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<\/p>\nHOUSTON \u2013 Houston drivers could soon receive parking citations instead of finding them on their windshields, under a new ordinance being considered by Houston City Council.<\/p>\n
The proposed change would give parking enforcement officers the option to mail citations directly to vehicle owners. Drivers would have 40 days from the date the ticket is written to pay the fine or contest it. Windshield citations would still remain an option.<\/p>\n
According to the city\u2019s Administration and Regulatory Affairs department, the updates are not a complete overhaul of parking regulations \u2014 but rather a modernization effort.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe updates to the ordinance help clarify technology requirements, remove outdated references, improve compliance, and support the safe and efficient management of public streets and parking spaces,\u201d the Administration and Regulatory Affairs department said.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s changing \u2014 and what isn\u2019t<\/p>\n
The proposed amendments include updating terminology and job titles, removing references to programs or practices no longer in use, and updating language related to parking permits and enforcement technology. The changes also clarify provisions related to booting and delinquent vehicles.<\/p>\n
As for cost, the city said any expenses tied to mailed citations \u2014 such as postage \u2014 would be covered through existing parking operations budgets, with no new funding required.<\/p>\n
The ordinance is also being updated to give the city more flexibility with technology going forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe amendments allow the City to modernize parking operations by removing outdated references and giving the City flexibility to use current and future technology without having to revise the ordinance each time technology changes,\u201d the department said.<\/p>\n
Reaction from Houston drivers<\/p>\n
Not everyone is on board with the idea. Aaron Robinson said the change gives him pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a little nervous about that because I don\u2019t get half of my mail at the time,\u201d Robinson said. \u201cIf something is coming to me and I don\u2019t have it and I can get in trouble for it, that is a whole other thing right there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julie Stuhrenberg was equally skeptical.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that is a terrible idea,\u201d Stuhrenberg said. \u201cI think if you have a violation just put it in your car, take care of it. Mailing it, watching you, all those things, is not a good idea.\u201d<\/p>\n
How the new system would work<\/p>\n
If the ordinance passes, the city would have 30 days following a violation to issue a citation. The ticket would be mailed to the address tied to the vehicle\u2019s registered license plates through the DMV, with the presumption that the registered owner was driving at the time.<\/p>\n
Robinson noted that linking a ticket to an owner isn\u2019t always straightforward.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can tow a car, you can ticket a car, but it can be somebody else\u2019s \u2014 it can be rideshare \u2014 so there has to be something that says this is yours to be able to match you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Each mailed citation would include the type of violation, the date, time and location of the incident, a photo or video of the violation along with the license plate number, and the fine amount. Drivers would be able to pay in person, by mail or online.<\/p>\n
Council members weigh in<\/p>\n
Houston City Council Member At-Large Twila Carter called the changes a positive move for the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese changes are a step forward in modernizing the enforcement of parking regulations,\u201d Carter said. \u201cThe transition should be an easy one, as the city will continue to place citations on vehicles and as we implement the rollout of mailing citations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carter added that extending the response window is designed to make the process more manageable for drivers.<\/p>\n
\u201cExtending the timeframe from 30 days to 40 days to respond to a citation should make the process easier for all involved,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Other council members also describe the ordinance as necessary to clarify language in the current city parking ordinance, adding that mailing citations would help officers avoid potential confrontations with the public in certain situations.<\/p>\n
The vote is on Wednesday. <\/p>\n
Start Here, Houston<\/p>\n
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Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2013 Houston drivers could soon receive parking citations instead of finding them on their windshields, under a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":444623,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,4626,58,57,153477,123514,11272],"class_list":["post-444622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-houston-city-council","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news","tag-mailed-parking-tickets","tag-parking-citations","tag-parking-tickets"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=444622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444622\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/444623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=444622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=444622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=444622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}