DENVER, Colo. (KDVR) — Denver layoffs are now going to impact your ability to dispute parking tickets with the city online, which went into effect on Thursday.
Denver court officials told FOX31 that with the city and county of Denver’s projected budget deficit, the county court had to lay off 10 employees on Aug. 27th. Five employees of those were from the parking magistrates’ office, which was a team of five.
In 2024, the Parking Magistrate’s Office processed 66,378 parking appeals and 10 final parking hearings.
The spokesperson with Denver court officials also told FOX31, the team worked collaboratively with a variety of city stakeholders, including Right of Way Enforcement, the Parking Violation Bureau, Denver County Vehicle Impound and Passport, Inc. Software.
Without the office, the spokesperson told FOX31 that parking disputes will now fall to Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure.
A spokesperson with DOTI said the following to FOX31 regarding the change:
“The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) and the Parking Violations Bureau (PVB) does not have the staff to assume the duties and roles of the Denver County Courts magistrates that were laid off. The online portal that people have historically utilized to dispute citations is closing today at the end of the business day.”
The spokesperson with DOTI also said the following regarding the changes:
Before the portal closes
Disputes in the queue before the portal closes will be handled by temporary staff provided by the county courts to close them out. They will also respond to people who have contested their tickets.
After the portal closes
Information will also be provided on DOTI’s website and the Denver County Court’s website on how the public can dispute a parking citation.
Expected process
People will have the opportunity to dispute a parking citation within 120 days of receiving it by requesting an in-person hearing before a Denver County Court judicial officer.
After 120 days, if the person hasn’t paid the citation or requested an in-person hearing, they can then go online to the county court’s website or call the PVB at (866) 280-9988 to discuss their options.
FOX31 interviewed Denver resident Adam Aguirre regarding the change, who brought concerns over the in-person hearings.
“That’s shocking and sad and upsetting,” Aguirre said. “That takes a lot from a lot of people who don’t have time off to take. That impacts their paycheck, funding to feed their family, a lot of people don’t have PTO or sick time to do that.”
The portal closed at 5 p.m. on Thursday.
FOX31’s Parker Gordon contributed to this report.
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