illness or injury. Acceptable evidence includes a Department of Defense convalescent leave statement, a document showing ill or injured casualty status or limited duty, or a prescription from any healthcare provider.²

Misuse Is a Crime

Knowingly making a false statement on Form 4826 is falsification, a first-degree misdemeanor carrying criminal fines and possible jail time.¹ Displaying a placard when the vehicle is not being used to transport the person with the qualifying disability draws a fine of $250 to $500, and the BMV revokes the placard. Once revoked, you must return it to the registrar within ten days of the written notice. Falsely claiming eligibility, or displaying a placard that was not issued for that vehicle, is a fourth-degree misdemeanor.²

1
Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles. BMV Form 4826 – Application for Removable Windshield Placards
2
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 4503.44 – Windshield Placards, License Plates