No more jail time for unpaid parking tickets, in Kansas City’s latest push for reform
Kansas City will no longer send people to jail for unpaid parking tickets, in the latest push for local criminal justice reform.
The resolution, which City Council approved Thursday, means people will not face jail time for unpaid parking tickets and other non-moving violations.
“There are certain things people should never be caged for,” Councilwoman Melissa Robinson, 3rd District, said. “Parking tickets is one.”
Under the ordinance, if a violator doesn’t pay the fine or request a hearing, the fine becomes a personal obligation. The city can use appropriate legal means to collect it.
An administrative tribunal under the Parking and Transportation Commission will listen to testimony, review evidence, issue findings and impose fines.
“Real reform means creating alternative means of accountability for violations that previously resulted in incarceration, like parking tickets and non-moving violations — and rejecting overly punitive measures that disproportionately harm poor Kansas Citians,” said a Thursday tweet from Mayor Quinton Lucas, who sponsored the legislation with Councilwoman Andrea Bough. Robinson was later added as a co-sponsor.
The city attorney will report on the progress on developing the system within the next 30 days.
The change will go into effect Oct. 15.
Councilmembers Dan Fowler and Heather Hall voted against it, without comment.
Lucas has also pushed for reform in municipal court to create alternatives to jail for people in mental health and substance abuse crises. That ordinance, which passed unanimously, will establish a committee to study and recommend ways to carry out diversions before a trial.
Earlier this year, Lucas created the Mayoral Marijuana Pardon Program to give second chances for people with low-level municipal marijuana offenses.
In July, the council effectively decriminalized most marijuana possession offenses.
