DAN MORALES 

ATTORNEY CESERAL 

Office of t!p JMmep Qkneral 

Sbtate of l!LexaS 

Honorable Hugo Berlsnga 

Chair 

Committee on Public Health 

Texas House of Representatives 

P.O. Box 2910 

Austin, Texas 78768-2910 

Dear Representative Berlanga: 

May 2,199s 

Ophion No. DM-345 

Re: Authority under state law of a state 

university to regulate parking by the 

disabled on campus (IQ730) 

You present questions about a state university’s regulation of parking by disabled 

persons on campus. 

Education Code section 51.202 gives the governing boards of state institutions of 

higher education broad authority to regulate the operation and parking of vehicles on 

campus, including “assigning parking spaces and designating parking areas and their use 

and assessing a charge for parking” and “instituting a system of registration for vehicle 

registration, including a reasonable charge.” Educ. Code. Q 51.202(a)(2). (5). Section 

54.505 specifies that the section 51.202 registration fee may be charged to “students, 

faculty, and stag” and adds that “a reasonable fee or fees” may be charged “for the 

provision of facilities and the enforcement and administration of parking and trai%c 

regulations . provided however that no such fee may be charged to a student unless the 

student desires to use the facilities.” 

V.T.C.S. article 6675a-Se.1 provides for the issuance by a county tax assessorcollector of special license plates Md/or removable windshield cards to eligible disabled 

persons residing in the county. Section 6 of the article provides: 

(a) Any vehicle upon which such special license plates are 

displayed or in which a removable windshield identification card is 

placed . . . , when being operated by or for the transportation of a 

disabled person, shall be allowed to park for unlimited periods in any 

parking space or parking area designated specifically for the 

physically handicapped. 

@) The owner of a vehicle on which the special license plates 

are displayed or in which a removable windshield identification card 

is placed. . , is exempt from the payment of fees or penalties 

imposed by a governmental authority for parking at a meter or in a 
Honorable Hugo Berlanga - Page 2 (DM-345) 

space with a limitation on the length of time for parking, unless the 

vehicle was not parked at the time by or for the transportation of a 

disabled person. This exemption does not apply to fees or penalties 

imposed by a branch of the United States government. This section 

does not permit parking a vehicle at a place or time that parking is 

prohibited. 

You ask whether, in view of the provisions of section 6, a state university may 

require that a disabled person, with article 6675a-Se.1 special license plates or a 

windshield card displayed on his vehicle (hereinafter a “disabled vehicle”). who wishes to 

park in disabled parking places on campus, obtain a “campus parking pennitn.” “[o]r even 

[a] temporary visitor pass[],” and pay university fees associated therewith. 

In our opinion, Education Code section 51.202(a)(2), in giving a state university 

authority to designate parking areas and their use, in e&t authorizes the university to 

“prohibit” parking by vehicles without student or other appropriate university parking 

permits for the parking area in question. Thus, under the last sentence of subsection (b) of 

article 6675a-Se.), section 6 does not require a state university to permit the parking of 

“disabled vehicles” in parking places “prohibited” for persons not also having the 

appropriate university parking permit. Furthermore, we do not think that fees assessed by 

the university under sections 51.202(a)(2) and 54.505(b) for students using its parking 

facilities-where the fees are charged for the issuance of a parking permit which permits 

parking over long periods like semesters or academic years in parking areas designated for 

students-should be considered to be within the exemption from “payment of fees or 

penalties. . for parking in a space with a limitation on the length of time for parking” set 

out in section 6(b) of article 6675a-Se. 1 with respect to “disabled vehicles.” 

Accordingly, the university may require that students, faculty and staff, even ifthey 

are disabled, register vehicles under sections 51.202(a)(S) and 54.505, Education Code, 

and pay a reasonable fee therefor, and may require that students, even if they are disabled, 

pay student parking permit fees established under sections 51.202(2) and 54.505(a) and, 

moreover, park in areas designated for students under section 51.202(2).’ 

IWe note thst we do not anempt here te anticiptc 01 resolve all issues which may arise in the 

anncxt of sue univetity authority over campus parking under tk previsions of arliclc 667Sa-5c.l. For 

example, as you do not specifically raise the &..suc, we do not address here lhc c&I of ardcle 667Sa-5e. 1 

in situations where the university collects its parking fees through the use of ordinary parking meters. 

p. 1836 
Honorable Hugo Berlanga - Page 3 (DM-345) 

SUMMARY 

A state university may require that students, faculty, and staff 

eve-n if disabled, register vehicles and pay a reasonable fee therefor. 

and may require that students, even if disabled, pay student parking 

permit fees for use of campus parking facilities and park in areas 

designated for students. 

DAN MORALES 

Attorney General of Texas 

JORGE VEGA 

Fii Assistant Attorney General 

SARAH J. SHIRLEY 

Chair, Opinion Committee 

Prepared by William Walker 

Assistant Attorney General 

p. 1037