Establish maximum late fees for civil parking tickets

As Introduced

136th
General Assembly

Regular
Session
H. B. No. 653

2025-2026

Representative Brewer

Cosponsors: Representatives Fischer,
Brennan, Troy, Synenberg, Russo, Brownlee

To
amend section 4521.02 of the Revised Code
to
establish maximum late fees for civil parking tickets.

BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section
1.
That
section 4521.02 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:

Sec.
4521.02.
(A)
(A)(1)

A local authority that enacts any ordinance, resolution, or
regulation that regulates the standing or parking of vehicles and
that is authorized pursuant to section 505.17 or 4511.07 of the
Revised Code also by ordinance, resolution, or regulation may specify
that a violation of the regulatory ordinance, resolution, or
regulation shall not be considered a criminal offense for any
purpose, that a person who commits the violation shall not be
arrested as a result of the commission of the violation, and that the
violation shall be handled pursuant to this chapter. If such a
specification is made, the local authority also by ordinance,
resolution, or regulation shall adopt a fine for a violation of the
regulatory ordinance, resolution, or regulation and prescribe an
additional penalty or penalties for failure to answer any charges of
the violation in a timely manner.
In

(2)
In
no
case shall any fine adopted or additional penalty prescribed pursuant
to
this

division

(A)
of this section
exceed
the fine established by the municipal or county court having
territorial jurisdiction over the entire or a majority of the
political subdivision of the local authority, in its schedule of
fines established pursuant to Traffic Rule 13(C), for a substantively
comparable violation. Except as
otherwise

provided
in
this

division

(A) of this section
,
in no case shall any fine adopted or additional penalty prescribed
pursuant to
this

division

(A)
of this section
exceed
one hundred dollars, plus costs and other administrative charges, per
violation.

(3)

If
a local authority chooses to adopt a specific fine for a violation of
an ordinance, resolution, or regulation that regulates the standing
or parking of a vehicle in an accessible parking space, the fine the
local authority establishes for such offense shall be an amount not
less than two hundred fifty dollars but not more than five hundred
dollars.

(4)
Except as otherwise provided in this division, a local authority
shall impose late-payment penalties in the following manner:

(a)
An original late-payment penalty of not more than ten dollars, which
shall not be imposed earlier than thirty days after the issuance of
the parking ticket;

(b)
A secondary late-payment penalty of not more than ten dollars, which
shall not be imposed earlier than sixty days after the issuance of
the parking ticket if the parking ticket remains unpaid at that time.

Any
late-payment penalties shall not exceed twenty dollars for a single
parking infraction.

(B)
A local authority that enacts an ordinance, resolution, or regulation
pursuant to division (A) of this section also may enact an ordinance,
resolution, or regulation that provides for the impoundment or
immobilization of vehicles found standing or parked in violation of
the regulatory ordinance, resolution, or regulation and the release
of the vehicles to their owners. In no case shall an ordinance,
resolution, or regulation require the owner of the vehicle to post
bond or deposit cash in excess of one thousand dollars in order to
obtain release of the vehicle.

(C)
A local authority that enacts any ordinance, resolution, or
regulation pursuant to division (A) of this section also shall enact
an ordinance, resolution, or regulation that specifies the time
within which a person who is issued a parking ticket must answer in
relation to the parking infraction charged in the ticket.

In no case shall an ordinance, resolution, or regulation specify a
time that is less than thirty days from the date of issuance within
which a person who is issued a parking ticket must answer in relation
to the parking infraction without incurring any late-payment
penalties.

(D)
A local authority that enacts any ordinance, resolution, or
regulation pursuant to division (A) of this section shall not impose
any administrative, processing, or collection fee that exceeds the
lesser of the actual cost of collection or twenty-five per cent of
the original fine. No additional penalties, surcharges, or fee
multipliers shall be imposed beyond what is expressly provided for in
this section.

Section
2.
That
existing section 4521.02 of the Revised Code is hereby repealed.

Section
3.
Sections
1 and 2 of this act take effect one hundred eighty days after the
effective date of this section.