Ohio BMV Military License Plate Settlement

Only 100% disabled veterans qualify. And only for one specific family of plates. This settlement covers the Specialty Military License Plates Ohio created in 2018 — the branch-of-service, theater-of-service and honors plates — bought at an Ohio Deputy Registrar's Office on or after October 17, 2019. It does not cover Ohio's Disabled Veteran (DV) License Plates, which were already issued without registration taxes and fees, so there was never anything to refund. If you are searching because you are a disabled veteran with a DV plate, this is not your settlement. A second filter catches people out: the VA must have rated or compensated your service-connected disability at 100% at the time you bought the plate. A rating that took effect later does not reach back and make an earlier purchase refundable. For veterans who do qualify, the benefit is unusually good: a full refund of the registration taxes and fees plus sales tax for every qualifying plate purchase, with no cap and no pro rata reduction — the refunds stack rather than asking you to pick between options, and BMV calculates each one from its own records. The refund does not cover separate services bought at the same time, such as personalizing or transferring a plate. Do not read the $375,000 figure as the settlement fund. That number caps class counsel's fees and costs and the $10,000 class representative incentive award only. BMV pays it separately, on top of the refunds, and it does not shrink what any veteran receives. There is no fixed settlement fund here. Two timing warnings. The December 2, 2026 deadline is a receipt deadline, not a postmark deadline — the Notice says documentation received after 11:59 p.m. that day, regardless of the reason, will not be accepted. And nothing gets paid soon: the settlement fairness hearing is not until July 21, 2027, and no payment date has been announced.

Do I Qualify?

You may be eligible if:

• You purchased a Specialty Military License Plate at an Ohio Deputy Registrar's Office on or after October 17, 2019
• At the time of that purchase, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs had rated or compensated your service-connected disability at 100%
• You have not previously received a refund from BMV for that purchase
• THE PLATE TYPE IS THE CATCH: this covers the Specialty Military License Plates Ohio created in 2018 (branch-of-service, theater-of-service and honors plates). It does NOT cover Ohio's Disabled Veteran (DV) License Plates, which were already issued without registration taxes and fees. This is the single biggest reason people who find this page will not qualify
• THE TIMING OF THE RATING MATTERS: the 100% determination had to be in effect on the date you bought the plate. A rating that took effect afterward does not make an earlier purchase refundable
• THE PURCHASE HAD TO HAPPEN IN OHIO: a military or veteran specialty plate obtained through another state's motor vehicle agency is outside this settlement
• Residency does not matter. A veteran who bought the plate in Ohio and has since moved out of state qualifies on the same terms. Living in Ohio does not qualify you on its own
• Personalization and plate-transfer charges bought at the same time are not refunded, even on an otherwise qualifying purchase
• You have not opted out of the Settlement Class by December 2, 2026

This settlement is documented, and it needs two things, not one. The Notice calls them together the Eligibility Documentation. 1. A Declaration of Eligibility, on the form provided, signed under penalty of perjury. It verifies that you purchased a Specialty Military License Plate at an Ohio Deputy Registrar's Office on or after October 17, 2019, that the VA had determined your service-connected disability to be rated at 100% as of the time of purchase, and that you have not previously received a refund from BMV for that purchase. The blank form is in the Documents section of www.BMVLicensePlateSettlement.com. 2. A copy of your VA letter documenting that you have been determined to have a service-connected disability rated at 100%, and the date as of which that determination was made. The date is not optional detail — it is how the administrator checks that your rating was already in place when you bought the plate. There is also an access credential to plan around. The source reporting on the preliminary approval order says the online upload form opens with the Class Member ID printed on the mailed or emailed notice. Veterans who never received a notice are not shut out — the Notice gives a mailing address for the same two documents — but mailing takes days, and December 2, 2026 is a receipt deadline rather than a postmark deadline. You do not need receipts for the plates themselves. BMV confirms the purchases from its own records. That cuts both ways: the Notice states that if BMV cannot confirm from its records that you are an Eligible Participating Class Member, you will not receive a refund.

What Happened?

The case is Kacin v. Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, case no. 2023-00204JD, in the Court of Claims of Ohio. The Class Representative is Jack Kacin and the Defendant is the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV). The case was filed March 17, 2023.

In 2018 Ohio created a series of Specialty Military License Plates tied to a veteran's branch of service, theater of service or honors. A 2019 budget bill amended Ohio Revised Code 4503.29(D)(2)(b) so that veterans rated 100% service-connected disabled could obtain those plates without paying the usual registration taxes and fees, as they already could for Disabled Veteran License Plates.

Kacin alleges that BMV violated Ohio law when it collected fees paid to Deputy Registrars by veterans who bought Specialty Military License Plates on or after October 17, 2019, where those veterans had been determined to have a 100% service-connected disability at the time of purchase and the registration taxes and fees should therefore have been waived.

BMV denies all of the claims. The Notice states that the Court has not found that BMV did anything wrong, and that it certified a Settlement Class for settlement purposes only. Per the source reporting, the case reached settlement after class certification was litigated through an appeal to Ohio's Tenth District Court of Appeals.

Judge Lisa L. Sadler granted preliminary approval in an order journalized August 19, 2026, appointing Kroll Settlement Administration LLC as Settlement Administrator and setting December 2, 2026 as the deadline to submit documentation, opt out or object. Notice has gone out by mail and email to people BMV's records show bought a Specialty Military License Plate in the class period, with display notices posted at Deputy Registrar offices and county veterans service offices.

If the Court grants final approval, BMV has agreed to refund the purchase price and taxes collected by Deputy Registrars for people who submit Eligibility Documentation on time and whose eligibility BMV can confirm from its records, and to pay Class Counsel's fees and costs of up to $375,000, which includes a $10,000 Incentive Award for the Class Representative.

Class Counsel are Marc E. Dann, Brian D. Flick and Jeffrey A. Crossman of The Dann Law Firm, and Thomas A. Zimmerman, Jr. of Zimmerman Law Offices, P.C.

The release is broad. Settled Claims covers any claim arising out of any alleged failure of BMV or the Released Parties to comply with any law in connection with the imposition or collection of fees for the purchase of Specialty Military License Plates. The Released Parties include BMV, the Ohio Department of Public Safety, all Deputy Registrars and all other agencies and instrumentalities of the State of Ohio. That release binds class members who file nothing just as much as those who file.

Per the source reporting on the preliminary approval order, BMV may withdraw from the settlement if more than 197 class members opt out.

The Settlement Fairness Hearing is set for July 21, 2027 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time, in person at the Ohio Court of Claims in Columbus. No final approval order has been entered and the court can change the date without further notice.

How to File Your Claim

1. Download the blank Declaration of Eligibility from the Documents section of the official settlement website, www.BMVLicensePlateSettlement.com
2. Complete and sign the declaration under penalty of perjury. It verifies that you bought a Specialty Military License Plate at an Ohio Deputy Registrar's Office on or after October 17, 2019, that the VA had determined your service-connected disability to be rated at 100% as of the time of purchase, and that you have not previously received a refund from BMV for that purchase
3. LIST EVERY QUALIFYING PURCHASE ON THE ONE FORM. Do not file once per plate. The declaration has room for each purchase with its date and, if you know it, its plate number, and the source reporting says more purchases can be added on an attached sheet
4. Attach a copy of the letter from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs documenting the 100% service-connected disability rating and the date as of which that determination was made. The Notice calls the declaration and the VA letter together your Eligibility Documentation, and both are required
5. Upload the two documents on the Upload Eligibility Documentation tab of the settlement website. The source reporting on the preliminary approval order says the online form opens with the Class Member ID printed on your mailed or emailed notice
6. If you never received a notice, mail the two documents instead to Kacin v Ohio BMV, c-o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC, P.O. Box 225391, New York, NY 10150-5391
7. RECEIPT DEADLINE, NOT A POSTMARK DEADLINE. Kroll must RECEIVE your Eligibility Documentation by 11:59 p.m. on December 2, 2026 whether you upload it or mail it. The Notice states that documentation received after that time, regardless of the reason, will not be accepted. Mail well ahead of the date
8. SAME-DAY OPT-OUT AND OBJECTION DEADLINE. December 2, 2026 is also the last date to exclude yourself or to object. An opt-out letter must be personally signed and reach the Settlement Administrator by that date, stating your full name, address and telephone number, naming Kacin v. Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, and attesting to the same eligibility facts the declaration covers. Nobody can opt out on behalf of a group, and an agent or attorney cannot sign for you except an estate representative or a power of attorney for someone adjudicated incompetent
9. An objection must be filed with the Ohio Court of Claims and sent to Class Counsel and BMV's counsel by December 2, 2026, and must include your Eligibility Documentation along with the written grounds
10. After the deadline BMV checks each claim against its own records. Per the source reporting on the preliminary approval order, BMV has up to 120 days to confirm eligibility and calculate refunds, and a claimant whose eligibility is questioned gets seven days to send more information
11. Doing nothing gets you nothing and still binds you. The Notice says a class member who submits no Eligibility Documentation is still a Participating Class Member bound by the settlement, just without a refund
12. Visit the official claim form: https://bmvlicenseplatesettlement.com/

How Much Will I Actually Get?

Each eligible veteran receives a full refund of what was actually paid, not a fixed figure. The Notice says the refund covers the cost of the plate itself and any sales tax you paid, but not separate services bought at the same time, such as personalizing the plate. THE REFUNDS ARE CUMULATIVE, NOT A PICK-ONE BENEFIT. This settlement has a single path and it stacks: a veteran who bought four qualifying Specialty Military License Plates since October 17, 2019 is refunded for all four, listed on one declaration. There is no alternative tier to weigh against it, nothing to trade off, and no per-person ceiling. THERE IS NO CAP AND NO PRO RATA REDUCTION. Unlike most settlements on this site, there is no fixed settlement fund that claims get divided out of, so filing does not dilute anyone else and other filers do not shrink your refund. BMV calculates each refund from its own records of what that veteran actually paid. As a sense of scale, the source reporting on the preliminary approval order notes the class representative paid $111.07 for one plate in 2021. Your own figure depends entirely on which plates you bought and when. THE $375,000 IS NOT A SETTLEMENT FUND AND DOES NOT CAP YOUR REFUND. Read this number carefully, because it is the only large dollar figure in the case and it is easy to mistake for the pot. The Notice says Class Counsel will apply for attorneys' fees and costs of up to $375,000, out of which a $10,000 Incentive Award for the Class Representative will be paid. That cap applies to the lawyers and the named plaintiff only. BMV pays it, and separately pays Kroll's notice and administration costs, and the Notice states those administration fees and costs will not be deducted from any refund a class member receives. A fee award therefore cannot reduce what a veteran gets. BMV HAS TO CONFIRM YOU FROM ITS OWN RECORDS. The Notice is blunt about the one real risk to a claim: if BMV cannot confirm from its records that you are an Eligible Participating Class Member, you will not receive a refund. NOTHING IS PAID SOON. The settlement fairness hearing is set for July 21, 2027 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time, in person at the Ohio Court of Claims in Columbus before Judge Lisa L. Sadler, and no final approval order has been entered. Per the source reporting, BMV transfers the money within 10 days after approval becomes final and Kroll sends refunds within 21 days after that, by check unless the claimant selected direct deposit, PayPal or Venmo on the declaration. Checks are void 180 days after the distribution deadline, and unclaimed money goes back to BMV. No payment date has been announced.

Last reviewed: October 16, 2026 | Information verified from court records and official settlement documents.

Frequently Asked Questions