May 24, 2024
The Lawrence City Commission voted Tuesday to approve the new parking amnesty program. The program, which will run for a month-long window sometime in Fall 2024, will give citizens an opportunity to reduce their parking citation debts owed to the City by 50%. Collected fines will be equally distributed between the Parking department (50%) and the Douglas County Community Foundation (50%).
Most citizens and visitors with outstanding citations will be able to participate in the amnesty program, though there are exceptions. Those currently handling their outstanding citations through a Municipal Court payment plan will not be eligible for a debt reduction. Those with an active warrant for failure to appear in court for a criminal parking complaint may be eligible to have their fines reduced without posting a bond or reporting to jail. They will simply need to appear at an add-on docket any weekday morning during the amnesty period and see the Judge to request that the warrant be lifted. Lastly, all parking citation fine amounts must be paid in full to receive the 50% debt reduction granted by the amnesty program.
Parking has not yet described how participation in the program will work, though more information will be available in the weeks preceding the program’s month-long window. In the meantime, one can check the status of any citations issued to them via the parking webpage by clicking the “Pay Citations” tab or by calling Municipal Court at (785) 832-6190.
All donated funds received during the amnesty window will be dispersed into a special grant program managed by DCCF. Any local nonprofit in Douglas County that offers a food pantry component will be eligible for grants from the foundation. The City is proud to assist the DCCF and its partnered nonprofits in their fight against food insecurity.
“All of us are in a constant struggle to provide the level of pantry assistance our community requires,” said Kyle Roggenkamp, CEO of the Ballard Center, a local nonprofit. “Local food pantries estimate that 40% of our community will have to access a pantry in a given year. That number is just way too high.”
Funds directed to the parking department will help fund downtown projects, including parking garage renovations and the Downtown Ambassador program.
The amnesty program is just one piece of the City’s Parking Adjudication Strategic Plan, a proposed policy shift drafted in cooperation with transportation consultation firm Dixon Resources Unlimited. The City and Dixon began collecting data and sentiment from Lawrence residents last summer before drafting the plan, phase one of which was fully introduced to the Commission on Tuesday night. A vote to accept the remaining policies of phase one will be held at a later Commission meeting. The full text of the plan is currently available on the parking webpage at: lawrenceks.org/parking.
Media Contact: Brad Harrell, Parking Manager│(785) 832-7592
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