Minnesota drivers who need darker window tint for a medical reason can now get the paperwork from an optometrist as well as a physician. The window limits themselves didn't change.
What changed
Chapter 89 of the 2026 Minnesota Session Laws amends Minnesota Statutes section 169.71, subdivision 4a, the medical exception to the window tint rules. Wherever the law refers to a physician's prescription or statement of medical need, it now says "physician's or optometrist's." Governor Tim Walz approved it on May 12, 2026.
When it takes effect
The change is retroactive: it counts from July 1, 2025 and applies to prescriptions issued on or after that date. So a statement an optometrist wrote after July 1, 2025 counts, even if it was written before the law passed.
What the statement has to say
A 2025 change (Session Laws 2025, chapter 5, effective July 1, 2025) already set what the prescription or statement must include:
- whether the medical need is temporary or permanent;
- the minimum light transmittance the person needs;
- an expiration date no more than two years out, unless the condition is permanent.
Keep it in the vehicle.
What didn't change
- Side and rear windows on cars must still let in at least 50% of light (plus or minus 3%), with reflectance of no more than 20% (plus or minus 3%).
- No film is allowed on the windshield.
- The other exceptions (for example, windows behind the driver on vans and the rear window of pickups) are unchanged.
For every window limit in Minnesota, see our Minnesota window tint law page.
Sources
- Minnesota Session Laws 2026, chapter 89 (approved May 12, 2026)
- Minnesota Session Laws 2025, chapter 5
- Minnesota Statutes 169.71
