The City’s Parking Amnesty Program, which offers a 50% discount on all unpaid City parking fines, begins today and lasts until the end of the month (September 30). All revenue collected through the program will be split evenly between the City and a grant program managed by the Douglas County Community Foundation (DCCF).

To participate, one must confirm their eligibility with Municipal Court, bring their payment method (cash, check or card) to the Court, and then pay all of their outstanding fines – with a 50% discount – at a court clerk’s window. More participation details can be found here.

“I hope people are in line waiting for Municipal Court to open on September 3,” said Brad Harrell, Parking Manager at City of Lawrence. “Currently the City has nearly $850,000 in outstanding parking citation debt. We are excited at the opportunity to help people resolve their debt and also support the amazing local nonprofits that serve our community.”

Ticket amnesty programs are already quite new to many municipalities, though Lawrence is one of the first to offer a program that donates part of the revenue earned to charity. Further, the City believes that a ticket amnesty period allows individuals and families, who may struggle with the burden of multiple citations, a small bit of financial relief.

The City is hoping for a large participation effort from community members with overdue citations. Similar initiatives have received enough participation to pay off up to 15% of a town’s total overdue debts in parking citations. If Lawrence hits that mark, the program would donate over $30,000 to DCCF’s new special grant program.

Money collected by the DCCF will be placed into a grant program managed by the foundation. Any local nonprofit with a food pantry component will be eligible to receive funds gained through the Parking Amnesty Program.

“To see creative opportunities for Lawrence community members – to not only pay off a parking ticket but also contribute to a local nonprofit – is an exciting step in raising awareness of our work,” said Ali Curbow, Director of Development at Just Food.

While just a piece of the Parking Adjudication Strategic Plan, the Amnesty Program serves as the beginning of an intended overhaul of some of the City’s parking policies. The rest of the plan, which has yet to be accepted by the City Commission, intends to decriminalize parking citations in Lawrence. For more information about the plan, go to lawrenceks.org/community-engagement/parking-enforcement.

Media Contact: City Communications, citycommunications@lawrenceks.org

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