Parking Ticket FAQs

The citation identifies your violation under the “Violation” heading. You can find additional violation details in the “Remarks” section.

You may receive a citation for the same violation at the same location every 24-hour period.

Yes. If you don’t display the appropriate zone parking permit, you may be issued a ticket.

• For questions regarding the zone or permit parking program and eligibility, call the Department of Environmental Services at 703-228-3344.
• For questions regarding a ticket you have received, follow instructions on the back side of the ticket.
• For contesting a ticket, see “Contesting Tickets” in this FAQ.

Arlington County has agreements with many of the condos and apartments in the area to enforce County parking regulations on their property. Contact the property management to ask if they have such an agreement.

Follow the directions on the summons or call 703-228-7900.

You have been issued a citation for a compliance issue. If you demonstrate compliance with the law (i.e., fix the problem), the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office will dismiss the charge, and you will not have to pay a fine. Compliance issues are:

• Expired or no state inspection
• Expired or no state registration

To demonstrate compliance and have the charge dismissed without paying a fine:

• You must appear in person in the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office with your photo ID, proof of compliance, and your citation. We do not accept compliance dismissals via email, fax, or phone.
• Bring proof that you have renewed either your registration or inspection (depending on the violation on your ticket).
• You have up to 30 days from the date of issuance of the citation to bring in proof of compliance.
• If you have received compliance citations on multiple days the Commonwealth’s Attorney retains discretion over which tickets will be dismissed.

If you were issued a citation for a violation that existed for more than 90 days at the time the citation was issued the above procedure does not apply and you must follow the procedures for requesting a court date to contest your citation and appear in court.

PROOF OF COMPLIANCE DOCUMENTS MUST BE PRINTED. NO ELECTRONIC DEVICES (CELLPHONES, LAPTOPS, TABLETS, ETC.) ARE ALLOWED IN THE COURTHOUSE BUILDING.

The Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office does not accept payments for citations.

LOCATION AND HOURS FOR COMPLIANCE DISMISSAL REQUESTS

Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office
1425 N Courthouse Road, Suite 5200 (5th floor)
Arlington, Virginia 22201

8:30 AM-5:00 PM, Monday-Friday
Phone: 703-228-4410

You can request a court date to contest a parking ticket within 30 days from the ticket’s issuance. For more information, read Parking Ticket Appeals.

A citation cannot be contested once it has been paid. Paid citations are considered uncontested and cannot be issued a court date. (ACC 14.2-95)

If you have questions about your payment, contact the Treasurer’s Office at 2100 Clarendon Blvd or 703-228-4000 or treasurer@arlingtonva.us.

Printed citations are entered into the system within 24 hours except weekends. Hand written citations take 2-4 weeks to be entered. If you’ve waited the appropriate amount of time for your citation to be entered, but it’s still not in the system, email parkingtickets@arlingtonva.us.

The court will not have any record of your court date until 30 days before your court date.

If you’ve paid your citation and have questions about your payment, contact the Treasurer’s Office in person at 2100 Clarendon Blvd, by phone at 703-228-4000 or by email at treasurer@arlingtonva.us.

Call the Treasurer’s Office Compliance Division at 703-228-4000.

Call 703-228-7978 for assistance.

The Virginia Assembly determines court costs, which are $66. Note: Court costs are subject to increase without prior notice.

If you’re found guilty, you must pay the fine and court costs. If you fail to appear at your requested court date, a $35 “No Show” fee will be added to your fine and court costs. Failure to pay the fine and court costs may result in the suspension of your driving privileges in Virginia.

• In-Person
  • An affidavit may be filled out and submitted at the Police Information Counter at 1425 N. Courthouse Rd. from 8 am to 6 pm Mon-Fri and 8 am to 4 pm Sat. The affidavit will be forwarded to the Hearing Processing Center.
• By phone: 1-844-426-3256
  • An affidavit packet will be mailed to you from the Hearing Processing Center. The affidavit must be mailed back to the Processing Center within 10 business days.
• Online: Parking Ticket Appeals
  • Select Option 2: Contest in Court
  • Complete the online form and an affidavit will be mailed to you from the Parking Citation Processing Center.  Then complete the affidavit and mail it back to the Parking Citation Processing Center within 10 business days.

If you requested a court date online or by phone:

1. An affidavit will be mailed to you from the Parking Citation Processing Center.
2. The form must be completely filled out and signed. Mail it back to the Parking Citation Processing Center at the below address within 10 business days.
   Arlington County Parking Citation Processing Center
   PO Box 75813
   Washington, DC 20013
3. Once the signed affidavit is received by the Parking Citation Processing Center,  a court date will be mailed to you.

If you requested a court date in-person:

1. The signed affidavit will be forwarded to the Parking Citation Processing Center.
2. Once the signed affidavit is received by the Parking Citation Processing Center a court date will be mailed to you.

Court dates are generally on the first Friday of the month at 9 a.m. on the third floor of the Courthouse in Room 3D, unless otherwise stated in the Courthouse on the day of court.  Other court dates vary depending on the issuing officer and court’s dockets.

Should the judge not rule in your favor, you must pay the fine assessed by the judge, which can include the cost of the original parking violation, and associated court costs (currently $66). Arlington County does receive a small portion of the court costs, but it is not responsible for determining the amount charged.

Electronics are not allowed in the Courthouse.

Call 703-228-7900 (phone tree option 3) for all court-related issues, including continuances.

You cannot pay your citation once you’ve been issued a court date. All of the information is forwarded to the Traffic Court and all actions regarding the citation must be handled through the General District Clerk or the Court 703-228-7900 (phone tree option 4).

If you fail to appear for your hearing, a trial will be conducted in your absence. A $35 No-Show fee will be assessed in addition to the original fine and $66 in court costs.

Affidavits can only be mailed once. If you requested an affidavit and have not received it or the Hearing Processing Center has not received the affidavit that you mailed, you must go to the Arlington County Police Department Information Counter to submit a new affidavit.

Court dates take 2-6 weeks to be mailed once the affidavit has been received.

Call the Parking Citation Processing Center at 1-844-426-3256 to see if your affidavit has been received.

If you question a meter’s operation, you can report the broken meter online or call the number on the back of your citation. You can find additional details in your citation’s “Remarks” section.

Yes. You’ll find designated “handicap only” parking meters, but you still must pay to park. More information about disabled parking in Arlington.

You can find out more about Parkmobile here.

You may pay the citation or complete the Parking Inquiry form. Per Arlington County Code §14.2-95, your intent to contest a citation must be submitted within 30 days from the date the citation was issued.