Living in Madison, three things are certain: death, taxes, and parking tickets.
Parking rules are heavily enforced around the city — and they kind of have to be in order for traffic to flow properly, especially on the isthmus.
Of course no one likes getting a ticket. Whether you were too late to feed the meter, forgot to move for street sweepers, or mixed up your odds with your evens, there’s no shortage of ways to get ticketed. But when it comes to facing the consequences, residents hold more power than they may know.
Contesting a Ticket
So you got a ticket. Bummer. What’s next?
If you know you did something wrong and don’t mind paying the fee, then by all means, just pay the ticket.
But if you have reason to contest the ticket, you can begin the appeal process online or by calling the number on the back of your ticket, Madison Municipal Court Judge Dan Koval explained on the City Cast Madison podcast.
“When you call that agency, you can tell them the reasons why you think that they should withdraw this ticket, and most of the time they won't do it,” he said. “They occasionally will, but most of the time they'll say, ‘You know, you have to talk about that with the court.’”
At court is where you’ll meet Koval, who has the power to reduce, change, or even void your ticket. And when it comes down to it, he’s a pretty sympathetic guy.
If finances are an issue, Koval has offered payment plans or community service options where tickets can be paid through volunteer hours.
When it comes down to it, Koval says he considers a lot of factors when making determinations, including a person’s driving history and their reasoning for why they got ticketed. (Did they make an honest mistake? Was there a miscommunication?) Oftentimes, he’ll ask the individual what they think the ticket should be reduced to.
Ultimately, he just doesn’t want people to fear the legal process.
“We're trying to make it less onerous for people to do since these are not criminal cases,” he said.
