A Disabled Parking Placard Comes From the Cleburne Tax Office

The blue or red placard that hangs from a rearview mirror isn't a hospital thing or a DMV-in-Austin thing. In Johnson County it comes from the same tax office on North Mill Street in Cleburne that handles your registration and titles.

The form is the VTR-214. You fill out your part, then a doctor or health care provider completes the disability statement, and the finished application goes to the county office. A red placard covers a temporary disability; the blue one is for a lasting condition and renews every four years. There's a fee on the temporary; the permanent blue placard is generally free.

Here's a rule a lot of folks get wrong: the placard rides with the person, not the car. It's only good when the person it was issued to is the one parking or being dropped off. Lending it out so someone else can grab a closer spot is exactly the misuse that gets placards pulled. If yours is lost or worn out, that's a replacement request, a different starting point than a brand-new application, so say which one you need when you call the office at 817-558-0122.