Parking Citations

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The City's Parking Enforcement officers regularly patrol to enforce regulations concerning the operation of vehicles as well as stopping, standing and parking on the City's streets. The Treasury Division is responsible for processing the payment of any citation issued by Parking Enforcement and for enforcing the collection of unpaid fines and penalties related to those citations. The Parking Adjudication Office is responsible for adjudicating citizen complaints about citations.

• How to Pay a Parking Citation
• How to Request Information about a Parking Citation
• How to Contest a Parking Citation
• Parking Fines as of July 1, 2012
• Penalties for Late Payment or Failure to Pay
• Parking Facts: Avoiding the Most Common Citations

How To Pay a Parking Citation

The City offers citizens the option of paying parking citations online, by phone, by mail, or in person. For more information, visit Six Easy Ways to Pay.

NOTE: LICENSE TAG / DECAL violations listed below cannot be paid online.

• 3-2-336 Offenses relating to city windshield tag or decal
• 10-4-37 Failure to procure and display city windshield tag or decal
• 10-4-37.1 Enforcement of the Northern Virginia Local Motor Vehicle License Compact

The City of Alexandria cannot accept online payment for parking citations issued to booted or impounded vehicles or to vehicles cited for failure to display a City vehicle decal (violation code 3-2-336, 10-4-37, or 10-4-37.1). The boot or decal violation must be resolved before the parking citation may be paid and verification is currently not automated. The vehicle owner may pay in person at City Hall or mail the payment (by check or money order) together with proof that he or she has purchased and paid for the decal.   If the vehicle owner chooses to pay by check or money order, he or she should write the citation number in the memo field.  Returned checks are subject to a $35 fee in accordance with state law.

For assistance, please contact the City's Treasury Division by email or by telephone at 703.746.3902.

How to Request Information about a Parking Citation

Vehicle owners wishing to request information about a specific parking citation may do so here or view all open citations for a specific vehicle by entering the vehicle's license plate number and state here.

How to Contest a Parking Citation

Vehicle owners may contest parking citations through the City's administrative parking adjudication program:

1. Online: The registered vehicle owner may appeal online by choosing an administrative review or an online hearing by teleconferencing or two-way video conferencing.
2. By mail: To appeal by mail, the registered vehicle owner should mail the parking adjudication request form (one for each citation contested), the citation, and all documents needed to support the appeal to City of Alexandria, P.O. Box 1423, Alexandria, VA, 22313-1423.
3. In person: The registered vehicle owner may attend an in person adjudication hearing by coming to City Hall, 301 King Street, Room 1700, between the hours of 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Tuesdays and Thursdays. No appointment is required. Any vehicle owner coming in person must present his or her driver's license and all documents to support the appeal to the adjudicator.

Vehicle owners are free to forego the administrative parking adjudication program and contest a citation by scheduling a hearing with the General District Court. To schedule a hearing, the vehicle owner must complete a General District Court affidavit (one for each citation contested), have it notarized, and mail it with copies of the parking citation and his or her driver's license to City of Alexandria, P.O. Box 1423, Alexandria, VA, 22313-1423. Please note that the affidavit must be signed in the presence of a Notary. (More detailed information about the parking adjudication and General District Court hearing processes is available in the Parking Adjudication F.A.Q.)

The citation will be suspended pending the outcome of the adjudication. There will be no interest accrued, no late fees applied and no collection actions taken during this process. In most cases, a letter explaining the result of the adjudication will be mailed within three to four weeks.

NOTE: Parking Adjudication will send an automated reply to any online Parking Citation Adjudication Request verifying receipt of the request and giving brief information on the adjudication process. In some e-mail systems, this automated reply may become trapped in the spam filter or folder. Anyone submitting an online adjudication request who does not receive this automated reply in his or her inbox should check the spam filter or folder.

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Parking Fines as of July 1, 2012

Ordinances are listed by title and in numerical order. To read the full text of any ordinance listed, visit municode and enter the ordinance number in the search box.

Title 3: Finance, Taxation and Procurement

• 3-2-336 Offenses related to city windshield tag or decal: $40

Title 5: Transportation and Environmental Services

• 5-8-114 Designation of parking spaces; parking across lines: $40

Title 9: Licensing and Regulation (Sight-seeing buses)

• 9-12-162 Use of locations other than designated parking spaces by sight-seeing buses: $40
• 9-12-163 Use of locations designated for use by sight-seeing buses by other vehicles: $40
• 9-12-164 Use of designated spaces by sight-seeing buses: $40

Title 10: Motor Vehicles and Traffic (Operation of Vehicles; Stopping, Standing and Parking)

• 10-3-1242 Parking in spaces reserved for persons with a disability: $500
• 10-4-1 Stopping contrary to directions of police officers: $40
• 10-4-2 Parking contrary to official sign: $40
• 10-4-3 Right to parking space: $40
• 10-4-4 Stopping on crossing or obstructing traffic: $40
• 10-4-5 Double parking: $40
• 10-4-6 Parking trucks or commercial vehicles in residential districts: $40
• 10-4-7 Parking business vehicles on streets: $40
• 10-4-8 Parking more than 72 consecutive hours: $25
• 10-4-9 Parking trailers or recreational vehicles in residential districts: $40
• 10-4-10 Parking on sidewalk: $40
• 10-4-11 Parking in alleys or courts: $40
• 10-4-12 Parking vehicles on private property: $40
• 10-4-13 Stopping for sale or repairs: $40
• 10-4-14 Use of bus stops: $40
• 10-4-15 Stopping for loading or unloading passengers or cargo: $40
• 10-4-16 Permit for parking truck beside railroad car on public right-of-way: $40
• 10-4-17 Angle parking for loading and unloading: $40
• 10-4-18 Use of loading zones: $40
• 10-4-22 How meter and space to be used: $40
• 10-4-23 Overtime parking: $40
• 10-4-24 Depositing coin in meter to extend time beyond maximum: $40
• 10-4-25 Permitting vehicle to remain at meter after expiration of time limit: $40
• 10-4-28 Parking across lines designating parking space: $40
• 10-4-30 Interfering with parking enforcement: $40
• 10-4-33 Use of metered parking lots by vehicles other than private passenger automobiles: $40
• 10-4-34 Parking illegally in permit parking districts: $40
• 10-4-35 Parking in two-hour parking zones in the central business district: $40
• 10-4-36 Removal of chalk mark placed for enforcement purposes: $40
• 10-4-37 Failure to procure and display city windshield tag or decal: $40
• 10-4-37.1 Enforcement of the Northern Virginia Local Motor Vehicle License Compact: $40
• 10-4-38 Parking without display of current state inspection sticker or current state license plate: $40
• 10-4-39 Temporary parking prohibited: $40
• 10-4-40 Location of parked vehicles: $40
• 10-4-41 Parking prohibited at certain locations: $48
• 10-4-42 Parking prohibited near fire hydrant: $48
• 10-4-44 Parking prohibited in HOV lane: $200

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Penalties for Late Payment or Failure to Pay

1. A late payment penalty of $25 will be added to the original fine for any citation not paid by the due date.
2. After three notices have been mailed requesting payment, the City will request that the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) withhold registration renewals on any vehicle with a delinquent parking citation fine. Once a hold is in place, the vehicle owner will be required to pay the delinquent balance, plus an additional $20 administrative fee per hold, before DMV will renew their vehicle registration. Payment must be made by certified funds (cash, money order, or cashier’s check) or credit card for the stop to be removed. The stop will be removed within one business day of payment.
3. The City will also authorize a collection agency to use all possible legal means to satisfy this outstanding parking citation. If an outstanding citation is referred for collection, the vehicle owner will be subject to additional collection fees amounting to 20 percent of the original amount due.
4. Residents should also be aware that three delinquent citation fines could result in the immobilization of their vehicle by the Police Department.

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