2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE EIGHT - Public Welfare and Charitable Institutions (§§ 1 — 1422) › Chapter 36 - Service Agencies for Persons with Impediments (§§ 811 — 814) › § 812 - Priority status

(a) Except for the provisions of subsection (c) of this section, all agencies, instrumentalities and public corporations, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as the municipalities and private entities that receive public funds and offer direct services to citizens, are hereby directed to grant priority turns to the persons with disabilities, as certified by the Department of Health, pregnant women and/or persons sixty (60) years of age or older who are duly identified by a card or any other proof of age issued by a government authority whether, state or federal, when these persons visit said facilities either on their own or accompanied by relatives, guardians, or persons acting in their name and in their representation to perform administrative procedures exclusively on their behalf.
(b) All the agencies, instrumentalities, and public corporations of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as its municipalities and private entities that receive public funds, shall be responsible for posting a sign at eye level, visible and legible from a distance of ten (10) feet, in the area designated for people to take turns and write down their names on a waiting list, as well as in the main entrance of the facility, specifically in an area visible to the public, stating the following:
“PRIORITY TURNS—For Persons with Disabilities, Pregnant Women, and/or Persons 60 years of age or older Act No. 354 of September 2, 2000, as amended.”
Said sign, notice, poster, announcement, or placard shall be made and affixed in compliance with the pertinent sections of the “American with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines”, in a size not smaller than eleven inches by fourteen inches (11″ x 14″), using block letters at least half an inch (1 / 2 ″). In the event that a citizen requesting services requires so, if the personnel realize that the applicant does not or cannot read, the employees of offices referred to in subsection (a) of this section shall have the duty to inform such citizen, as a reasonable accommodation, of his/her right to the benefit provided in this section. Furthermore, the model regulations provided by the Office of the Disabled Persons Investigating Official, the Women’s Advocate Office, or the Office of Elderly Affairs shall be used and adopted, with regards to the implementation of the priority turns and the express line.
(c) With the purpose of safeguarding the fundamental principle of priority that governs our mortgage registration law, the provisions of this section shall not be applicable to the Property Registry attached to the Department of Justice.
(d) When so requested, the Office of the Disabled Persons Investigating Official, the Women’s Advocate Office, and the Office of Elderly Affairs shall provide the corresponding advice to the bodies responsible under this section on the necessary regulations to be adopted for making and affixing said sign, notice, poster, announcement, or placard, so that the same is in compliance with the pertinent sections of the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines.
(e) The Office of the Disabled Persons Investigating Official, the Women’s Advocate Office, and the Office of Elderly Affairs shall be charged with ensuring compliance with this section.
History —Sept. 2, 2000, No. 354, §§ 1, 2; Jan. 10, 2004, No. 47, §§ 1—6; Sept. 21, 2010, No. 138, §§ 1-4.