IN THE COUNTY COURT, SIXTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT

IN AND FOR PINELLAS COUNTY, FLORIDA

 

ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 90-19

 

 

RE:            PARKING TICKETS

 

 

            IN ORDER to provide for the proper uniform enforcement of parking tickets issued by authorized agencies within Pinellas County, and

           

            IN ORDER to ensure appropriate record keeping to comply with the Florida law, and

           

            IN ORDER to deter possible theft of mailed payments, it is hereby

            redistribution of the county court civil, small claims, and traffic case load throughout Pinellas County, it is

           

            ORDERED:

            A)            PARKING TICKET CITATION: Click to View Parking Ticket, Warrant and Affidavit

                        1)            Parking tickets issued by any authorized agency or authority within Pinellas County shall substantially conform in detail to the approved form parking ticket attached hereto and made a part hereof.  Every such ticket shall conspicuously bear the words “DO NOT SEND CASH.”  These words shall either be in boldface type or red print.

                        2)            Envelopes provided for submission of payment by mail shall be of such paperweight and printing style so as to prevent viewing of the contents thereof through the envelope.

                        3)            The issuing officer shall complete the parking ticket entering the charged violation and fine amount in accordance with municipal or county ordinance.  All said fines shall be within state statutory maximum limits.

                        4)            Any parking ticket citation not paid within the time specified on the face thereof shall become collectible at the higher of the fine amount of the charged ordinance violation or at the maximum state statutory amount, provided, however, that delinquent handicap parking violations shall be due and payable as provided for in county or municipal ordinances within state statutory allowable maximum amounts.

                        5)            A certified copy of any municipal or county ordinance affecting a change in the fine amount of any parking violation shall be recorded with the Clerk of the Circuit Court prior to assessment and enforcement of said fine amounts.

            B)            DUTIES OF THE CLERK OF COURT: 

                        1)            Allowing for mail times as provided in the Florida Rules of Traffic Court, fifteen (15) days after the issuance date of any parking citation, the Clerk shall send a warning notice to the registered owner of the offending vehicle advising the vehicle owner that unless the delinquent fine amount is paid within ten (10) days of the date of the notice, a court summons shall be issued.

                        2)            A registered owner may seek cancellation of a parking ticket based upon the theft, custody, or control of the offending vehicle by another at the time of the violation by filing with the Court a sworn affidavit.  The registered owner shall execute said affidavit in a form substantially similar to that attached hereto, which shall include the name and address of te individual who had care, custody, or control of the vehicle at the time of the parking violation or the name of the law enforcement agency to which the vehicle’s theft was reported along with a report number and report date.  In the event the registered owner is unable to name an individual  who had care, custody, or control of the offending vehicle at the time of the violation, the court file shall be forwarded to the presiding court by the Office of the Clerk.

                        3)            A registered owner may plead “not guilty” to any parking violation, and the Clerk shall calendar such case for final hearing pursuant to directions from the Court thereon.

                        4)            In the event payment of the delinquent fine after notice has not been made within the time allowed; or a not guilty plea has not been received within that time; or if the registered owner has filed an affidavit seeking cancellation of the parking ticket based on another’s possession, custody, or control of the offending vehicle at the time of the violation, the Clerk shall issue a summons.  Said summons shall be issued and shall direct the registered owner, or in the event an affidavit for cancellation has been filed the person having care, custody, or control of the offending vehicle at the time of the violation, to appear in Court at the given date and hour unless full payment of the delinquent fine has been received by the Court prior to said date.

            C)            WARRANTS:    In the event any person so summoned in paragraph (B) (4) above fails to appear, or fails to pay in full the delinquent parking violation amount, the Court may direct issuance of a warrant for said person’s arrest.  Said warrant shall be in substantially the same form as the warrant attached hereto and made a part hereof, and absent direction from the Court, bond shall be set at the delinquent amount of the parking violation.  Bond may be paid at an appropriate location of the Sheriff’s Office or, in the event the delinquent violation amount is paid directly to the Clerk’s Office pursuant to the appropriate provisions of the warrant, the Clerk may withdraw and cancel said warrant.

           

            D)            CLERK’ RECORDS:     

                        1)            In accordance with any enacted Pinellas County Ordinance and Section 316.1967 (6), Fla. Stat. (1989), any time the records of the Clerk of Court have three (3) or more delinquent parking violations or any delinquent violations of the handicap parking laws or ordinances, against any given tag, the tag number of the registered owner shall be transmitted to the Department of Highway Safety.

                        2)            In any parking violation issued to a vehicle with an out-of-state license tag, or tags wherein the registered owner cannot be ascertained, if said violations remain unpaid for a period of 180 days from the date of he warning letter, the Clerk shall record violations as dismissed.

                        3)            Any parking violation which shall have remained outstanding on the Clerk’s records for a period of twenty-four (24) months from the date of he warrant, regardless of its procedural status, shall be recorded by the Clerk as dismissed, and the warrant issued in relation thereto shall be withdrawn and cancelled by the Clerk.

            Prior orders in conflict with this Order are hereby rescinded.

 

            DONE AND ORDERED in Chambers at Clearwater, Pinellas County, Florida, this 30th day of October, 1990.

 

/s/________________________

Patrick K. Caddell

County Administrative Judge


/s/________________________
John S. Andrews

Acting Chief Judge